forgot to bid

We have 1095 pilots out on MIL, FUR, SUP, INS, SIC, etc, or about 10% of the group. 10% of 6400 pilots is 640. I can run the numbers on that is 5.1 crews for them vs 4.8 for us once we get the rest of these 90s and before we cut pilots out of the category.

forgot to bid

Question for you, 621 vs 429 (I assume?), is that DAL domestic vs Southwest only? Because if it does include international pilots then that's skewed and not an apples-to-apples comparison.

forgot to bid

This?

Compensation

• Industry leading B737 Pay Rates. SWA Captains average over $230,000 and First Officers average over $140,000.
• Approximately the last five years, SWA pilots averaged 105
• “Trips For Pay” (TFP) per month, or about 1260 TFP per year.
• Approximately the last five years, SWA pilots averaged just over 18 days off per month.
• Per Diem rates are among the highest in the industry: $2.15 per hour away from base.
• SWAPA considers our Duty and Trip Rigs to be the strongest in the industry, as they protect pilot productivity and efficiency.
• Minimum Daily guarantee is 6.5 TFP; Ex., a 3-day trip pays a minimum of 19.5 TFP.
• Duty hour rig is .74 TFP per hour, minimum.
• Reserve guarantee is 90 TFP per month; but actual months pay average around 105 TFP.
• Reserves are allowed to pick-up extra flying.
• Holidays pay 150 percent.
• Open Time trips pay up to 150 percent.
• Junior “forced” assignment pays 200 percent

Retirement

• Every SWA employee shares in the success of SWA through the ProfitSharing program. The five-year average has been approximately 8 percent of annual earnings.
• 401(k) Matching dollar-for-dollar up to 9.3 percent of annual salary.
• 95 percent of your 401(k) can be invested outside of standard mutual funds as directed by the pilot via a PCRA option.
• LUV Employee Stock Purchase Program, 10 percent discount.

Codeshare Protection

• Very strong scope language, including no domestic codeshare and no RJ codeshare as well as veto power for far international codeshare. Limited near-international codeshare. Max of 4 percent of total SWA ASMs.
• Any changes to scope and codeshare language are voted on by the membership.

Benefits

• Health care is funded by SWA through self-insurance.
• Premium rates are lower than many, if not most in the industry; a fraction of the cost of many plans.
• Plans offered include PPO, EPO, LTD, Pilot Mutual Aid, Loss of License.
• The cost for a family of four in the PPO plan is $197.96 per month. and EPO pan is $222.96 per month. Both amounts are maximum premiums for both of these premiere plans and include dental, vision and prescriptions.
• The “Regular” plan costs zero for entire family.
• Loss of license insurance available for all pilots.
• Maximums of: $11,500 per month for Captains, $7,500 per month for First Officers; until retirement age.
• Accidental death and dismemberment and longterm disability and term life insurance available.

Monthly Bidding

• Over 80 percent of trips are 3-days.
• Majority of lines have at least 17 days off.
• Reserve lines have 15/16 days off per month.
• No ready reserve or airport standby.
• Flexible training schedules with ability to bid for max pay or quality of life.
• Duty day averages less than 9 hours.
• Hotels picked by committee of pilots and flight attendants
• (not brokers). This ensures desirable locations and amenities.
• Additionally SWA food and beverage discounts have
• been described as the envy of the entire industry.
• “No question/No Chief Pilot call” fatigue policy. Pulled from trip with pay.
• Commuter policy requires only one available flight, even when commuting on other airlines.
• Sick bank accrual is 10 percent of trips flown per month; 1600 TFP max bank.
• Pilot-to-Pilot trip trade and giveaway.
• Pilot-to-Company trip trade.
• Vacation trade and buy back.
• Employee Pass Bureau for complete offline vacation planning and discounts.

sailingfun

International pilots normally fly more not less block hours then domestic pilots and are generally more efficient. The NRT operation at Delta is however very inefficient on a block hour basis countering that to a degree.
If you want to argue about block hours per pilot a much better case can be made based on the fleet at Delta. Managements decision to operate a fleet comprised of every orphaned and bastard child aircraft in the world builds into the system ineffiencies not found at SW. Still even adjusting for that SW is far more efficient.
In 2011 their average daily aircraft utilization was 10.5 hours a day. Delta was at 9.2 on narrow bodies. That alone should require SW to need 13 to 14 percent more pilots per airframe if all other factors were equal.

slowplay

You mean the contract comparison that came out BEFORE there was a
TA? The one that SWAPA plagiarized for their own negotiation purposes?

Try not to take this personally, I just wish people didn't spew bovine excrement as fact in an attempt to mislead. FULL truth data...like the contract comparison (which was intentionally NOT editorialized as described in the introduction).

Oh, I note that you and FtB aren't quoting the post-TA SWAPA bulletin where it talks how Delta pilots will pass them...are you being selective or intentionally misleading?

johnso29

Yes, & we all know DALPA controls the fleet plan.

johnso29

Who is seeing more productivity? In my category less then 20% of the reserves fly at all during the entire month. That's right, they fly 0 hours. Where's the increased productivity?

forgot to bid

Sailing, according to the welcome to SWA packet, they say they:

• fly an average of 10.78 hours per day per jet. Using that figure x 365.2425 days and you get 3,937 hours per SWA jet per year.
• they have 5,813 line pilots*.

Last year we found out we flew around 1.9M domestic block hours and when divided by a fleet of 566 domestic jets you come up with a number of about 3,428 hours per domestic DAL jet per year. Those numbers are close to industry standards so I'll run with them.

So using their data from the AirTran welcome packet:

• SWA: 3,937 hours x 549 jets / 5813 line pilots = 372.85 hours per pilot per year.
  
• DAL: 3,428 hours x 182 MD88/MD90s** / 1735 line pilots = 359.59 hours per pilot per year.

Except that I don't know too many MD88/MD90 As and Bs making $240,000 and $140,000 with an average of 18 days off a month.

So are we getting close to SWA productivity? I don't know, looks like they fly their jets a little more and the individual pilot flies more hours in less days than we do but they get more days off. So, yes from a company standpoint but no from a pilot standpoint. Now lets assume for a moment all of this is right, what now? What does it mean? It means, we get what we negotiate and approve or allow.

*5813 pilots plus 10% is around 6458, so it looks like 10% is the average for offline pilots as well.
**Based on 65 MD90s

Timbo

I'm stunned and amazed at just how inefficient Delta really is, when you consider all the different aircraft types, +717, we will be operating! Just consider how many pilots are tied up in training, plus all the instructors, for all those different fleets, plus fleet captains, etc.

Now throw in the cost of buying and holding all those different spare parts, and training the mechanics and F/A's and gate agents, how to deal with all the different types. I'm amazed we make any money at all!

IF and when Delta mgt. ever decides to thin the fleets (ie. park all the 767's/757's for 737's) there will be a huge surplus of pilots, no doubt. This will take a few years obviously, but long term (next 10+ years), I expect them to consolodate and eventually have half as many different aircraft types as we have today. BUT...the bottom line is, with regard to SWA, no company can be as efficient as they are, unless you also operate only one fleet type.

Back in 2004, I had Jerry the Genius on my jumpseat going ATL to AMS about 6mo. before he declared bankruptcy. We asked him what the long term plan was, aircraft wise. He said eventually they would like to have only two fleets; the 787 for all international flying, and the 737 for all domestic flying. And if I were king at Boeing, I'd be making their cockpits identical, and pushing for a dual type rating for the two of them.

That was then, this is now, and RA2 doesn't seem to live by that rule, quite the opposite, seems he's never walked away from a yard sale empty handed...but I wonder about the additional costs of adding fleet types. Sure the airframes are cheaper than new ones, but what about the added costs of training people, and more, different parts, etc.? That has to get figured in there too.

scambo1

I still cannot make any sense out of productivity sits, changing jets every time you transit a base and not keeping your flight attendants (at least all day).

But, we gotta push at a 45 degree angle? Huh?