Originally Posted by FlyZ

Weird how all the ones they add to compete with us are on 737s, and nearly all the ones we add to compete with them are on RJs.

Originally Posted by Bucking Bar

Who knew?

This might be the answer to concerns about excessive sick leave. I mean, pilots might need something with a screen larger than the Surface 2 and the ability to side load a flash player.

DailyTech - Experts: Masturbation Prevents Cancer, Diabetes, Insomnia, and Depression

Of course, then there's the problem of getting a "Live Jasmin" pop up while trying to brief the arrival. ....

Originally Posted by DeadHead

I'm sure that concept will rub some people the wrong way.

Originally Posted by forgot to bid

RIC is a great point when it comes to hotels. The short RIC is in a fantastic place. It's got a free breakfast plus there's an Applebees, China King, Taco Bell, Longhorn Stakehouse, Bistro, Red Lobster, Cracker Barrel, McDonalds, Steak and Shake, 5 Guys, Chick-fil-A, TGI Fridays, Subway, Qdoba, Firehouse Subs, Starbucks plus Target, JC Penny, Sams Club, Lowes, Best Buy and all within walking distance and very safe.

Or you can go downtown which has a couple of places open during the week for lunch and a brewery/bar $$ nearby that everyone likes and then you can walk. If you're on the 88 or similar machine, you just need a place to rest, grab a bite, might even splurge and eat at a place with a waitress, and then go to bed. Maybe even take a jog in safety. To stay in places just because "there's a [or one] good bar" irritates me.

And don't get me started on PHF (when it was not all CRJ-200) and driving past the Patrick Henry mall area to Hampton. My high school was zoned for that area and for fun I looked the other day to see how my high school ranks... 3 out of 10. I was blown away, I didn't think it was that high. Why are we in such a desperate search for downtowns that don't exist?

BTW CLT is an awesome downtown, why aren't we there? And Albany? Are we still 30 minutes away if the drive does 80?

I know, fill out an FCR or something. But why? If those things mattered WE WOULD NOT STILL BE IN DOWNTOWN DAYTON! Not after the FCRs I wrote. I think the DAY overnight took me back the most because both the short and long were our RJ layovers and we complained bitterly about them then.

And another thing, there's this airport on the Panhandle in Florida that just built a really nice hotel in the parking lot... but oh no, let's go to the beach. Free breakfast?! 3 minute walk?! Meet you at the airplane? NO, I want to go to a 2 star resort 30 minutes away that's on the beach. Don't get me wrong, I love the beach, with my family. But if nursing an 88 around I just wanted a good hotel in a safe area with food options.

Originally Posted by shoelu

No rumor, SWA pilots and FA's scout, evaluate and negotiate all hotel deals. It has always been that way at Southwest. Of course there are financial constraints set down by the company, but the Crew Accommodation Committee is truly the ones out there making the deals. According to a committee member I flew with recently the "special deals" are simply a part of the bargaining process. Most hotels still offer 1-2-3 cocktails and food discounts normally range from a bare minimum of 25% up to a more normal 30 to 40% but do reach 50% at many properties. The crew component of hotel decisions is codified in our CBA.


The Crew Accommodations Committee is a committee composed of SWA Pilots and Flight Attendants.

Committee Charter: The Crew Accommodations Committee is charged with the responsibility of screening Crew Member hotels and negotiating said contracts for Southwest Airlines. The goal is to place our Crew Members in the highest quality accommodations for the most affordable cost to the Company.

The Committee Chair and Members share in a management function that represents the interests of both the Company and its crewmembers in the hotel contract screening and negotiation process. The Committee Chair and Members have a direct role in substantial corporate expenditures for crewmember accommodations.

Originally Posted by acl65pilot

I am unaware of the transportation change being approved by us. The cutoff change was approved by the Hotel Committee chair and was based on pilot feedback.

Originally Posted by FmrFreightDog

Agree to disagree, I suppose, but one of the branches of the family I married in to owns around 20 franchised hotels up and down the East Coast, and airline contracts (and trucking company contracts and railroad contacts) are liquid gold as far as they are concerned. And no, they're not Motel 6's or Novotels. I'm sure your GM buddy/cousin has lots of good stories about the airline crew doing whatever, but at the end of the day it's all about revenue. X number of rooms guaranteed for $Y day in and day out is Christmas come early every morning the night auditor closes out.

We may be a headache for the GM, but (with some notable exceptions), hotels crave our business.

Originally Posted by Bucking Bar

All I've ever seen crews do is want a meal and sleep. What excitement have I been missing?

Is it because we complain when other guests use their facilities for fights, drug use and parties?

The most considerate places put us in quieter parts of the hotel and never seem to have any problems with crews ... yeah, I'll complain if unable to sleep. Is that the issue?

Originally Posted by Roadkill

DTW long layo is now in the center of the hood, right on the river. I thought it would suxxor, didn't want it... but now I've been there, and yes the location is kinda dangerous at night, but-- I like the hotel, it's kinda it's own mall with food and movies right there. NOW I think it's a good place! So, with DTW as probably the most heinous example folks would say "No downtown!!", I guarantee if they changed it there would be a zillion pilots, ok 5 or so, who would complain. Some guys want to visit the big city, and NOT some cookie-cutter suburb. I'd hate to have someone start messing with my downtown SFO, PHL, SAN, LAS, SEA, LAX, PHX, etc. locations. So yeah, in this case I think the contract and ALPA's work in hotel area, is pretty good.

Now, I'll admit... a DTW layo in Ann Arbor near UM would be closer than downtown and better. And since Wayne County airport ISN'T actually in DTW, in fact it's in Romulus and closer to Ann Arbor, I think we could easily say "downtown = Ann Arbor for DTW, go Blue".

Originally Posted by Boomer

DeadHead beat you to it.