Smokey23

Eeee-yep. Next time the economy takes a hit, look for GK to whip out his checkbook. If there's anything the last two decades here have taught me, it's never say never.

e6bpilot

I like how in that article, the company is patting itself on the back for the retention. One entity is responsible for the retention going up, and that is SWAPA. Can you imagine how awesome retention would have been under TA1?

Caveman

During the next economic valley & hiring slows/stops, the upgrade reality for today's SWA new hire is going to be significant factor to over come regarding attracting high quality candidates.

SWAs "BIG" annual retirement years pale in comparison to other choices.

Squallrider

True. If you’re a senior FO you can make closer to captain pay with work but the time to reach senior FO is going higher itself. Difference between a 10 year upgrade and even 5 at United is easily 500k in earnings. Some might take the stability of SWA over the others though , SWA has the business model to withstand economic downturns better than others

e6bpilot

Percentage wise, it’s about the same as UA and DL. It just happens a couple years later than the legacies.
During an economic downturn, the falling tide will lower everyone’s boat. There seems to be this persistent theory that certain carriers are furlough proof or will withstand a recession better. When the music stops, I think all of us will be in a bad spot in one way or another. SWAPA has never had a furloughed pilot...yet. AAs management has stated they will never lose money again...until they do.

RJSAviator76

Here’s another discussion topic:

Suppose you live in base as an FO and you choose to upgrade at the earliest possible time and commute to be a plug reserve and then the music stops. What do you do? Do you bid back to FO at the earliest possible time and come back home? Or do you grit your teeth and stick it out commuting to reserve?

Smokey23

If you choose to upgrade into a commute+reserve situation, you deserve all the potentially awful QOL you are setting yourself up for!


Best to avoid living on the ragged edge of what one's seniority will hold, unless you don't mind being surprised (in a bad way) by what the next month may bring.



My two pearls of wisdom....take 'em for what they're worth.

flyguy81

According to Rocky:

-Done interviewing this week for the rest of the year.
-Classes full until April 2019.
-Doing webinars to keep poolies in the loop until they hit class, knowing some will bail for another job if one presents itself first.
-Majority of those yr 1-5 guys quitting are going to Fedex
-Planning to hire 500-700 next year

From CQT:
- Front-loading upgrades next year
- ETOPS is in hands of Feds. Once approved, they do table exercises and then proving runs (could be hard to schedule over the holidays depending on when approval comes)
- LAX opens Jan-March range...probably closer to Feb/March
- Next years training is a full day of ground school/VPT, 3 days of sim so could be a 5 day if you come early or can't commute in on day 1.
-Feds roaming the LEAD center said the Lion Air accident will probably result in some kind of training next year.

at6d

Interestingly enough, in sim this year we had airspeed indicator failure (except for the standby).

Of course, this was in an 800 sim.

Proximity

One thing that I don't think many hired here since 2015 realize is that is the music stops and there is no hiring and no upgrades, there may not be a bid on a monthly basis like you see now. You can't base and/or seat hop in this situation.

Everyones situation is different, but for me I think that FO life is so good I'm going to wait to upgrade in base. If LAX was to go very junior, I could see bidding CA there and taking the paid move. I won't commute to upgrade.