Southwest or Delta
04-21-2022, 04:44 AM
#31
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jan 2021
Posts: 159
Seniority does come into play with initial bidding but once our Line improvement Trip Trade opens up on the 25th of each month you can start to massage your schedule more to your liking. For example, I bid a PM line for Apirl to maximize my vacation pay, but with a 3 year old at home, my life is on the AM side of the clock. So once elitt opened, i traded all my trips for AMs and then I'm set for the month. Depending on where you are based, the AM trips either get easier as you head west or harder as the trip goes east. North/South trips that stay in 1 time zone are super easy. I like to head to Hawaii where the AM trips get easier. To each his own. Once you embrace the AMs you can get off weekend flying quicker.
How long on weekends for average new hire now at average base?
04-21-2022, 04:52 AM
#32
weekends off? Nope...
Joined APC: Apr 2014
Posts: 2,021
that’s tough to say. The first few months will be spent getting into the base you want…if that’s other than oak, lax or las. That’s where we’re at right now with our December new hires. I couldn’t really guess how long beyond that to get off weekends. Weekends actually start to go more senior in the summer months because of the way our vacations pay, and summer vacations go senior. And then they go junior once again in the Fall. So, it varies.
04-21-2022, 05:26 AM
#33
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Feb 2018
Posts: 1,264
Might want to read ^^this^^ book. Biggest takeaway: a good night's sleep is even more important for our longterm health than most of us ever imagined. Then decide if long-haul international flying really is for you. Then recall that SWA has that much-maligned (or loved) AM/PM schedule thing....and no red-eyes....and that there are many SWA pilots (like this one) that have honestly not set an alarm clock for virtually my entire 20+ year career here. But this also may not be important to you.
I hear that East coast crews flying PM’s face a similar dilemma at the other end of the day.
Its also true that if you fly either east or west on a trip (which is hard to avoid at SWA), your body automatically begins adjusting to the new time zone because your body responds to circadian light cues like earlier or later onset of dawn or dusk (the sun sets earlier than your body is adapted to when you travel east, for example). This also poses a risk to our health when it occurs chronically in a whipsaw fashion as it does in our jobs at SWA..
Which is worse: long haul international flying traveling less frequently across more time zones or short haul, mostly domestic flying traveling more frequently over fewer time zones? I don’t know that it has been studied but I’m not sure that SWA’s flavor of circadian rhythm disruption is more healthy than the former.
04-21-2022, 08:02 AM
#34
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Aug 2015
Posts: 833
Please tell me more about where I DON'T work. Been here almost 3 years and still can't hold DAL. Roll eyes emoji.
I'll buy you a beer if you think one of our new hires from Dec can hold DAL in 2022. With LEAD Ops walking back their hiring projections twice already this year (by ~10% both times), and with the attrition in new hire classes, my best guess is 14-18 months for a new hire to hold DAL. The only base more senior is ATL.
I'll buy you a beer if you think one of our new hires from Dec can hold DAL in 2022. With LEAD Ops walking back their hiring projections twice already this year (by ~10% both times), and with the attrition in new hire classes, my best guess is 14-18 months for a new hire to hold DAL. The only base more senior is ATL.
04-21-2022, 09:07 AM
#37
weekends off? Nope...
Joined APC: Apr 2014
Posts: 2,021
every month. Consistently. Vacancy dates are published for the rest of the year. We won’t know the numbers until about 5 weeks prior to the month in question. July Vacancy will be published May 18th. Should be big with 130 Captain slots.
04-21-2022, 09:40 AM
#39
weekends off? Nope...
Joined APC: Apr 2014
Posts: 2,021
04-21-2022, 04:19 PM
#40
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Aug 2015
Posts: 833
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