CanyonBlue

Absolutely happened.

Guy got a furlough call back from United. Evaluate his options for his long term career. Decided going back to United was best for him and his family.

Thought he was doing the 'right thing' by giving SW two weeks notice and was intent on flying his schedule as posted. The squeeze came from T. Gleason in Dallas. He placed a phone call to the DEN chief and said go meet him at the gate and retrieve all SW property. If I were that Chief, I would have first tried to talk TG out of it, and if that didn't work, I would have resigned. Just my take. That DEN Chief left after a few more years I think?

Great way to treat people just for spite.

Liberty

How about “the lanyards”? According to swapa, that’s got to be just incredibly effective. Surely it’s keeping management up at night! 🤔 Fully prepared to be underwhelmed. Expecting to vote no on a low rate contract that will end up passing.

Privateer89

Agreed! What a joke it is to think that management gives two sh$&s about how many of us are wearing red lanyards. They speak money. Until they can’t attract/retain pilots in order to grow margins for shareholders, they won’t care. I have no doubt that they will offer an industry standard contract, but not a penny more or a day earlier than they have to.

In our favor is that SWA is currently operating at sub optimal efficiency, flying 30-40 aircraft less than what we could because of a lack of pilots. They said today that with nearly 100 aircraft orders next year, our pilot staffing and 2,160 new hires won’t be able to fly all available aircraft until late next year….leaving money on the table.

Teamroper

With the mad rush to get hired and gain seniority ahead of the wave, there may be a false sense of demand for the job now while noob FOs are actually just placeholders waiting to see how the contract shakes out. There could be significant attrition later if they don’t match the market with a strong TA. A first year guy has much less to lose by jumping ship when companies will supposedly be hiring for a couple of years….and there will be thousands of first year guys at risk.

I don’t think this situation has existed before. Mgmt may see those full classes as proof that they are priced right…but that is not what is filling classes now.

tanker

The lanyards aren't meant to keep Managrement up at night but as a means to show pilot unity among the Pilots, just like the black ties were for the last CBA. However the black ties did seem to upset Management as they did ban them as a uniform item.

WHACKMASTER

You’re just ****ing into the wind responding to the “lanyard won’t do anything” types. They have no clue about solidarity and what management notices or doesn’t notice and the effect such acts as wearing the SWAPA lanyard or black ties has. Some are beyond hopeless.

e6bpilot

Yep. The lanyard is the 2015 black tie.
Those who can't be bothered are using the same whining and complaining about harassment and making excuses that the flag tie folks were back then. One of them went to management over some (very funny) memes that were posted on the southwest Trailways meme Facebook page.
These people live and breathe among us. If you try and help them understand, they will make excuses as to why it is so difficult to do one simple thing.
They will enjoy the fruits of your labor, though, once the ink is dry.

Teamroper

Apologies for verbosity.

I get it. I’m a noob, I don’t know the territory etc. I ALSO do absolutely respect the pain thats been felt on the line and the WARN stuff was BS for a company with this balance sheet.

Well, as I read more and more history (ref. Lew’s recent “book“ on Delta, and the other subs reactions to it), it seems like knowing the territory is knowing protracted negotiations and a general sense of failure in the end. Am I wrong? Is the current method working for you?

Is the company threatened by a pilot with seniority? That guy is never going to leave - reference the anonymous pilots here whose posts haven’t changed in over a decade (I checked) yet they still show up and do their job every day.

The REAL power lies with the new hires, and potential attrition. Thats good for nobody and costs big money - especially now with a limited supply and a race to onboard and retain before the competition can. Its all for naught if you lose them in a year.

Pilots care about $$$ and QOL. I can only speak for myself, but this isn’t a dockyard where pressure/threats/lists would have any affect on me (if I decide to apply), because there is no room for that in the cockpit and I won’t have to work with an angry mob every day convincing me otherwise. Maybe it works on others. Heck, is there free food and music at the Spirit party??? I’ll be the guy with the ruffles and the top hat. (Ok, ok just pushing your buttons- keep reading…)

If any real movement will take place, there has to be a professional effort to educate pilots (ESPECIALLY new FOs) on the dollars and cents of HOW SW makes more money in comparison to the competition. Its all nebulous now.

NOBODY (especially pilot-type personalities) likes to feel like they are being taken advantage of - and if thats happening and can be CLEARLY articulated and spread through education, you might be surprised. NOW you’ve got MY attention, and I’ll pass on the buffet line. How much is SW going to lose for every new FO that jumps ship later? Shareholders would like to know. Do mngmt’s job for them here.

The majority of these noob regional pilots have already learned to tune-out the union rhetoric (what a drag bruh)…and they just got a major QOL and $$$ bump by making their dream come true at the big leagues. The message has to be different.

Also, the complaints about FH?…guys, I can’t stand most lawyers either but its obvious you just need to hire a bigger/better firm to negotiate for you. Why bring a knife to a gunfight? “They are evil”. Thats probably what you say about your exwifes lawyer after she whooped you in court. Well, who got the money?……….. (cue the teamroper conspiracy theories).

Nobody is going to feel bad for a bunch of pilots who feel threatened, but aren’t going anywhere. Learn to compete and win respect within the system of what matters and play at the same level. The company would never negotiate with a vendor they respect in this manner. So step up your game. Don’t bring a knife. It would be better for pilots AND the business. These long “negotiations” are a HUGE waste of everyone’s energy which should be spent on beating the competition.

Who had more negotiating power in the end - T Brady, or Kaepernick? Brady got respect and got paid. Kaep is probably anonymously posting online now (although Tom might join him soon…ouch). The point remains.

Motivations are only: Share price for their team, and checkbook/QOL for the pilots. Not fear, anger, feelings, etc. Nobody cares.

I bet a pro could figure out what speaks to the 70% of tuned-out pilots, and the newhires. I bet they could also find what speaks to the shareholders for you.

Demonstrate to the analysts how taking your deal, and taking it fast, enhances value. Shareholders drive the business not management (sadly). Your energy should be there, for the benefit of everyone. (Telling Wall Street you want to get paid before them…well, its an “interesting” strategy.)

SWA could have yet another competitive advantage by getting deals done in 6 mos. or less, and would be bragging about their industry-leading pilot union on cnbc. Thats QOL right there. Attrition would be zero. They need a worthy/respected opponent/partner. You guys have to lead that horse to water.

I’ll check back in a few years and we can see how the current methods panned out. Its been a fun deep-dive, but I’m over it. All this contract talk is a drag…bruh.

eace:

Bell

Word to the wise re: resignation.

“Good afternoon Chief Pilot. I’m calling to give you a heads up that I resign from my position. If it would help operations, I am happy to continue flying my current schedule for two weeks.”

You resign immediately and offer two weeks if they want / need you to stick around. Not “I am going to resign in two weeks, here is my notice.”

Also, don’t take ANY sick time leading up to this or during the two week period. Your new chief pilot will get a phone call.

ElonMusk

Why work those 2 weeks? Why risk your new job because of some event that could happen that could lead to a violation? Not worth it for a dream job. I just burned up my sick time and called them and said “I got my dream job and I resign effective today, thank you for your time”. BTW the same way I did it when I got hired at SW and they asked me to make a class in 3 days.

It is true nobody in the office is your friend. While we have a great CP we have one of the worst assistants in the system. The Beantown Bully….so keep it professional.