Disturbing Trends at SWA
10-30-2023, 04:31 PM
#1
Gets Weekends Off
Thread Starter
Joined APC: Nov 2021
Posts: 202
Disturbing Trends at SWA
"Disturbing….
1,154 Days Since Our Contract Became Amendable
272 Pilots Have Left SWA This Year
October 30, 2023
HOU Update: Culture Shift
This message is crucial, and it should be shared widely.
Workplace dynamics have evolved, and we’re observing unsettling trends in our base. It’s vital for everyone to acknowledge that the past culture is no longer in place, and we must emphasize our professionalism as Pilots.
In what appears to be a sudden shift away from how issues have been handled in the past, it seems that all discipline now comes from Dallas, not our Chiefs, and they believe that someone must be held accountable for any situation. Unlike the past where honesty and owning up to mistakes could lead to a fair resolution, today, Flight Ops management will determine the outcome. It’s disheartening that Pilots who don’t know you, your base, or even fly the line will decide whether you deserve a second chance or potentially letters in your file. We have seen this disciplinary pattern carried out with the other labor groups, and it now seems Flight Ops will be doing the same.
While SWAPA does not agree with the way the Company is handling many disciplinary issues, in keeping with the mantra "accept no unnecessary risk," we recommend the following.
Be cautious and avoid making jokes with passengers or colleagues.
Ensure you don’t overlook anything during your walk-around checks.
If you witness another employee group mistreating passengers, it’s best to walk away and report it to Pro Standards.
When commuting or nonrevving, abstain from drinking alcohol or getting involved with the crew during the flight, regardless of the pass type.
Avoid discussing political or religious matters at work or on social media; there will be consequences.
If your actions might be viewed as noncompliant with procedures or policies, refrain from taking them.
Recognize that years of loyal service and hard work might not carry the weight it once did.
Remember, the Chiefs who know you personally are not the ones determining the outcome. Flight Ops management in Dallas, who knows you only as an employee number, is determining your fate.
It troubles me to write this way but as a Pilot group, it’s time to concentrate on the job and to shut out the noise around us. The old way of doing things is gone, replaced by a culture of blame, fear, and retribution. It appears that Southwest Airlines management has disconnected from the daily operational reality, treating mistakes in a binary manner without considering context, and holding you guilty until proven innocent.
If you ever have doubts, your first step should be to call SWAPA for guidance. Keep in mind that anything you say to a Chief, supervisor, or manager may be used against you.
Your Union stands ready to defend you whenever you call but do yourself and your family a favor by having awareness of your environment and the threats that surround you at all times.
In Unity, HOU SWAPA Reps"
1,154 Days Since Our Contract Became Amendable
272 Pilots Have Left SWA This Year
October 30, 2023
HOU Update: Culture Shift
This message is crucial, and it should be shared widely.
Workplace dynamics have evolved, and we’re observing unsettling trends in our base. It’s vital for everyone to acknowledge that the past culture is no longer in place, and we must emphasize our professionalism as Pilots.
In what appears to be a sudden shift away from how issues have been handled in the past, it seems that all discipline now comes from Dallas, not our Chiefs, and they believe that someone must be held accountable for any situation. Unlike the past where honesty and owning up to mistakes could lead to a fair resolution, today, Flight Ops management will determine the outcome. It’s disheartening that Pilots who don’t know you, your base, or even fly the line will decide whether you deserve a second chance or potentially letters in your file. We have seen this disciplinary pattern carried out with the other labor groups, and it now seems Flight Ops will be doing the same.
While SWAPA does not agree with the way the Company is handling many disciplinary issues, in keeping with the mantra "accept no unnecessary risk," we recommend the following.
Be cautious and avoid making jokes with passengers or colleagues.
Ensure you don’t overlook anything during your walk-around checks.
If you witness another employee group mistreating passengers, it’s best to walk away and report it to Pro Standards.
When commuting or nonrevving, abstain from drinking alcohol or getting involved with the crew during the flight, regardless of the pass type.
Avoid discussing political or religious matters at work or on social media; there will be consequences.
If your actions might be viewed as noncompliant with procedures or policies, refrain from taking them.
Recognize that years of loyal service and hard work might not carry the weight it once did.
Remember, the Chiefs who know you personally are not the ones determining the outcome. Flight Ops management in Dallas, who knows you only as an employee number, is determining your fate.
It troubles me to write this way but as a Pilot group, it’s time to concentrate on the job and to shut out the noise around us. The old way of doing things is gone, replaced by a culture of blame, fear, and retribution. It appears that Southwest Airlines management has disconnected from the daily operational reality, treating mistakes in a binary manner without considering context, and holding you guilty until proven innocent.
If you ever have doubts, your first step should be to call SWAPA for guidance. Keep in mind that anything you say to a Chief, supervisor, or manager may be used against you.
Your Union stands ready to defend you whenever you call but do yourself and your family a favor by having awareness of your environment and the threats that surround you at all times.
In Unity, HOU SWAPA Reps"
10-31-2023, 10:56 AM
#5
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Nov 2022
Posts: 195
I am a 1221 guy and am amused by this email from the HOU rep. I have read more and more about the “evil” management in the last few months as the Dallas Command and Control takes over and expands than I ever did about the 1221 being threatened with their job over the holidays. It’s like it is just now sinking in that Dallas is all about expanding their power and building more silos than ever before. Where have you guys been the last 3 years? Welcome into the pool, the water is warm as we have kept it warm for you the last 35 months. This is nothing new. Take your time and do your best, read that again….TAKE YOUR TIME to make sure things are correct before you head on out. Just had a captain who was not on the release tell me “we are late I’ll just ASAP it after we leave” instead of calling dispatch. I told him no way no how, fix it now and take the delay or I get off. Once I undid my seat belt he got on the phone. TAKE YOUR TIME and make sure everything is correct before you go half cocked into the night sky, the company does not have your back.
Embrace the suck, it’s always been there you were just isolated from it. Use this place as a revenue generator for you and your family. Take every single dollar out of this place and leave nothing on the table. Do not worry if the carcass is viable after you are done with it. That is not your job.
Lastly, stop worrying about the hotel issues. Stop interacting with the FAs and you will not have an issue. In case you haven’t noticed you are on duty till 30 minutes after check in, it rarely takes that long to get to the van and head to the hotel, even on a PM shift. You pay me enough money and enhance my QOL I will ride a van with Bob every night, it will be a quiet ride but I will. Don’t interact with the sky servers and you have nothing to worry about. Pop in your ear buds and scroll TikTok, it makes for a pleasant experience.
10-31-2023, 11:03 AM
#6
gets time off
Joined APC: Apr 2007
Posts: 1,234
I am a 1221 guy and am amused by this email from the HOU rep. I have read more and more about the “evil” management in the last few months as the Dallas Command and Control takes over and expands than I ever did about the 1221 being threatened with their job over the holidays. It’s like it is just now sinking in that Dallas is all about expanding their power and building more silos than ever before. Where have you guys been the last 3 years? Welcome into the pool, the water is warm as we have kept it warm for you the last 35 months. This is nothing new. Take your time and do your best, read that again….TAKE YOUR TIME to make sure things are correct before you head on out. Just had a captain who was not on the release tell me “we are late I’ll just ASAP it after we leave” instead of calling dispatch. I told him no way no how, fix it now and take the delay or I get off. Once I undid my seat belt he got on the phone. TAKE YOUR TIME and make sure everything is correct before you go half cocked into the night sky, the company does not have your back.
Embrace the suck, it’s always been there you were just isolated from it. Use this place as a revenue generator for you and your family. Take every single dollar out of this place and leave nothing on the table. Do not worry if the carcass is viable after you are done with it. That is not your job.
Lastly, stop worrying about the hotel issues. Stop interacting with the FAs and you will not have an issue. In case you haven’t noticed you are on duty till 30 minutes after check in, it rarely takes that long to get to the van and head to the hotel, even on a PM shift. You pay me enough money and enhance my QOL I will ride a van with Bob every night, it will be a quiet ride but I will. Don’t interact with the sky servers and you have nothing to worry about. Pop in your ear buds and scroll TikTok, it makes for a pleasant experience.
Embrace the suck, it’s always been there you were just isolated from it. Use this place as a revenue generator for you and your family. Take every single dollar out of this place and leave nothing on the table. Do not worry if the carcass is viable after you are done with it. That is not your job.
Lastly, stop worrying about the hotel issues. Stop interacting with the FAs and you will not have an issue. In case you haven’t noticed you are on duty till 30 minutes after check in, it rarely takes that long to get to the van and head to the hotel, even on a PM shift. You pay me enough money and enhance my QOL I will ride a van with Bob every night, it will be a quiet ride but I will. Don’t interact with the sky servers and you have nothing to worry about. Pop in your ear buds and scroll TikTok, it makes for a pleasant experience.
10-31-2023, 11:40 AM
#7
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Dec 2017
Position: 737 FO
Posts: 989
I am a 1221 guy and am amused by this email from the HOU rep. I have read more and more about the “evil” management in the last few months as the Dallas Command and Control takes over and expands than I ever did about the 1221 being threatened with their job over the holidays. It’s like it is just now sinking in that Dallas is all about expanding their power and building more silos than ever before. Where have you guys been the last 3 years? Welcome into the pool, the water is warm as we have kept it warm for you the last 35 months. This is nothing new. Take your time and do your best, read that again….TAKE YOUR TIME to make sure things are correct before you head on out. Just had a captain who was not on the release tell me “we are late I’ll just ASAP it after we leave” instead of calling dispatch. I told him no way no how, fix it now and take the delay or I get off. Once I undid my seat belt he got on the phone. TAKE YOUR TIME and make sure everything is correct before you go half cocked into the night sky, the company does not have your back.
Embrace the suck, it’s always been there you were just isolated from it. Use this place as a revenue generator for you and your family. Take every single dollar out of this place and leave nothing on the table. Do not worry if the carcass is viable after you are done with it. That is not your job.
Lastly, stop worrying about the hotel issues. Stop interacting with the FAs and you will not have an issue. In case you haven’t noticed you are on duty till 30 minutes after check in, it rarely takes that long to get to the van and head to the hotel, even on a PM shift. You pay me enough money and enhance my QOL I will ride a van with Bob every night, it will be a quiet ride but I will. Don’t interact with the sky servers and you have nothing to worry about. Pop in your ear buds and scroll TikTok, it makes for a pleasant experience.
Embrace the suck, it’s always been there you were just isolated from it. Use this place as a revenue generator for you and your family. Take every single dollar out of this place and leave nothing on the table. Do not worry if the carcass is viable after you are done with it. That is not your job.
Lastly, stop worrying about the hotel issues. Stop interacting with the FAs and you will not have an issue. In case you haven’t noticed you are on duty till 30 minutes after check in, it rarely takes that long to get to the van and head to the hotel, even on a PM shift. You pay me enough money and enhance my QOL I will ride a van with Bob every night, it will be a quiet ride but I will. Don’t interact with the sky servers and you have nothing to worry about. Pop in your ear buds and scroll TikTok, it makes for a pleasant experience.
11-01-2023, 01:21 PM
#8
Gets Weekends Off
Thread Starter
Joined APC: Nov 2021
Posts: 202
We SUCK:
You got 4000 SWAG Points!
While this is, no doubt, being celebrated throughout the GO with another glorious deck party, it's really pathetic what this operation has come to. The Chief Executive Officer laid out a plan to rebuild this company after the pandemic and can't even get the company performance high enough to meet his made up goals. Setting aside the "Operational Disruption" that cost the company $1.3B in profits (and us 50% of our already anemic PS check), the picture below is what the company was supposed to accomplish this quarter.
Of note:
1) A bunch of people sent Kick Tails to each other. Apparently this was a topic of conversation at the Culture Fraud event yesterday. How is this particular goal moving this company back towards operational excellence?
2) This metric is amazing. First, they filter out any flight that did not arrive within 15 minutes of schedule then ask "Did you like you experience?" A third of our customers are not happy even when we get them to their destination on time!
3) It turns out we get people to their destination late over 25% of the time. This is actually an operational metric that makes sense - but there is ZERO incentive for anyone in the system to "catch up" once things are late.
4) We flew our schedule! Terrific. In other words, we avoided any major meltdowns. That's moving in the right direction.
5) ROIC. Is Gary still around here somewhere measuring ROIC? It says TBD but (spoiler alert) Q3 was so terrible there's no way SWA hit 10% ROIC. It's also another accounting metric not operational metric.
Good news: You got 4,000 SWAG Points
Bad news: You may want to cash them in now before they are wiped out in bankruptcy.
You got 4000 SWAG Points!
While this is, no doubt, being celebrated throughout the GO with another glorious deck party, it's really pathetic what this operation has come to. The Chief Executive Officer laid out a plan to rebuild this company after the pandemic and can't even get the company performance high enough to meet his made up goals. Setting aside the "Operational Disruption" that cost the company $1.3B in profits (and us 50% of our already anemic PS check), the picture below is what the company was supposed to accomplish this quarter.
Of note:
1) A bunch of people sent Kick Tails to each other. Apparently this was a topic of conversation at the Culture Fraud event yesterday. How is this particular goal moving this company back towards operational excellence?
2) This metric is amazing. First, they filter out any flight that did not arrive within 15 minutes of schedule then ask "Did you like you experience?" A third of our customers are not happy even when we get them to their destination on time!
3) It turns out we get people to their destination late over 25% of the time. This is actually an operational metric that makes sense - but there is ZERO incentive for anyone in the system to "catch up" once things are late.
4) We flew our schedule! Terrific. In other words, we avoided any major meltdowns. That's moving in the right direction.
5) ROIC. Is Gary still around here somewhere measuring ROIC? It says TBD but (spoiler alert) Q3 was so terrible there's no way SWA hit 10% ROIC. It's also another accounting metric not operational metric.
Good news: You got 4,000 SWAG Points
Bad news: You may want to cash them in now before they are wiped out in bankruptcy.
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