WHACKMASTER

15 days off a month on reserve. FO reserves fly a lot. 2 hour call out. I don't know about how long on reserve but SW carries a relatively low level of reserves compared to traditional airlines (10% or less) so it wouldn't take much movement to get you off of reserve. OTH, with a newly combined pilot group of 7900, things will take a LONG time to "move".

atr42flyer

So what is the upgrade time if hired today?

I know what I think it will be from the outside and I am planning on 20 years.

Also how may pilots on the list under 34?

REF 5

Definitely need a long call reserve. 12 hr call out would work well. The fact that reserves fly a lot, reserves should be a top priority for SWAPA. Especially if movement is going to very slow over the next decade.

Well they just deferred more aircraft recently. Moved some orders to the max and basically getting new 800's over the next two yrs but equal retirements. Any 700's will bought used since a lot of them are coming off lease and have relatively low cycles. So no growth according to GK. We'll see. I personally think no growth until Airtran is fully absorbed. When they do grow it will be slow.

itsokimapilot

I don't know how valid the info was, but when I went to interview HR discussed future hiring with us. They said they were planning on steady hiring of at least 300/year for the next several years. They eluded the hiring was to cover attrition and growth. Based on the size of the new SWA, that seems like moderate growth to me. I also realize that I won't see the left seat for at least 15 years without some big changes.

itsokimapilot

DB met today. Next round of calls are going out. Good luck fellas, I hope to hear some good news from y'all soon!

WHACKMASTER

I'm sure there's a way to reference how many pilots under 34 y/o, but I don't know how to do it. Let me just say that it's not a lot at all. Probably 1-3% but that's just an educated guess.

As for upgrade time? Considering that with this year's new hires and retirements the newly combined seniority list comprises roughly 7,800-7,900 pilots, things are going to happen slllllllllloooooooooowwwwww.

At AirTran when we were taking three airplanes a month for pure growth, that was a large percentage considering our size and thus the reason for 2-3 year upgrades. Now we're talking about an airline with roughly 8,000 pilots, 700 jets, and only about 1,200 retirements in the next 10 years. If SWA grew at three jets per month, it wouldn't be an earth shattering percentage. While 1,200 retirements over 10 years is not chump change per se, it pales in comparison to what the legacies are facing.

Run the numbers on what it would take to reach 55% relative seniority system wide and you'll have your answer on upgrade time. You can plug in whatever growth percentage you'd like, whether that be positive, negative or zero (perhaps the most realistic at least for the foreseeable future).

Honestly, I see zero growth for a few more years and then slow growth (simply due to the enormous present size of the airline already) thereafter. Barring any major economic or world disaster, upgrade will probably run 15 years with 10 years and 20 years being possible but unlikely on either end of the spectrum. Of course, SW could be liquidating in 10 years so who the hell truly knows.

If given a choice, go to DLA, UAL or AMR. The retirement numbers are staggering and you won't have to slave away for 2-6 legs a day in a loud and cramped guppy if that's not your thing. Furlough protection you ask? Try 500+ retirements annually at the aforementioned airlines.

kc10sooner

Yes. Calls started last night.

Got the good news around 630PM or so.

Training should start in January.

Good luck everyone who interviewed, hope you hear something soon.

Calzone

Got the call this morning.
Expecting January as well.

ZapBrannigan

When are they going to give class dates to the late Oct interviewees?

itsokimapilot

Good question Zap. I was in the 13 Nov DB group and still don't have a class. I heard throughout the grapevine to expect the 2 Jan class. It sure would be nice to hear that direct from SWA. Like everyone else that got the call from a CP we were told to expect a call from the People Dept for a class date in a couple days. It's been more than a couple weeks now.