pilot100

seems sad that they would lower it when they still have plenty of applications with over 1000

rmcbear08

Even if it does get lowered, the vast majority of those hired will have in excess of 1000, at least for some time anyway. Maybe in the next 5+ years they'll start seeing more and more hired on the south side of 1K.

Otterbox

They want to be able to hire the same candidates that Delta etc. are hiring with little to no TPIC... Unfortunately it looks like they're all after the same candidates and ignoring everyone else until the pool of them dries up.

tacamoflyer

Exactly.
They are making plans to start hiring with ATP mins and no license within the next 5 years. In the meantime, they are excluding a huge pool of people by having a TPIC requirement. Anyone hired here can expect 10 years in the right seat. There is no reason for it.
Our training center needs to retool itself for non type rated, less experienced pilots. Until it does, dropping the TPIC requirement is going to be troublesome. There have been lots of failures recently, and it isn't because the pilots suck. It's because for over a decade our training consisted of checking blocks off and doing the minimum required to get a type rated pilot spooled up on SWA procedures. The "systems review" we currently have is a joke. The number of sim events is also lacking.
They are making changes as we speak, but it will take a while.
I would expect the PIC requirement to slowly go away. The "Southwest hires Captains" line in our FOM is rooted in pride and vanity, and that just isn't a reality in this hiring environment.
In the meantime, though, it still exists.

tacamoflyer

I contacted our pilot hiring team and what was said above about the 300 attendees for the meet and greet/tour is indeed correct. The initial email was a save the date type of notification. There will be no restrictions as far as meeting the minimums, etc. and he didn't say how they will be selected.
It sounds like this is the first in a series of these type of events.

Sr. Barco

I think SWA has missed out on excellent candidates over the years due to this requirement. Two examples: A friend of mine had 5,000 hours of 757/767 time with the dual type rating and wanted to work for SWA but with 0 TPIC he couldn't even apply. Another had 700 TPIC and at the time had been flying the 737 for AA for 3 years. He couldn't even apply either. I'm sure there's lots of examples like this.

Regarding training at SWA, I received feedback from an ASAP I submitted about this very subject and the ERT said they will be implementing a completely revised training program in about 9 months. They said they are too short of sim time right now. As a side note, when I had AQP earlier this year the instructor said they are chronically short of sim instructors. He said if he wanted to he could work 2 sim sessions a day, 7 days a week.

jetavdk

Any word on when we can expect info on if we are actually "invited" vs. receiving the invite email? I already moved my schedule around to have that day off.

ccdyer76

For what it is worth I applied in April of this year and I received an interview invite in June. I interviewed and was given the Thanks but no thanks try again email. No references called no PRIA records pulled. A real head scratcher. I have over 4500 PIC 121 and Total 8500. Of the ten of us that interviewed only one got the job offer but he went to FED EX instead. I received the email on the event that will happen next month in DAL. It is really hard to move my schedule around at my current airline. I still have a deep desire to worth for SWA but I am a little gun shy from what transpired in June. Any advice?

BYOB

I have had my app in for years. I also interviewed in mid-June and receive the TBNT email; only one from my group was hired. He had subsequent interviews with FedEx and AA. Last I heard he went to FX.

I had (as did most in my interview group) a very different experience than has been previously posted. The welcome wagon and red carpet part was correct, but the interview was a lot more confrontational/adversarial than I expected. I'm 10k+ TT and well more than 6k+ jet PIC. I don't know what I did wrong, and after stewing on it, I don't think I care anymore. SWA of today is a completely different company than the one I was targeting as a ramper back in the mid-90's.

Oddly, I also received the email and contacted them asking if this was a mistake because I was told I cannot apply for one year. The person that replied apologized for the misleading email. This only further solidified my lack of desire for SWA. Years ago I was invited to interview at Hawaiian but couldn't get the time off for the first invite, and then suffered a death in the family that caused me to cancel the second. The reply from Hawaiian was that I may not get another invite, and I never did; in the months that followed I was emailed congratulating me on the job, redacting that email, then a TBNT email (despite not having interviewed), followed by several other emails/apologies for the confusion. This reminds me of the same.

Good luck to those of you that want on. I'll stick with my current gig.

rmcbear08

Did you do any kind of interview prep?

From what I understand SW isn't terribly keen on people doing that, but I think their main problem with it is more of the 'canned' answers they hear instead of 'your' answers. A good prep service will teach you the difference.

It sounds like you exceed all the qualifications, just need to nail the interview. Good luck!




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