CaptYoda

It is unfortunate to be facing a furlough. However, the good news is that almost everyone is hiring. My suggestion would be to pick your top regionals and interview as soon as possible. You can try XO as well but if you want 121 time, you need to go elsewhere. Depending on who offers you a position, take it until something better comes along. While at the regionals put in your apps with SWA etc and wait for the call. It may be short wait or a long one, so pick wisely!
Best of luck.

at6d

I'd use your networking to get some contract trips going in the mean time.

Make sure your app with SWA is up to date on both sites.

I'd shotgun your app to all the majors. What have you got to lose?

flysooner9

How long would it take for a new hire to hold DAL, DEN, HOU, or MDW?

JDREsquire1224

Looking for some insight on the reserve system at SWA and the quality of life a new hire can expect. Minimum days off/month, on average how many days per month are you not flown while on call, what is the call out window, etc. Any info is appreciated. Thanks!

hoover

Dal, hou, den, Mdw all in 3 months.

When you're on reserve think of it as not reserve but rather a line in which you don't know what you're doing till the day of. You'll fly 95% of the days on reserve. Especially with the new pay it's rare to sit more than a day a month. At least that's my experience.
Min days off are 15 a month on reserve. 90% of reserve will be on at least 1 weekend day if not all weekends. 3days off in between. Commuting on reserve sucks IMO the rules still need tweaking on this issue. If you live in base it can be great.
There is a new reserve call out order coming on the 28th of April if the system doesn't crash where it will go by pass/fly based on seniority. This may be a way to sit at home for the senior guys although most reserves get used everyday already.
Often on reserve you'll get more than 110tfp/month simply cause you'll fly everyday. My least amount of pay on reserve since the new contract has been 125tfp/month.
It took me 9 months to get off reserve in BWI, but BWI wasn't as junior as it is now. Maybe 6months now?
Call out is 2hrs

JDREsquire1224

Thanks for the post, Hoover. Appreciate the info.

satpak77

where are dudes sitting resere ? crash pads ? Holiday Inn ?

at6d

When I was commuting to PHX, I used a crash pad. Cost me $200/month, $5 uber ride.

The good thing was that I rarely ever sat at the pad and eventually bailed the pad after about 3 months.

ZapBrannigan

Any and all. Since reserves tend to fly more at SWA than they do at other airlines, even if you choose a hotel it will only be for 4 or 5 nights a month.

I started by staying at a Holiday Inn that was walking distance to the light rail station between my domicile and the other big airport in town. That worked out to be around $80 per week.

I commuted (off line) to - other big airport - and rode the light rail to my commuter hotel. Then, the next morning if I was called out for a trip I could take the hotel van to my domicile airport.

That got a little expensive, so I switched to a newly renovated Motel 6 that had shuttle service to (other big airport). That was $38 per night, and then I would take Uber to my domicile the next morning for $21. Total was around $60 a week.

That started getting expensive too, so I switched to a crash pad that was also walking distance to the light rail. That was $150 per month for my own bunk bed. The house was professionally cleaned. It had 3 bedrooms and two bathrooms. Two female rooms and one male room.

Well, needless to say if you thought you were going to get near one of those two bathrooms in the morning you were fooling yourself. So I would shower the night before.

Then I gave up and moved to domicile.


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RJSAviator76

I was pretty lucky on reserve as a commuter. I'd usually bid PM reserve and I'd commute in the morning of. By the time I got to my domicile, I'd have a trip already. Often time, my trip would either end in domicile in time to make my commute home (usually the last flight), or I'd have a DH back to domicile the last day from which I'd regularly get released and catch a ride home.

In 3 months, I think I only spent a total of 3 nights in a hotel on my dime. YMMV.