CJO on day 1 of SWA training...
02-18-2024, 09:37 AM
#12
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Oct 2015
Position: Gear slinger
Posts: 2,980
I'm in a pickle. United's hiring timeline lagged Southwest by a few months in my case, and I ended up starting Southwest training about a week after interviewing with United. I got the call on my first day of onboarding with SWA. I don't anticipate a class start for a few months, so I'll likely be in or through IOE with Southwest by then.
Life situation and personal priorities:
I live in Denver and will for the forseeable future. I'm only about 35-40 min from the airport and I plan on living there for a long time. More than anything else (wide body, money, etc), I value time off and flexibility. Flexibility seems to be SWA's scheduling bread and butter, but I'm wondering how drastically different it is from the other Majors, and whether that's worth flying one airplane for life.
Looking for some guidance from folks who may have experience at SWA but switched (or know anyone who has). Or folks that are UAL Denver based and have some insight on life in that domicile regarding schedules. I'll also post this in the SWA chat to get the other side of the story.
My biggest concern is switching and regretting it. The new SWA contract is pretty solid and I dig the vibes at the training center at least. Could be falling for the propaganda but I haven't met anyone that hates their life, ha.
Life situation and personal priorities:
I live in Denver and will for the forseeable future. I'm only about 35-40 min from the airport and I plan on living there for a long time. More than anything else (wide body, money, etc), I value time off and flexibility. Flexibility seems to be SWA's scheduling bread and butter, but I'm wondering how drastically different it is from the other Majors, and whether that's worth flying one airplane for life.
Looking for some guidance from folks who may have experience at SWA but switched (or know anyone who has). Or folks that are UAL Denver based and have some insight on life in that domicile regarding schedules. I'll also post this in the SWA chat to get the other side of the story.
My biggest concern is switching and regretting it. The new SWA contract is pretty solid and I dig the vibes at the training center at least. Could be falling for the propaganda but I haven't met anyone that hates their life, ha.
02-18-2024, 09:40 AM
#13
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Mar 2021
Posts: 1,360
I can't believe nobody has mentioned the United training center gig. That is one of the best things about living in Denver and working for UA. There is no wrong answer in this case, I think both are great choices, but having that training center there opens up a whole other front for QOL.
go to UAL. always go to work to the local in-town legacy, especially if in-town is a super base and HQ.
retirement = sim jobs, training center work etc. Heck even lost medical temporalily can still mean they can "plug you in somewhere" if Chief Pilot office etc are willing to back you.
retirement = sim jobs, training center work etc. Heck even lost medical temporalily can still mean they can "plug you in somewhere" if Chief Pilot office etc are willing to back you.
02-18-2024, 09:48 AM
#14
off weekends (if Reserve)
Joined APC: May 2023
Posts: 425
Many a United pilots hired in the last 2 years came from WN. Some never look back, some occasionally mention "well back at Southwest we di _____" the use of the We pronoun indicates a mild level of regret...I think that will go away when they are on the Sydney overnights.
To my knowledge ZERO pilots hired at SWA in the last two years came from United.
02-18-2024, 09:58 AM
#15
Line Holder
Joined APC: Sep 2019
Posts: 66
Observations:
Many a United pilots hired in the last 2 years came from WN. Some never look back, some occasionally mention "well back at Southwest we di _____" the use of the We pronoun indicates a mild level of regret...I think that will go away when they are on the Sydney overnights.
To my knowledge ZERO pilots hired at SWA in the last two years came from United.
Many a United pilots hired in the last 2 years came from WN. Some never look back, some occasionally mention "well back at Southwest we di _____" the use of the We pronoun indicates a mild level of regret...I think that will go away when they are on the Sydney overnights.
To my knowledge ZERO pilots hired at SWA in the last two years came from United.
02-18-2024, 10:30 AM
#16
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Mar 2014
Posts: 742
If you’re over about 45-48, I’d consider sticking it out with SWA. Below that, your QoL from seniority at UAL will overtake SWA within 10-15 years. Both are solid and SWA has initial advantage, but over time the options in DEN hold more promise. And UAL 737 training will be a breeze.
02-18-2024, 10:34 AM
#17
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Mar 2018
Posts: 2,525
I can’t speak to what life is like at SWA, so the flexibility of our schedule is all I know. All things come with seniority, here. The more junior you are the less flexibility you have. I haven’t worked more than 10 days in a month in years at this point, but it took me years and some changes to our trading system to get there. PTWOB… funny, haven’t heard that term in years.
02-18-2024, 11:18 AM
#18
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Joined APC: Feb 2023
Posts: 39
Simliar situation for me last year, left SkyWest for SWA and decided to update the 'current employer' section of my apps in the middle of SWA training.. United and Delta both rang within a week, after about 6 months of crickets back at Skywheezy being fresh in the left seat.
I'm local to the Bay Area so I had OAK/SFO to choose from depending on the airline, similiar to having your pick of airline in DEN.. For me it came down to what would give me the most time at home and the least gray hair over the next 30 yrs.. My last flight with SWA was my IOE sign-off trip, currently home-based on the WB side with United.. I've been averaging about 1 trip every 5-6 weeks. Granted that is apples to oranges in comparison to the NB side.
Being able to choose your flavor of flying with United, plus the benefits of DEN expansion and the Training Center I think make it an easy decision if you plan on staying in the area long term. I had a fantastic experience going through training with SWA, and all my classmate buddies over there coming off probation right now are all happy campers.. I would happily have stayed if I didnt get the call from UAL. You have the benefit of choice between home-base airlines, hard to go wrong.
I'm local to the Bay Area so I had OAK/SFO to choose from depending on the airline, similiar to having your pick of airline in DEN.. For me it came down to what would give me the most time at home and the least gray hair over the next 30 yrs.. My last flight with SWA was my IOE sign-off trip, currently home-based on the WB side with United.. I've been averaging about 1 trip every 5-6 weeks. Granted that is apples to oranges in comparison to the NB side.
Being able to choose your flavor of flying with United, plus the benefits of DEN expansion and the Training Center I think make it an easy decision if you plan on staying in the area long term. I had a fantastic experience going through training with SWA, and all my classmate buddies over there coming off probation right now are all happy campers.. I would happily have stayed if I didnt get the call from UAL. You have the benefit of choice between home-base airlines, hard to go wrong.
02-18-2024, 11:24 AM
#19
Gets Weekend Reserve
Joined APC: Jul 2007
Posts: 3,794
A few things to consider... both airlines hired thousands of pilots in the last several years.
Do you think you'll see those SYD layovers? As a captain? Or would it be better to have flexibility to make your own schedule and go play overseas on your own time and your own dime because it's easier to throttle your schedule?
On the other hand, Southwest is a grind. It's a domestic airline pilot grunt work with much nicer Hawaii trips than the legacies because we don't do redeyes from there, unless redeyes are your thing, in which case it's United hands down.
It really boils down to what you want, what your priorities are, then roll the dice and you'll find out if you made the right decision the day you retire.
Do you think you'll see those SYD layovers? As a captain? Or would it be better to have flexibility to make your own schedule and go play overseas on your own time and your own dime because it's easier to throttle your schedule?
On the other hand, Southwest is a grind. It's a domestic airline pilot grunt work with much nicer Hawaii trips than the legacies because we don't do redeyes from there, unless redeyes are your thing, in which case it's United hands down.
It really boils down to what you want, what your priorities are, then roll the dice and you'll find out if you made the right decision the day you retire.
02-18-2024, 12:56 PM
#20
Line Holder
Joined APC: Nov 2022
Posts: 45
I had a very similar situation. Denver based, less than an hour from the airport. Skywest previously, got hired by SWA, updated my app with SWA as my new employer and within a week had an interview offer from UAL. I started new hire training and was happy enough at SWA and passed on the interview with UAL.
Fast forward 9 months, I was tired of the SWA schedule and started wondering if I could fly that way as an old guy. I resubmitted my UAL app and long story short am now working at UAL.
For me personally, the thought of waiting to upgrade seven-ish years at SWA, working the wild AM or PM schedule and having no other options than to fly the guppy pushed me over. I have been happy at UAL, especially being in the Denver area. I was also working on the old SWA contract so of course things have gotten better over there recently.
No wrong answer, just depends on what you want.
Fast forward 9 months, I was tired of the SWA schedule and started wondering if I could fly that way as an old guy. I resubmitted my UAL app and long story short am now working at UAL.
For me personally, the thought of waiting to upgrade seven-ish years at SWA, working the wild AM or PM schedule and having no other options than to fly the guppy pushed me over. I have been happy at UAL, especially being in the Denver area. I was also working on the old SWA contract so of course things have gotten better over there recently.
No wrong answer, just depends on what you want.
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