Originally Posted by
DAL 88 Driver
Thanks, LuvJockey. I knew there was no way the average SWA pilot salary could be so low when the average F/O makes over $140K and the average Captain makes over $230K. The guy that heads up that MIT Airline Data Project sailingfun likes to quote, is hardly impartial. Here's a very interesting tidbit from his bio:
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"Prior to accepting his research position at MIT, Swelbar spent 25 years in the consulting world with a focus on airline labor cost restructuring..."
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"If you torture the data long enough, it will confess." - Ronald Coase
Sky Talk: AA pilot video blasts MIT airline researcher
AA pilot video blasts MIT airline researcher
"The Allied Pilots Association has released its video that criticizes William Swelbar, the researcher who runs the Airline Data Project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Swelbar, a longtime industry employee and consultant, launched the airline project earlier this year, and crunches airline data on finances, employees, productivity and other areas. He's been quoted in a variety of publications, including the Star-Telegram, the New York Times, the Associated Press and elsewhere.
In the video, the first in a series of weekly updates, the pilots' union takes issue with Swelbar and some of his conclusions about pilot productivity. Cyndi Dawson, an American pilot and union spokeswoman, points out that Swelbar has worked for American when he was a consultant with Eclat Consulting. She also notes that he sits on the board of Hawaiian Airlines, which has a codesharing agreement with American.
Dawson says that Swelbar's project is funded in part by Airline Industry Consortium, whose members include American Airlines. "Mr. Swelbar presents his data in whatever format suits his clients," she says, calling him a "close confidante" of American "with a history of airline affiliations."
The union takes specific issue with Swelbar's claim that American pilots fly fewer hours per month than Southwest pilots...."
Of course Swelbar denies his ATA affiliation just as anybody caught with hand in the cookie jar would.