Originally Posted by
pilot64golfer
Not as much as you think. I have a good friend at SWA and he is lamenting leaving UAL for SAW now that they merged with AirTran. Says it will take him a total of 14 years to make Captain. He says those rumors you hear of Captain making $400k a year, etc is just like here, maybe 1% who get the overtime deals. He says he flies a 4 day trip every week. Gets 3 days off a week. He said he wished they had our new work rules.
I'm honestly not in touch with anyone at SWA anymore so I can't give anecdotal evidence to the contrary. Seemed to me when I was still in touch with SWA guys if they had any seniority at all they didn't work more than about 14 days a month unless they wanted to and the "hourly" rate didn't tell the story, though they don't have the retirement or probably the benefits of the other majors. To get all those days off they flew their tails off when they were at work, but I don't mind working when I'm at work as long as I'm getting more time at home. Anecdotally, a line holding UAL Captain buddy of mine was seriously considering leaving UAL to start over at SWA a dozen years ago. Having said all that, like you, I'd rather be here than there... for now. I won't have a final answer for you until I retire.
The biggest thing they will ever fly is a guppy, and our widebody pilots get more days off on average than their most senior pilots.
FAR 117 has hurt total days off on the wide bodies and most of us aren't as concerned with what we're flying as much as we are how we're being compensated and how much time off we get at home. Besides, like many of us, I'll spend over half of my career in a narrow body anyway.
A 12 years Captain at SWA maxes out at $216/hour. Ours maxes out at $255/hour. Their FOs $151/hour. Ours make $171.
I don't think an "hourly" rate comparison tells the whole story either way, but they've got a higher percentage of pilots making $216/hr than we do.
I wouldn't go there no matter what.
That's what I have a problem with. We all go to work for different companies for different reasons, but thinking we're better than "that" is how we wind up doing things like giving away scope. I think our future is bright and SWA is having a tougher time implementing its business plan, but betting against them is a fool's game. I firmly believe after the nuclear winter, the only things left alive will be roaches the size of footballs and Southwest Airlines.