Originally Posted by
e6bpilot
I think the above posts are spot on. It just depends on YOU and what you want out of life.
In another life, I flew long (8-14 hour) legs over the water and international. I much prefer flying shorter legs and the schedules we have here at SWA. They are dense and generally follow at least an approximate circadian cycle for the entire month. There is a lot you can do with your schedule here, so much that I am still learning two and a half years in.
I think nobody will argue that your lifetime earning potential at purple is much better than SWA. I have many friends who are very happy they work there and really enjoy it, although most don't like the flying (lots of night hub turns).
They are both great places to work. It just depends on what you are looking for. I personally got the long haul night flying out of my system a long time ago. It takes me days to recover from that. Some guys really dig it though.
Good advice - how many guys ever retire at SWA under age 65? Remember it was SWA guys that were the big pushers of turning over the age 60 thing. We have plenty that do at FDX - almost all can afford to but the schedule and pay is so good in those last few years that many choose to stay. I doubt it's the same at SWA - your schedule isn't much different if you're a 30 year CA vice a 20 year CA - most guys I know can easily trade into the great trips even at a very junior seniority. Yeah we have some trips that can really suck at Fedex - also have some incredible trips. I have never had a trip that i couldn't work out at least several hours a day and have several hours off. My typical trip has at least 24 hours off - so at SWA you will probably get paid about the same amount of adjusted credit hours but you will be flying 3x as the average Fedex pilot that is enjoying off time on his layover. Overall compensation is no comparison, nor is upward mobility for a new hire today - without crunching numbers I would guess that Fedex is about 25% above in both areas.