Originally Posted by tango hotel

I did not mean for my original question to be perceived as flame-bait. It was an honest question. I don't have any buddies at SW who could have answered my question. Most of my friends are at other airlines. Trying to catch a SW pilot in the terminal for a chat seems elusive. I guess you guys don't get passes to the terminal all that often.

I do appreciate those that have tried to answer my question thoughtfully and respectfully. It looks to me from many of the answers here that Southwest no longer has that warm and fuzzy feeling; it's lost its LUV. It seems like the one major appeal to me regarding Southwest, its spirit, has been broken. Say what you will, but I'm still a dreamer. I'm saddened to read all of the bitterness. No, I'm not a company insider, just a regional pilot with an application in at SW, perhaps a mistake on my part.

I was trying to pick the airline with the least “us vs. them” mentality, with the least hate-filled pilot group. I’m not so naive to think that pilot b*tching and complaining doesn’t exist at all airlines, but I was truly hopeful that SW still had something special.

I’m scratching my head as to why “Nuts” is required reading to interview at SW when, it seems the company created by Herb is now just a shadow of its former self. Like I said, I don't know any SW pilots to get a true assessment, but that's where this forum is useful.

I guess my real question should have been, "what's it like working at Southwest now, post Gary Kelly and AirTran acquisition?"