You're starting young, but it never hurts to get informed early...

- The aero-engineering degree is a good move...you need a degree, and it's a very good idea to have one that will allow to make a living if flying doesn't work out, or during furlough periods. There are a variety of non-engineering "Aeronautical Science" or "Aviation Management" degrees which are not much better than an english degree as far real-world jobs. I would suggest avoiding these.

- There are many good and bad reasons to prefer a given airline...emotional things like "they have a cool paint job" are bad reason...you should only consider Quality of Life, future opportunity, and pay.

- SWA is a rare commodity in that management and employees do have a good relationship, plus they get paid well. The relatively high pay is due to accidental economic cirumstances, but that doesn't make the money worth any less!

SWA would be a great career choice right now, but in your case you need to start following the comings and goings of the industry now, because changes are inevitable and you want to be fully informed when you are in a postition to make decisions. SWA may or may not be the place to be in 8-10 years.