Originally Posted by luv757

Well in the event that you are fortunate enough to get hired by one of them let alone both, here are the things to consider:

CAL offers more variety of flying with domestic and international and different airframes to fly. Can't argue with that.

SWA offers more variety in terms of domiciles. Currently MDW, DAL, HOU, LAS, OAK, MCO and BWI.
CAL you may be able to upgrade faster. True, for now, but nobody knows the impact of the age 65 rule. I say may because what is true now (2-3 years) is not always going to be true. That said, even if the upgrade does slow down here at CAL i think it will still be a little faster than at SWA.

You touched on retirement but I don't know enough (read anything) about SWA so that is a subject left to someone else. 401K match at 7.3%. Profit sharing that paid 8% of your yearly gross last year. Some years are better than others. Stock options, but aren't worth much right now since nothing's moving.
As far as scheduling each are going to be a little different as well. I think on the 737 as a junior lineholder you may get more days off per month at SWA based off what I have seen posted here in the past. However at CAL the senior guys can pull 16-18 days off a month. I'm a junior line holder in HOU and average 17 days off (not including the overnights in my home city which adds another 4-5 nights at home. Changing your schedule around is easy to better accomodate your monthly life. I've seen guys with 20+off by trading their stuff. Just depends.
Reserve sucks no matter where you are. CAL you will be off reserve in 1-3 mos. Not sure what the going rate is at SWA. Reserve schedules are split either AM or PM. Most reserve schedules are 3 on 4 off. Min days off on reserve is 15. I sat reserve for 2 months in HOU.
Whichever way you end up going the job is going to be what YOU make of it. Anywhere you go there are going to be the people that love it and the people that ***** about it. I have been fortunate to work with some great folks at CAL and I know a couple guys in my squadron who are in the pool at SWA and are great guys too.

Contracts, pay rates and work rules change over time. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. The right choice, if you have a choice, is the one that makes the most sense to you. Current first year pay rates are $54 per hour converted from our trip system. Health and travel start on day one. Health, dental and vision depending on plan cost's me and my family $47 per month.