I would guess that a pilot hired at SWA 20 years ago has (not counting divorces, investment disasters, etc) substantially more on average packed away in a retirement plan than a typical 20 year UAL pilot. Will that trend continue for the next 20 years? Who knows? While UAL is certainly much better off than it was during the lost decade, I would still say it remains more vulnerable to economic shocks and domestic / global competitive threats than SWA.