Originally Posted by
Blueyawnder
Thanks for all the replies. And thanks for not taking a huge negitive turn like some of these threads do. I’ve always had a passion to teach and mentor. I have years of extremely successful and enjoyable instructing experience as well as training gigs in non flying careers. It has nothing to do with seeking authority. Frankly, if the job paid the exact same and litterally the only authority you had was to do IOE for guys I’d still want to do it. I love seeing student progress and the teaching process adds an interesting challenge to the job. At my airline the process is the opposite of southwest. You’ve got to be pretty aggressive. Thanks again for all of the replies.
It sounds like you have the right attitude but at SWA like anywhere, there is no clear path to check airman. If I'm correct, I believe it takes a minimum of 2 years as a captain to even meet the minimum requirements. That means around 12-13 years on property before you would even be eligible! A lot can happen in more than a decade, you may have different goals by then.
Take a job when offered and continue your progression to the left seat. Wherever you land, you'll have the necessary insight to decipher the best path to get there if it is still a primary goal.
If you're at SWA the word on the street is a 1500+ hour sick bank will be a major benefit!