Originally Posted by
kingairfun
It'll be hard not to offend you but here are the blunt reasons... Please don't take it as a personal attack.
Personally I've never been attracted to SWA. Never applied there. Never been fond of the "culture" (dating back to pre 9/11, I know the culture and cowboy ways have changed.) I still believe that you all weren't that great post 9/11, it's that everyone else (accept JB) went through rough times and came back to your level. .
I've never bought into the way, from the moment you're a new hire it's a constant koolaid inundation. The way your new hire classes make fun of other airlines and their pilots with your skits at the end of indoc. Personally I think a lot of the people at SWA are very arrogant. Throwing back some shots and beers on a Monday or going to sniffers row on a Friday can be done anywhere, SWA doesn't have the monopoly on that. Your all not as cool as ya think. (sorry if that sounds harsh)
Look at a recent new hire picture with all of them wearing fake Hawaiian Leis and throwing shakas out. They look like a bunch of cheeseballs who have no clue what they are doing, or what the significance of a leis means or a shaka. Just comes off very arrogant. Maybe not the new hires fault, but your managements mentality.
I think many of your pilots get very defensive when someone points out a deficiency at SWA. If someone points out a deficiency at Hawaiian, I usually either agree or have a real good reason not to. I realize we have issues as do all airlines.
I have enough friends that work at SWA. Some turned out to stay really cool, others mainlined the koolaid and became complete D-bags right from indoc. Like the rest of us all of a sudden worked for inferior carriers. ( yes we have really high paying premium trips as well, our interisland guys can do a :45 minute out and back to OGG for 6:15 credit. Somehow my few Dbag friends think SWA is the only carrier with premium trips. Sorry personal tangent there)
I don't agree with the way you treated AT in the merger. If one of them speaks up or complains, they get attacked and told they should be happy to be working for such a great company. I had a couple of acquaintances at AT and they seemed happy there and never cared about getting bought by SWA.
I would rather work at another Legacy than SWA. If given a choice it would be DL, UA, then AA in that order for the variety of reasons. Followed by JB because of the people I know there and I think the two pilot groups mesh well, AK and then SWA. Honestly it's the several bad apples with the arrogant attitudes that have ruined the perception of SWA for me.
My honest perception of the majority of SWA is arrogant, which is by far my least favorite quality in a person.
I would be the guy still wearing a Hawaiian lanyard and reminiscing about Hawaiian trips and people. So probably better for all that I don't end up at SWA
First off, I'm sorry you have that opinion of Southwest and our pilot group. I'll also join the chorus and say that you shouldn't base your opinion on account of 5%'ers, which at least in my short 3 years here so far, has been less than a handful that I've encountered.
Speaking of our "culture", here's how I see it... when we see a fellow Southwest pilot, we acknowledge each other or say hello in passing even if we've never seen each other. When we see a Southwest flight attendant, we say hello to them. CULTish? No, I'd call it more along the lines of having respect for your fellow crew. Is that a bad thing? It's sad how many other airline crews just walk right past each other, from the same airline no less, not even acknowledging each other and just keeping on walking. It's sad.
I will also echo others about how I've been treated from day 1 of my interview, how the company has treated us from day 1 in class, to my wife being in the hospital while I was still in initial and the flight ops team sending her a care package wishing her a speedy recovery...
and I was just a new hire! Mind you, they also sent me home to be with her and worked out a plan to get me back so I can be done on schedule, but with zero pressure to stick to it because "family always comes first."
Or when I got ill during my probationary year causing me to go out on medical, my chief taking an active interest in helping me and giving me advice on how to proceed, putting me in touch with SWAPA people who would subsequently help me and reassuring me not to worry about the job because it'll be waiting for me, or another chief writing passes for my kid when he was stuck going home as my travel benefits were suspended after my sick leave depletion during that period - go figure I was a newhire.
I have my gripes with Southwest in so many ways. I'm a line pilot and I b*tch just like the next guy. But one thing you won't see me b*tch about is our culture and about our people, and it has nothing to do with koolaid or management, but the highest respect for my almost 10,000 brothers and sisters I share the cockpit with here and our flight attendants. Now, it's not a slam or a throw against any other airline or pilot group. My true hope is that others get treated better than I do here and treat each other better than we treat each other here because that would be truly setting the bar even higher. One thing for sure, since this isn't my first rodeo, or the second, or the fifth, I can say that I have never been treated better at any airline or outfit.
As for you being offended at the silliness displayed by one of our new newhire classes, I can't help you. If you are offended by someone having a good time, perhaps you aren't a good ambassador for Hawaii because people generally tend to go there to have a good time, be silly, do silly, light-hearted things, have a few laughs and then return to their grind. You may need to tweak your 'e komo mai' a little better.
As to how we "treated" AirTran, it's over and it's been over for years. For every bitter coot like Whack, there are multitude of Trannies who are realistic and know that long-term they're far better off and as a result, they're happy they're here. But to each their own. They are now my Southwest Airlines brothers and sisters... period. End of story.
As for where you'd rather work, that's all a personal choice and I respect your opinion. But judging an airline with 10,000 pilots and over 56,000 employees because of actions of the very few shows a complete lack of maturity, character, and levelheadedness, and given that I know quite a few people on your seniority list and your management, I know you're a very small minority and I share your sentiment in truly hoping you don't end up on the same seniority list as me.
I appreciate your honesty. Remember, it goes both ways and please don't take it as a personal attack because it's not.