Originally Posted by
Skypilot11
Looking for some unfiltered, down to the brass tacks, from the school of hard knocks, career advice:
I’ve heard of a guy, who knows someone, who has a CJO from Southwest and American Airlines. The domiciles of BOTH companies line up with where he wants to live (so that is not a point of contention between the two). Things that have been identified as pros/cons are listed below:
-Pros of American: 1. SENIORITY like a boss (their pilots are old), and 2. a wide variety of airplanes to fly.
-Pros of Southwest: 1. Absolutely rock-solid company from a financial standpoint (NEVER furloughed and NEVER gone bankrupt), 2. very well run, and 3. the people are extremely nice.
-Cons of American: 1. Arguably -shaky- financials (high debt, low return on assets, and a CEO who claims that it is “impossible” to lose money), 2. a lot of merged airlines/pilots who a grumpy about old business, 3. a history of furloughs, 4. Poor customer service recently (ranked below SPIRIT for Christ sakes)
-Cons of Southwest: 1. First officer for life (or at least 8-10 years), 2. Boeing 737 for LIFE (literally).
Anyways, looking for input. It’s a no pressure decision that is only going to have implications for the next 30+ years…
Full disclosure. I chose SWA over AA, so there will be some inherent bias in my opinion.
Current upgrade time at SWA is 6 years. Currently, there are SWA officials meeting with Airbus in France about the A220. As well officials meeting with Boeing about the 787 and the 797. We will not be a 737 only company forever, my best guess is we will have a new plane purchased in 10 years.
People who say culture doesn’t matter in a career search either haven’t experienced good culture or don’t care for it. Either way, that’s a very one sided opinion. I didn’t know what culture was exactly, and it’s still hard to define it. But it’s easy to see it. It’s true, the crew makes the culture for that flight and that trip, but it’s absolutely a thing at SWA. It’s part of the hiring criteria, can we have a beer with you over a 3 day trip. We don’t have to be buddies, or agree on politics, but can we be friendly and social? We had pitchers of beer last night with all 5 of the crew as soon as we got in at 2AM. And we didn’t talk about widebodies, contracts, mergers, etc.... we just hung out and drank beer. Old school. It happens here all the time.
If your top priority/focus is flying a wide body, then SWA is not the place for you. Don’t get me wrong, 787s, 777s, 350s are all awesome airplanes and I’d love to fly one. But they don’t do short trips. The bigger the plane, the bigger the suitcase. I work 2.5 days/week. I’m home way more than I am work. I like the narrowbody lifestyle, specifically the non PBS schedule lifestyle. And if anyone says SWA pilots get paid less, I’d immediately question their sources. They didn’t do their homework.
AA has a lot going for it. I’m not going to go into specifics on their negatives, I don’t need to put them down to build up my company. I chose SWA and it was the right choice for me.