Originally Posted by
e6bpilot
I actually agree with whack here. It is pretty monotonous flying with the exception of maybe the Hawaii stuff, which is its own special bid group in two bases.
If you have some itch to scratch that isn’t flying a 737 to fairly milquetoast destinations, this isn’t the place for you. What I am staying here for is very very simple. Number one, it is a fairly enjoyable job that allows me to spend the time at home that I need. Number two, I am here for the money. Plain and simple.
My days of flying big airplanes to cool overseas destinations are (thankfully) over. I did it while I was young and my body could flip it’s clock on a whim. I am happy to fly the same schedule to the same CONUS cities with the occasional near international overnight thrown in there to practice my gringo Spanish. I am spending whatever adventurous desires that I have on raising kids and traveling. Sometimes both of these things intersect.
If your ego cannot handle flying a 1960s Rube Goldberg airplane for a career, this ain’t the place for you because that’s what you are signing up for. I am happy with the company and my union, love my fellow pilots for the most part, and enjoy the job. My self fulfillment, however, comes on the 5th and the 20th in the form of a bank deposit, not from landing a 777 in Milan.
I don't want you guys to take this as an insult, because, I really am not trying to disparage anyone's choices in life. But this is exactly why Southwest wouldn't work
for me. I'm a big one for options. I tend to get bored after several years of doing something and like the change. I felt the same way about long haul international, so I was doing domestic flying... but then after almost a decade of that, I decided I wanted to try to international again. Guess what. It was great! I really enjoyed it. After several years of doing that, I decided to go move to one of our foreign domiciles. That was an adventure. Now I'm getting ready to move back to the US and go back to the long haul international. I guess the point I was trying to make is that if someone wants to fly to milquetoast destinations in the same time zone, almost every airline gives them that opportunity. But at other places you have the option to not do that if you want as well.
But, my buds at SWA enjoy it, and in the end, that's all that really matters.