SWA was the bees knees when nobody else was hiring. Unless you live in a SWA domicile, the faster (and maybe better in the long run) return is to go to UAL/DAL. AA is still too much of a basket case to make that one any better than a tie, but the upgrade there is much faster. B6 and NK have good contracts and good financials and a much faster upgrade. This isn't even touching FedEx or UPS being miles ahead of our contract.

If I were doing the jump right now, SWA would be close to the bottom of my list unless I lived in a SWA domicile ( which I do). Our benefits: line bidding for vacation and plenty of open time right now. Our cons: long upgrade, penny wise pound foolish management, poor labor relations, no widebody pay scale, missing lots of ancillaries in the contract that are industry standard at the legacies (uniforms, parking, crew meals for originators or terminators), ****poor disability and loss of license, no flight bennies if you're out on disability, no long call reserve, poor commutability of trips, etc.

The union and the pilot group have a lot of work to do, but the company will have to compete for new hires against better compensation and work rules elsewhere. That might move the bar more than any amount of shoe leather.