Originally Posted by
Voski
Hey everyone,
I'm looking for some current info on Southwest's Midway base as an outsider looking in:
1. What are the quality of the trips? Amount of flying, rough % breakdown of 1, 2, 3, 4-day trips, variety of flying options, etc.?
2. How senior of a base is MDW -- First Officer & Captain -- as of today? I know this is likely dynamic, especially with all the hiring planned, but curious how it's trending.
3. What are some of the "pros" of the base?
4. What are some of the "cons" of the base?
5. With ORD flying since COVID, has there been any talks of ORD as a co-base / domicile?
Thank you!
All Southwest trips are basically the same. 2-4 legs per day, with your seniority deciding your start day and if it's AM/PM. 1/2/3/4 day paring mix in MDW next month is approx. 5/10/65/20%. You won't even be close to being awarded turns MDW unless you are top 2-3% in base...that's 5% of the pairings are turns, but most are loaded in a handful of lines. You'll upgrade long before you can touch turns.
MDW is not especially senior. On occasion it's been awarded to new hires. Captain it is slightly more senior than other non-ETOPS bases like HOU and LAS. MDW is basically "full" in that the airport cannot support more flights so it likely will not grow. The seniority picture will likely change before a new hire is close to upgrading.
Pros...I guess it's a good base for commuting...walk to crashpad and good mix of commuter hotels. You also have ORD as an option to commute which isn't so bad now AA/UA are up gauging more and more. It's also good for those who live in base and want to pick up, since it is a commuter base there are more open time opportunities.
No to co-bases, hopefully will never happen.