Originally Posted by
hoover
geographic and EBG lock for 6 months is huge. Tie that with LAX is small and not a lot of open time for reserves to get used plus always a new hire coming in that soaks up those lines and OAK being a PIA commute to the east coast and it's a no brainer. Age might be a distant 2nd to those constraints.
I'm also assuming the majority of those bypassing are getting close to upgrade in their/more desirable base. I predict bypass comes down to 600 by spring.
The only thing that would make a difference is upgrades moving east. Once the junior airtran guys can hold central time zone and east, they will start to take the upgrade. With that being said, it's not a huge number of guys. This is the first huge wave up upgrades we have had since the etops lock and I think instead of seeing the traditional 10 percent bypass rate, we are going to see it slightly elevated.
People bypass for all different reasons. Choosing to bypass and choosing to Lance are the only two real choices you get at SWA. So in six months or so when my class is upgrading, I can choose to spend the holidays in Oakland on reserve, or I can spend it at home killing it in premium FO trips. Seems like a no brainer to me, but to those who covet the captain seat and all that comes with it or who fear a recession and it's consequences, it may seem like a worthwhile trade.
Besides, I just got home from vacation and I have vacations scheduled in August, October, and December. Can't do that on weekend Oakland reserve either.