I’m BWI based with SWA, but live closer to DCA/IAD. Been at SWA 6 yrs and leaving for United.
Reserve at SWA isn’t too bad, IF you live in base. But don’t expect to get paid to sit at home. Our reserve utilization is usually 90% or higher.
And BWI is weird seniority-wise. You’ll build seniority fairly quickly on the low end, but may end up sitting reserve longer because all new hires get a hard line their first month for consolidation. Since BWI is junior on the FO side, lots of new hires get assigned here out of training. Last month we had almost 100 new hires snatching up hard lines.
Strangely enough though, CA upgrades in BWI are still closer to 9-10 years (assuming you don’t want to commute to OAK).