Retired mil here, been at SWA 6 years, got a CJO at United and planning to start class with them in July. I live in domicile for both so that wasn’t a factor. Even giving up 6 yrs seniority, the earnings over the rest of my career (18 yrs) are pretty similar at both places (depending on fleet, upgrade, etc).

ALL companies have their issues. In fact, you will find detractors, on this forum and others, for every single company. Every airline takes its turn in the contract negotiation grinder. Every airline ends up getting dragged through the PR dumpster periodically. Every airline treats their union labor as cost units. Every airline has lost their “culture.”

IMO, SWA is not that bad to work for, but it’s also not that great. (Btw I voted yes on the SAV…) The pay is decent, and I expect it’ll be markedly better with the new contract. It didn’t take long to get a line with a schedule that worked great for me. Days off per month is pretty good. Schedule flexibility “can be” pretty good, with caveats. If you want to earn extra money, it “can be” doable, with caveats. But when you come to work, you will work hard, you will earn your dollars. If on reserve, you will get used. And you get the privilege of paying for your parking, uniforms, medicals, meals, etc. Fingers crossed you don’t go out on LTD. Oh, and set zeros, just because.

So why am I leaving? Well the Flightmare Before (and During and After) Christmas really illustrated for me what a house of cards our IT systems are. After seeing that debacle first-hand, it’s frankly frightening to imagine what might happen next. But as bad as that was, I had already considered leaving. It really hit me when sitting in my crappy hotel in Bumble****** TX, after my 2nd 12 hr duty day and 11 hr overnight, when I realized that I didn’t want to spend the next 18 years flying 737s to TX and FL for a big regional. There are better options (at least for me).