Originally Posted by
Turbosina
So I live in base for both AK and SWA. I've got multiple friends at both shops who are genuinely happy there. My SWA friends are always talking about their schedule flexibility (and looking at their monthly bids vs. what they end up flying, it's impossible to ignore that SWA seems pretty awesome if your goal is to get max days off and max flexibility. (My friends are all 5 years or less on property, with most of them 2 years or less.) I know everyone on the interwebz is saying SWA is a dumpster fire, but is it really? They're saying the contract will happen and the rates will be on par with DL 737-9 and/or DL 75 rates, which is pretty solid.
You'd have to get that info from SWA people. Preferably junior-ish people in the base you want.
Their contract will happen. How long it takes depends on mgt philosophy...
If they want to grow and compete they'll need to attract and retain pilots, and should have already done a deal, just like everybody else.
If they're praying for a good recession so they can enjoy below-industry labor costs for some years to come that would explain their current behavior.
Originally Posted by
Turbosina
All in all, for someone who lives in base and wants max days off with good schedule flexibility... If you assume that SWA will get their new contract soon, I'm struggling to understand why SWA wouldn't be attractive.
"assume..."
Again IMO it depends on age. If you're older, how long do you want to suck it up in case that assumption doesn't pan out. Also they do have some structural issues, they haven't fixed their software yet and another big holiday meltdown might require hey park some planes until they can
If the base is a wash (If Bay Area, both are junior) then the schedules matter, and the type of flying.
For pure days off SWA would have a historical leg up but AS has PBS around the corner with strong associated rules.
I guess I would say that SWA carries some uncertainty. You are of course free to incur some risk in hopes of greater reward, but I do some risk.