Originally Posted by
CactusCooler
Be me, have about 31ish years till 65. Am I a fool for entertaining the idea of leaving a good job to wear a hat?
At SWA for just over a year now, sitting a couple % from the bottom. Live in a domicile but can’t hold it due to no hiring till 2026 at the earliest (max7 depending), have ~1h commute. Will retire ~10% if there’s 0 growth. Overall, I don’t have a lot of complaints, will make fat stacks of dollar bills, easily max out the 401k, vacation and scheduling swap are nice. Though 30 years of 73 3 leg days 13-15 days a month isn’t a highlight.
Have a CJO at delta, expected spring class date maybe, who knows. Don’t live in base but would be willing to move to ATL (okay Chattanooga or Athens), maybe SLC or SEA. Seniority calculator says 16-18% with no growth if I started today. Main appeal is the possibility of different types of flying/planes, WB international (as b, wouldn’t make A), and that delta is actually making money.
Is the 15 years to upgrade if hired in 2025 true?
My main concerns at SW is the current inability to generate a profit, being controlled by some wall street leeches, and ending 2025 with fewer 73s than 2024. I’m sure elliott would let me go so they can buy a bigger yacht.
Thoughts?
I made his decision 28 years ago (sort of) and so did one of my classmates at NW. Let me give a top ten list of the reasons I look back with zero regrets for shunning the LUV:
1) Not having to fly a 737 forever.
2) Pension (this is not a duplicable for you); it is a crap pension, messed up by bankruptcy, but it's more than 3000 times greater than the WN pension and it will help. The 401K rocks also.
3) Average 450 annual block hours per year - try that at WN. Paid for more than 2x that number of hours.
4) Many more hours/years as an international widebody pilot than in the narrowbody grind.
5) Enough cycles back into NB flying to remind me of how much better WB flying is. It's like working for an entirely different airline; mostly hassle-free with rare forced sked changes.
6) Variety of route structures and destinatinations.
7) Ability to choose relative seniority not just by domicile, but by seat and aircraft also.
8) We've had PBS for a long, long time. Yes, it's better.
9) I got to fly every model of 747 except the SP and -8. Our current fleet of WB aircraft are better in many ways, but if we brought the 747 back, I'd leap on it.
10) It's a distinction from #1, sort of: I had the option to fly the 737, but chose not to. My ears, cranium and spine thank me.
Many of the points I listed are still applicable today. However I do believe the Southwest Koolaid was more potent back in the day. The culture was more enticing. I think Koolaid has been diluted as the company grew over the years and with major management changes. Many of the reasons I might have had to stick with Southwest have faded, while the pros for DL are still pretty solid. It's not perfect, and there are things that I despise (very few).
Not sure whether a historical viewpoint is of any benefit to you .... but the WN/DL swap suited me very well.