Gentlemen,

Just a few thoughts to put this in context:

It might be a hefty investment to pay for a type-rating, and not the norm by most airline standards. However, consider my current job. I work in accounting/finance/sales. I paid a pretty penny to get an education from Notre Dame, and now I am paying for my own MBA at a school here in MN - to make me MORE competitive than all the other business majors out there. Some companies send their employees to get an MBA on the company dime. Some companies don't pay for education but they do take a real interest in people that went out and got their own because it shows initiative and it sets those people apart.

Bottom line: if you can make yourself competitive by putting in some extra time/money/effort - then do so. I plan on getting a type rating, and if it gets me a job, great. If not, it won't hurt me in any way.

SouthWest is a great model for the niche it serves. It is a low cost carrier for passengers that care about getting to another location at a low price. It is like the Wal-Mart of the airlines. They push costs off on suppliers and prospective pilots in order to maintain low prices. However, try finding a SWA flight to Hong Kong, AMS, or NRT. Ain't going to happen (yet) - just like you won't find Tiffany & Co diamonds in Wal-Mart. The problem the legacies face is that they are trying to be a Wal-Mart and a Sharper Image at the same time. It doesn't work. The legacies need to move out of the identity crisis stage and figure out if they want to fight it out with SWA in the trenches or if they want to target a more business oriented, higher priced clientele that has a lower elasticity of demand. If the legacies could cater to the mid-level exec, you might see demand shift back away from corporate travel and into the airlines, especially with all the pressure to contain costs and stay out of $3,000 an hour flights for execs. Basically, comparing SWA and UAL/DAL/NWA/AA is like comparing apples to oranges - they may both fly airplanes but they fundamentally have a different purpose. Just my 2 cents, but let's not run off on a tangent about paying for training when you find it in many other sectors of the economy. Heck, I even paid for my own EMT/Firefighter classes - but that doesn't make me any less effective as an EMT than a guy that had his FD pay for it. Same training - different check writer.

Brian