Swift Air - The truth
12-26-2018, 08:24 AM
#121
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jul 2008
Position: Gear Handle supervisor
Posts: 1,035
Originally Posted by randomroute
It appears that Seift may not be the “cup of tea” for some pilots...the same way 121 night cargo or expatriate contract flying might not be the “cup of tea” for other pilots. I’ve noticed through a quick scroll through of this thread-that there are a few names that keep popping up with negativity. Do they work at Swift? Where do they work? Why do they devote so much time to comment on a corporation that isn’t affected by their existence?
Lets be realistic, Swift isn’t a major league operation, so can you reallllly expect major league work rules and pay? It would seem that change can be affected from within, especially in the competitive regional flying market.Time will tell...
I was inspired to post tonight because of a comment about Mexipilot not being at Endeavor anymore...
...lets take a logical trip through a simple reasoning exercise. Endeavor is a top tier regional airline, with leading pay. They have a very selective recruiting team, which leads many to question (on the Endeavor sub-forum/board) ways to be more appealing or even receive notice from the HR department. If Mexipilot did work for Endeavor, and it is known, wouldnt the shady past of Swiftair and his flying ‘past/history’ make him an undesirable candidate for hire? Lets go further, if Mexipilot could make it through 121 AQP training at Endeavor (where he most certainly could be considered for a captain slot (as quite a few Air Wisconsin/Expressjet pilots have) and have an interview at Delta in a matter of months, why would he give those two lucrative prospects up to go back to Swift? Even further, if Swift were such a sweat shop, why would he return instead of going to any other regional airline?
The disconnect seems to be made in perception and personal opinion as opposed to reason. Alot of you ‘sweaty pitted’, ‘baggy shirt wearin’, ‘instagram flexxin’, ‘backpack wieldin’-Ivy League aviation scholars fail to realize in this industry that people can go wherever they want, to fly. As long as there are planes, there will be pilots to fly them. Your threshold for pay and QOL may not be the standard for another. There have been a few Swift pilots that have been hired into legacy airlines-so it cant be the sharthole some would like it to be, or make it appear to be.
Lets be realistic, Swift isn’t a major league operation, so can you reallllly expect major league work rules and pay? It would seem that change can be affected from within, especially in the competitive regional flying market.Time will tell...
I was inspired to post tonight because of a comment about Mexipilot not being at Endeavor anymore...
...lets take a logical trip through a simple reasoning exercise. Endeavor is a top tier regional airline, with leading pay. They have a very selective recruiting team, which leads many to question (on the Endeavor sub-forum/board) ways to be more appealing or even receive notice from the HR department. If Mexipilot did work for Endeavor, and it is known, wouldnt the shady past of Swiftair and his flying ‘past/history’ make him an undesirable candidate for hire? Lets go further, if Mexipilot could make it through 121 AQP training at Endeavor (where he most certainly could be considered for a captain slot (as quite a few Air Wisconsin/Expressjet pilots have) and have an interview at Delta in a matter of months, why would he give those two lucrative prospects up to go back to Swift? Even further, if Swift were such a sweat shop, why would he return instead of going to any other regional airline?
The disconnect seems to be made in perception and personal opinion as opposed to reason. Alot of you ‘sweaty pitted’, ‘baggy shirt wearin’, ‘instagram flexxin’, ‘backpack wieldin’-Ivy League aviation scholars fail to realize in this industry that people can go wherever they want, to fly. As long as there are planes, there will be pilots to fly them. Your threshold for pay and QOL may not be the standard for another. There have been a few Swift pilots that have been hired into legacy airlines-so it cant be the sharthole some would like it to be, or make it appear to be.
I left for the “quick upgrade” opportunity they sold me that would maybe help me get to a major quicker. Of course none of that crap they sold was true. I’m naive for believing it as I left the regionals almost 4 years ago for the same BS of instability, but I rolled the dice. I gave it almost 6 months of multiple vacancy bids. I could not afford to wait at 9E anymore, it was costing me money to come to work. I stayed on with Swift as a contractor or day rate as They call it to help make ends meet. In less than 9 more months I would have been bankrupt. Can’t put my family through a gamble like that.
I just decided to come back full time because I wasn’t going to spend another 2 years as an FO at a regional then another 18 months waiting for a shot at DL. For that might as well take my chances on the street hire option, least I can pay my bills.
Swift isn’t perfect at all. They don’t understand the concept of pilot pay at different levels, it’s a difficult road ahead for them on the recruiting side. Have things gotten better? Yes, in some ways... have they screwed other things up in effort to fix something else? Yes all the time. They’re getting so big the operation is hard for them to keep up with, this includes all departments, payroll, scheduling etc.
I’m devils advocate for Swift I will tell you how it is, the operation is not without it’s issues. But how you handle it is on you. As I’ve mentioned a bunch of times this place isn’t for everyone, if you can roll through the punches, be patient and take advantage when you can then you’ll do just fine here.
When I call you and interview you I will give you the dirty, I’m not going to sell you Delta or southwest. This place has really good people and despite the frustrations we have a good time and make the best of it, that little family atmosphere is what makes this place fun to come to work.
Not sure what future the new owners have in mind, but I’m sure it will involve cleaning up the top portion of the management tree to clean up inefficiencies.
12-26-2018, 08:25 AM
#122
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jul 2008
Position: Gear Handle supervisor
Posts: 1,035
Originally Posted by motorclutch
Plus u get to work for David Speaks. Fired for in competence from ABX. A true dumpster fire.
He’s not in scheduling anymore, it’s like they created a new job for him of “manager on duty”..... the new guy is trying despite resistance. I haven’t had to fight over a crap hotel yet since my return.
12-26-2018, 09:35 AM
#123
Banned
Joined APC: Jun 2017
Posts: 31
I got high hopes for u ninjas we ‘gon see’
This isn’t Nazi ruled Germany...the exonomy is doing better than ever and each man/woman has the choice of where they want to work. If conditions are bad, leave. If you dont get free food, leave. If you can’t survive off of Swift pay, it seems passing over would be the logical decision. Do not be misled, not every airline will hold your hand and walk you through training. The market has changed drastically, but do not for one second believe that you are a “hot commodity”. There was a time when Delta pilots left Delta for charter flying and Virgin America, gell there was a time when Delta aspired to be as profitable and popular as Southwest! As a mayter of fact it was a legal aspiration! Now Delta tells Endeavor pilots that can’t hack their interview process that theh’ll have better luck at Sourhwest. ...there was also a time when United pilots had to goto Independence Air to fly a CRJ200 or North American to maintain 75/76 currency. EVERY company was a bad company before it was good. If you cant afford the gamble, dont play the game. Swift will not be at a loss if it can’t find/hire pilots...it’ll only force their hand to become more competitive.
12-26-2018, 08:57 PM
#124
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jul 2008
Position: Gear Handle supervisor
Posts: 1,035
Originally Posted by randomroute
This isn’t Nazi ruled Germany...the exonomy is doing better than ever and each man/woman has the choice of where they want to work. If conditions are bad, leave. If you dont get free food, leave. If you can’t survive off of Swift pay, it seems passing over would be the logical decision. Do not be misled, not every airline will hold your hand and walk you through training. The market has changed drastically, but do not for one second believe that you are a “hot commodity”. There was a time when Delta pilots left Delta for charter flying and Virgin America, gell there was a time when Delta aspired to be as profitable and popular as Southwest! As a mayter of fact it was a legal aspiration! Now Delta tells Endeavor pilots that can’t hack their interview process that theh’ll have better luck at Sourhwest. ...there was also a time when United pilots had to goto Independence Air to fly a CRJ200 or North American to maintain 75/76 currency. EVERY company was a bad company before it was good. If you cant afford the gamble, dont play the game. Swift will not be at a loss if it can’t find/hire pilots...it’ll only force their hand to become more competitive.
^thi**********
01-03-2019, 06:38 AM
#128
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jun 2017
Position: B767
Posts: 376
Originally Posted by CriticalMach
Thanks for the response. What’s the training pay like? Also, how much of extra flying is available to pick up on days off?
Lots of extra flying.
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