Jeff90

I was in 05/06/19 class, 2 more weeks of sim left. I do believe they have a class starting June 17th? But not positive.

I have had a very good experience so far, I will tell you to study from the first day don’t expect it to be handed to you. Your a professional pilot and should know by the time you get here how to Prioritize the studying and meet deadlines.

Good luck hope to see you soon

roflcopter

You are pushed off by AA employees going on or returning from vacation mostly. Very few pilots commute to bases in South Florida, most that are based there, live there. That brings me to my next point, that Swift seems like a good deal for those who live in South Florida, which is probably why they are getting more applicants from the MIA area so they can staff it better and new hires are getting their choice of home base or MIA when it used to be just MIA not long ago, at least from what I've read in this thread. And if they're giving MIA pilots 2 or 3 more days off than everyone else (make sense since they can't really use people on their travel days for a whole lot), it seems like they want to attract more people from the MIA area that are tired of commuting to a regional, want to drive to the airport, go flying, and go home every night. So other than than commuting to MIA and the fact it's not Delta, tell me what's so much worse about Swift than any regional, not all of us have a competitive resume for mainline yet (and even then you still might not get a call), and maybe live in the MIA area, and actually want to be able to spend our days off with friends and family instead of spending it commuting to or out of NYC after a snowstorm, which is worse than any MIA commute ever could be.

mexipilot84

Next class we’re building is for first week of August.

Dolphinflyer

Your information is grossly inaccurate. Any commute to MIA is a well known PIA for MIA based AA pilots and there are a huge number of them.

roflcopter

All the AA pilots I've talked to that are based there live in the area, same for B6 out of FLL. Generally those of us who want to have a base in FL want to live in FL and stay out of the cold and snow in the winter as much as possible.

roflcopter

The only reason I compare Swift to a regional is because when you are at a regional that's a dead end, don't want to commute anymore, still being at the bottom of the totem pole behind all the mainline employees, are ok with MIA, and want to stay out of the cold in the winter, a place like Swift looks like a decent place to go and at least get a better QOL if you're based in MIA or IWA by sleeping in your own bed most nights. So nothing against Swift pilots, as I am interested in possibly becoming one. But I guess if someone wants to be offended by anything that is said to them, they'll be offended by anything that is told to them.
So lets say you put that burned out radar in the book, will they fix it or sign it off as ops check ok over and over, and not even test it, what if multiple people put it in the book. Does the MX Control/Management/CP threaten people who put stuff in the book like that actually needs to be written up? If so give some examples you've seen personally. Or if they get upset at all, is it if people write up something like a burnt out cabin ceiling light at bumble**** FBO just to stick it to the company. Do they promise MIA pilots day trips and 14 days off then make you go on a 6 day trip routinely and only give you 12 days off? Is seniority ignored for bidding days off so lets say you want Christmas or new years off and have the seniority for it, does a guy below you get it? Are FOs really getting passed over for upgrade to a FO junior to them, or are they doing the street captains because they need to balance the ratio a bit before upgrading Swift FOs. If they are getting big classes, seems like the FO side should come up soon.
Once again, I just want to know why this place is so bad nobody at a regional should come to it. It seems like your biggest beef isn't the planes being old or mechanical problems or the bumble**** FBO. It's commuting to MIA and the street captains. Other than that what are your answers to the other questions I've asked.

mexipilot84

If the plane is broke write it up. Then it will never be fixed if no one writes it up. MIA is a maintenance station. If anyone tries to carry maintenance items you’re only screwing your self and your brethren. But that happens everywhere, even at regionals. Seems like at the regionals the engines could be falling off but it’s go home day! Nobody is going to fault you for writing things up, I’ve grounded enough acft and still work here, even if it cost canceling a government flight. Unsafe is unsafe, if there’s no MEL or reset then it’s a no go. And if you’re the FO and your CA is doing something that could screw you up, then just remove yourself from that situation. If you let it go then you’re as much at fault as the CA.

All our hard days off are 12. MIA has generally more days off and day trips. They usually have 12-15 off with 4on 4off for the most part. Obviously there could be times they pull you out of MIA to do other trips, generally they don’t like pulling based pilots to do home base flying unless it’s a necessity. Despite what has happened to randomroute, you can pick up trips outside of base. They will fly you to where you need to be. He just got f’ed by some scheduler that doesn’t work here anymore. He had been a problem for many for a while, problem is they’re always short in scheduling, so getting rid of a trained person is tough.

Your schedule is bid on seniority. Just like any airline. The only crappy part is we’re getting so big when you bid vacation we need more slots for different weeks. Like out almost 100 captains there’s only 1 weeks of vacation in Xmas week for everyone to bid. So definitely needs revisiting.

MIA and IWA Pilots generally have the best QOL being home every night. We do have people that live in MIA and are home based, but that’s just their preference. MIA is a unique kind of flying with the Cuban charters, cargo plane and Venezuela flights(going to sdq instead of ccs for now).

Again this place is what you make of it, the systems they have in place are for lack of a better word a mess.... payroll despite the new scheduling system still works off an excel sheet. This is what makes some frustration dealing with problems you have because infrastructure is just not all the way there. Is it better than years ago? Hell yes! I still check on my pay every 2 weeks because I can’t see it anywhere on the computer, so I’m on it to make sure it’s correct. But that’s me I like my check to be right.

It’s not perfect, but provides me a decent quality of life. I like not having to commute, even if I have to prompt scheduling for my tickets, generally I send them what I want and as long as it’s within reason they’ll book it.

roflcopter

That sounds very reasonable. I was only asking him because I wanted specific examples of why Swift was such a bad place to work. It seems like it's a growing company and is having the issues associated with that but from what you say they are trying to do the right thing by getting rid of problem people and become more organized. I know MIA is mostly the Cuba stuff, do you think the recent legal changes that make it harder for people to travel and do business there are going to negatively affect Swifts business flying down there from MIA, or are there enough loopholes and people that can still travel that it won't cause any major issues? Also, what kind of stuff do you have to watch out for pay? Do they mess up the gaurentee a lot or is it mostly if you're owed premium time and stuff like that?

mexipilot84

It doesn’t affect our flying to cuba, the pax we carry are Cuban nationals visiting family, you need to be able to buy a ticket on those flights. I can’t buy a ticket to Cuba on those flights.

Pay wise if I break guarantee I just always ensure they pay it out, overtime etc. We don’t have an automated system like some airlines do to track your hours for payroll. You have to still submit a form every month with the hours and activity. Sometimes scheduling might forget to tag something as 200% and you need to ensure it gets fixed. If they missed a payment like per diem or big chunk of OT they have always mailed me a check or direct deposit the difference. Depends on the amount. So payroll is a small department still even though they’ve added people. It’s my money so I’ll watch my money.

Hellafo

Fixed it for ya.
And yes you have to track and submit all your block hours, and all your per diem.