BrulesRulez

hoya saxa

It sounds like you’ve got the background FDX is looking for. Update your app frequently, to the point of absurdity. Good luck and when they do call, yeah, don’t mention that “third choice” thing! ; )


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IQuitEagle

Wow. Come on a FedEx thread with that. I can’t imagine why your other interviews didn’t go well...

Nitefrater

FedEx generally tries to avoid hiring low-SA pilots. I'm guessing UPS, Delta, American and United do the same. Good luck with your fourth choice.

Grumpyaviator

https://driveusatruck.com/owner-operators/lease-purchase?r=leadflex_google_lease_purchase&mm_campa ign=8BD7AD9C9FB579F93754EEBF24A90B94&mm_replace=TR UE&trkid=V3ADW502824_71211628935__12915.anonymous. google_352924836612_d_m__segment_be_a_910716942936 533364&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqtPf2bq15AIV5HjBCh2TQA5tE AEYASAAEgKtg_D_BwE

dckozak

Here, fixed it for you. Actually, that was my first read, I thought, "holy sh##, I guess some guys are lucky and get on early".

dckozak

Not with standing the comments from the peanut gallery, you might want to get a professional work over for your future interviews. Dress, demeanor, interview prep, the whole enchilada. Usually a girl friend/wife/mother is good for some of the soft issues. Pros for the rest.

fly2ski

I don't think I would want to fly here for 41 years,

Thanks for fixing it!

dckozak

But to be 24 again. That would be worth a couple thousand numbers of seniority.

Duke Beamer

Great post.

I’m late to the party, and not quite sure how this thread got recommended to me by the algorithm, but.... here I go. I actually got picked up by SWA 4 years ago and declined a couple of other offers from great companies (FDX especially). I am based in DEN and live about 1 hour south. That played a big role in my decision, to be honest. The Colorado commute for FDX guys is pretty tough from what I hear. I don’t know much about the FDX lifestyle except what I hear from my buddies there, so I’ll keep my comments primarily focused on what I do know and that is SWA. I will say that from the outside, living in MEM, sitting 777 FO reserve in my own house hardly ever getting used sounds like the greatest QOL in the industry. But I digress.

In 4 years, I’ve averaged 2.69 legs/day. We do have 5 leg days, and used to have a 6 leg “Texas 2 Step”. But those trips aren’t nearly as common anymore. And the few that I do see, go fairly senior because they’re so productive $-wise. Hopefully this updates some folks’ SWA gouge out there.

I’ve flown 650-850 hours a year in my time here, so let’s go with an avg of 750.

I work a PM schedule, generally Sun-Tues night. 4x 3 day trips. I haven’t flown a trip longer than 3 days in over 3 years. I’m surprised at how big of a deal this has become for me. I’m a family man with young kids, so my priorities & focus may different than some. But after church on Sunday, I slowly start to get my work stuff together and head to the airport around 4. I’m home Tuesday night and I’ve only missed a handful of my kids’ sports practices (no games). That’s why this schedule is so huge to me, it’s easy/flexible, and I literally squeeze work in & around my personal life. It’s awesome.

Our min monthly guarantee is around 88 TFP. I’d say they average around 95. I usually hit 110-115 TFP/mo by picking up 2 extra turns from other pilots. This puts me at 14 days of work, still only 8 nights gone (which is big for us having kids at home), and I’ve found that 110-115 is the sweet spot in terms of maximizing my W2, profit sharing, B Fund, and sick balance accrual. I can do this quite easily as a domicile guy. If I was a commuter, then I’d fly my 95 line for the month and call it good. Completely different lifestyle for commuters at SWA.

Upgrade times, this could all change with the MAX grounding, the MAX coming back, etc.... as of today, I am projected to be able hold the most jr captain spot in OAK (and probably LAX) at around the 7 year mark. But that’s a very fluid guess.

There’s been some conjecture on here about schedule flexibility and I had to laugh. Because one could absolutely get 3 weeks off at SWA without vacation. One could get a month off with just week of vacation. FDX & SWA have the greatest schedule flexibility/work rules/vacation rules in the entire industry.

There’s been a few ex SWA guys here that left before the new contract took effect. The old contract needed a lot of work, and the new one has made some really big changes. I don’t blame them for leaving for FDX a few years ago. Now? It feels a lot different. Our reserves sit a lot, which is nice living in domicile in DEN. Our B fund is awesome, I’ve been able to max out my $55K IRA limit as a very junior FO. SWAPA is an awesome union and does a lot of great stuff for the pilot group. The pilot group in general seems to have a very common mentality and team attitude, in my personal opinion.

Only flying the 737? I don’t know this for fact, but I’ll bet a beer that we have an additional airframe in the next 6-9 years. If we don’t.... cool. The 737 is fine. I don’t hang out at pilot bars talking about my watch and what metal I’m on. I fly the 737, it’s old and small and not as good as the Airbus and boring, etc...(which could all be true), but I don’t care. Because I don’t fly it very much and I’m home all the time with my family. I’m never more than 2 time zones away, so my body clock never resets. It’s just easy. It’s not for everyone, that’s for sure. But there’s a lot of us here who do. I flew the same airplane in the AF for 15 years and loved it. So I’m cool with keeping training easy. But if/when we get the 797? I’ll take a look at it and see what the schedule is like.

Am I glad I stuck with SWA? Yes. Because living in CO is what we wanted to do, and commuting sucked for me. The schedule, the flexibility, the work rules, the pay, the historic performance, the financial stability, etc... those also play a part in it for me.

But I know I would have loved FDX too. For a lot of the same reasons. Biggest factor for me was.... my wife said she’s living in CO, not MEM. And commuting forever, especially that commute, just didn’t seem like the best option for me.

Hope this helps.