Were you going to say "go to CAL get your type for free then go to SWA".

 

Hey everyone, I got the call at 1pm central today 10/23. Glad to get some of the pressure off. My stats:

HPA June08
Interviewed 8/19

6700 TT
1800 TPIC
Checkairman
Flying for national carrier
No Military
Last name starts with "F"

It's promising that calls are still going out. Don't lose hope!! Best of luck to all.

See you all in Oakland someday

 

Congrats sfast1 and everyone else getting the call!

Hopefully we won't all be swimming too long!

The bay area is beautiful in the spring!

 

I take issue with that since you were referring to the military guys' posts who preceded yours. Obviously, we don't need another military vs. civilian experience debate, but 8-10 plus years of military flying experience is nothing to scoff out. We have a lot less accumulated time (especially Fighter guys), but I can't say I was straight and level reading the USA Today very much in my 7 years with the Hog.

We all bring valuable experience to the field. Congrats to all the new hires.

Patch

 

Thanks Patch!

Pretty sure I can speak for all the new guys when I say we are thrilled to be joining the team!

 

The statistic I'd be interested in knowing is what percentage of HPA grads that apply to SWA actually get hired compared to the other 737-type rating sources. My HPA class had a near 100% SWA hire rate - but would need a bunch more data points to try and identify a trend and call it statistically significant.

Regardless, congrats to all...may your swim be short.

Don't hurt yourself celebrating Waldo11, need you for the ORE/ORI

 

HPA was an incredible experience. It is an organization run and staffed by some of the classiest people I've ever met. I just finished the type course last week, and if I paid a little more, it was money well spent. The energy and enthusiasm that reside in that company and its folks simply made my jaw drop.

AC

 

I agree with Tankerhead!

Just my two cents, but as a consumer of "B737 Type Rating Training Services" I personally feel I received an excellent value for the price I paid at HPA. Without a doubt in my mind, if I were doing it all over again, I again would choose HPA.

All the staff were very polite and professional. The training experience was challenging, but HPA made if fun along the way. The facilities are top notch. The training materials and presentation of those materials is excellent. On my first day at HPA I personally met with three SWA People Department employees and I handed them my resume and got to tell them about myself. One of the women I met that day (April, 2007) was in fact one of my interviewers now in September, 2008.

In my earlier years I spent 7 years obtaining my undergraduate and graduate degrees from two excellent Texas Universities, and HPA met or exceeded my expectations based on all my prior educational experiences.

While I can not speak to any other B737 program, and I am sure there are other very good programs out there, I personally can say that at HPA you get more than just what you pay for. As a consumer, it does not get much better than that.

 

SWA hires more for attitude than experience. Once you meet the mins, you are pretty much just as qualified as everyone else. They feel they can train you to fly the way they want you to fly. However, they can not train your personality. SWA is a great and fun place to fly. We have much fewer jerks to fly with than other companies. In the last two years, I've flown with only two guys I would consider difficult to get along with.

 

Gosh, it sounds like pure heaven to fly there.

Since their "jerkiness" levels seem so much lower than other airlines, can you tell me what their pilots' "smugness" level is compared to other companies?