Hey do you guys think Southwest is going to dominate in the future? They have the HIGHEST pay for the LOWEST amount of aircraft seating. Do you think they will be some of the highest paid if all the majors start making money again? Thanks everyone.

 

Sir,

Tough call. SW business model is one that will allow them to stay around indefinitely, however, they will have some core issues to deal
with. I think the fact that they raised fares from $3-10 shows
they are starting to feel the pinch of expiring fuel hedges, industry
leading narrow-body pay, and labor unrest. As they are the Walmart of the aviation industry they set the tone for minimum fares. As of today I think oil is about $57/brl so they are fine with their current positions. I think, however, more fare increases are around the corner and possibly more labor unrest amongst their cabin crew. I also think that as the economy slowly rebounds people will opt more to legacy carriers with their more vast networks.

I think also their pilots receive extra pay for coming in under block which helps greatly with their patented quick turns. I suspect that they will revise that in the future as, and I'm guessing here, it leads to high fuel costs. It'll be interesting to see the slight fare increases they will have to implement over the coming years to stay profitable, but this only helps the legacy carriers. Management over there is to wise to ever let the sheets dip into the red. I doubt they will ever see an unprofitable quarter but one never knows.

J

 

sorry, left my crystal ball at home

 

We do not receive extra pay for flying under block. There is no "Labor Unrest" at SWA. It's not a big secret why SWA is doing so well, we do more with less. 10.3 pilots per airplane, each plane averages over 13 hours per day and our turns 20-30 minutes. One fleet, training cost are minimal compared to everyone else. Our reserves fly about 90% of the time and the pilots are the most productive in the industry. Yes we work hard but our pay reflects that.

 

Thanks for clearing that up and I agree, you guys do work hard.

J

 

One more question. How much O/T does the average Southwest guy fly? I use to fly fast to come in under block, but still get paid trip value which freed up more time for OT. Is that how you guys do it? Educate me. Thanks in advance.
J

 

That depends on each pilot. I know some FO's and Captains that don't do any extra fly. I know some that did a ton this year. I flew with one Captain who was giving his whole line away (we have very good trip trade/giveaway rules) and was doing ALL his flying for 1.5 times pay. He told me he was on par to make over 300K this year. Anyway, it's up to each individual and their needs. My first five years I did very little extra flying. This year, because some of my older kids needed a little help, I flew alot. As a six year FO I will make over 170K this year. I did work hard for the money, but it beats not even having the option of making extra.

 

Depends on how much work you want to do. I usually average 100-110 trips for pay per month. Thats about 85-95 hours. One month I decided to do some redecorating, or should I say my wife, and I flew 168 trips for pay. I flew everything I could for time and a half. We have some pilots that are making over 300k. They have no life! An average line has 16-18 days off a month and pays around 97-103 trips for pay for about 85 hours of flying.

 

ouch 85 hours actual flying a month!

a couple posts before mine said- he/she is a 6 yr/FO and will make 170k. at 122/hr. with 78 guar. (112X78X12=114.2) if i did my math correct that is around an add. 38 hours a month all year.

and they say night flying taxes the body.

 

Ahhhh, the key is to work smarter not harder. If you give your trips away and do all your flying at time and a half, you can make alot of money and still have quite a few days off every month.