Had lunch with a 17 yr. SWA captain yesterday.

You will need well above stated mins. even to get interviewed. About half the classes are military. Varies. Civilian new hires have 5000-6000 PIC Jet. There probably are exceptions. Even with that, it's no guarantee you'll get hired, or even interviewed. Kind of a crapshoot. The competitive mins will probably change over time. They always do.

I have another friend flying in China. Ex-Aloha has maybe 10,000 hours PIC in B737s. Two interviews in the last 2-3 years. NOT hired.

It's numbers first, then what/who you know second with some luck thrown in.

I see a lot of guys posting that they have received TBNT emails from SWA. How soon after applying do most people receive these? It sounds like it happens within a couple of days of applying.

I believe that those that do not meet stated minimums in any of the required areas are receiving a response almost immediately.

~2500 hours total flight time or 1,500 hours total flight time in a turbine aircraft.
~a minimum of 1,000 hours in a Turbine aircraft as the Pilot in Command.
~USA DOT/FAA First Class Medical Certificate.
~Must be at least 23 years of age.
~FCC Restricted Radiotelephone Operator Permit.

If you can't check all the required boxes I think it spits out the application as non-qualifying.

Is SWA the only place hiring? Spending the next several decades in a 737 is appealing because....?

There are a lot of other carriers out there that offer the same or better opportunities.

Hilarious. Love it.

I think two things need to be pointed out here:

First, we have no actual proof he really sent the letter. He could have just written it out of frustration and then posted it on APC just for fun without ever actually sending it to SWA.

Second, I think this letter points to the frustration many of us have had with this industry. Particularly with seemingly arbitrary rejection letters even before having the chance to interview. We all deal with those frustrations differently. I have had my fair share of raw deals in this career. It happens and eventually you just get to a point where you just make the best of what you have.

The most frustrating thing I have experienced was never getting a chance to interview at a certain legacy airline that was hiring everyone else from my company. I had more than the competitive requirements, no accidents, incidents, violations, or failures. I was a check airman and had seven internal letters of recommendation. I was promised over the course of four job fairs of being on the short list for an interview call and one of my internal recommendations was a good friend of a base chief pilot. He had the base chief pilot call to the HR department to check on my application and confirmed I would get a call in less than two weeks. Seven years later I am still waiting for that call (not really, I have moved on). After racking my brain trying to figure out why I never got a call it was finally, unofficially, revealed to me why. I have the misfortune of having the same, fairly rare, last name as a well despised, notorious, former management pilot of this airline. Nobody at this airline wanted to take a chance of hiring a person who was related to that guy, so I was immediately blacklisted as soon as my application hit the pile. I never stood a chance. I could have commanded five space shuttle missions and been a former Thunderbird, they still never would have given me a chance.

So whether this guys letter was real or not, I certainly understand the frustration vented in his letter and I am sure many of us do as well.

WM, instead of thanking Gary and SWAPA for your current position/condition, you could more accurately thank your MEC, no?

You DID take a seniority hit, and temporarily lost your captaincy, and that's rough. By one year from now, your fellow former AT captains will be bidding for the left seat at WN. You haven't been banned from Captaincy.

If you count yourself as one of the 'vast majority of the 1,700+' who will be looking for retribution, may I suggest you be one of the first to contact Clear Skies? You wouldn't want to be on hold or get a busy signal just when you are finally trying to get your mind out of the cesspool.

If you DON'T count yourself as one looking for retribution, if that is NOT what you are declaring here, then disregard the above suggestion. Welcome aboard!

I really hope and pray you are never involved in serious accident or incident. Although these are supposed "anonymous" web sites, your comments could be misconstrued so as to accuse you of committing willful and deliberate acts of "retribution". I can just about guarantee you that if either pilot of MH 370 had made similar comments on an anonymous web board, that would now be a matter of public record.

Whackmaster, I appreciate your angst over the career misuse you've endured.
But you're a professional, nominally, at least, and you owe your coworkers, professional peers, and your passengers, better than you are threatening to deliver. That debt comes with the stripes. If you don't feel you can deliver on your obligation, take off your stripes and find another job. Our profession has no room for petulance.
You can't change what happened. Advocate strongly for what you feel is right, but do it on the up-and-up.

Best of luck!

I wonder how many people today would select a SWA job offer if they also had simultaneous offers from DAL, UAL and AA/US? How many out of 100 would elect to go to SWA today and sit on the bottom of the seniority list and wait 18-22 years for the left seat?

No doubt the pay at SWA is great - but it is one of several factors to be considered.