You just keep telling yourself that.

 

Keep telling myself what, that the data does not in any way support your supposition?

Is Southwest immune to accidents, obviously not, but the data supports the fact they occur at a rate below that of many other carriers when the volume of flights flown is factored in.

 

The fact that Flt Ops had to put out a "pep talk" to all pilots in the previous Distance Learning says a lot. They're very concerned about a hull loss because of the persistent F ups, many of which don't make it to public knowledge but are damned close calls nevertheless.

I speak from my multiple 121 carrier perspective....some of the stuff I witness on the line blows my mind and makes me wonder how the airline's been so lucky thus far.

 

Multiple 121 experience... That explains a lot. I have been reluctant to say anything but can't anymore. I am civilian as well, a choice not of my own but it is what is is.

*** cares whether you are civilian or military WM? Everyone has something to bring to the table. You don't know my background, I don't know yours. Both may be extensive, I know mine is, flying ALL over the world... However, who really cares?

If you are so hung up on the safety issues, then do something about it like getting involved to help fix the problem you see rather than just being another disgruntled cog in the gears. Was AirTran so much better? You know if it is soooo bad, the airlines you mentioned earlier, UA, DL, etc. would love to have you...

 

Yes, Flt Ops/safety wise AirTran was better and so were the other carriers that I flew for as well. I already took a paycut with the downgrade. Now I'm supposed to take an even bigger paycut to go somewhere else? Nah.....

 

SIGH... Many of us took an initial pay cut to be here. If it isn't working for you, find something else. You cannot even see what I was eluding to nor can you see the forest for the trees either...

 

Good ole Whack had an equal or greater number of gripes and complaints on the NPA/ATN MEC forums about AirTran and all the rotten people who worked there. I wouldn't take much of this to heart.

 

That's just it amigo. I never WANTED to be here. You might say that it was forced upon me. I never had one iota of interest in applying to SWA.

 

Yes, well there is the scabs but that's a separate issue. At least there it was pretty clear who your enemies were. Here they just spew the Golden Rule bullchit and then threaten you with your job should you not vote "Yes" to a downgrade and a pay cut. Whatever dude. Not buying into the SWA cult bologna.

Most of the people I work with are nice and the schedulers are the absolute best compared to my previous carriers, but you can't #uck a group of pilots over and not expect to have some that won't be pi$$ed off for a long time to come. Deal with it. It's a small price to pay for a nice average gain in relative seniority and 800+ Cptn seats.

 

I speak from a multiple carrier perspective as well albeit with less of a chip on my shoulder and definitely with less axes to grind. I've seen some great safety practices as well as some that could use improvement at SWA.

As I have said in the past I think a serious look at best practices would have been great when combining operations. SWA had an opportunity to fully embrace those areas that were superior in the AirTran operation but paid it lip service at best.

AirTran ran a very safe airline (post VJ) and SWA would have done themselves a great service if they would have taken a serious approach to only carrying forward the best operational practices.

In the end, you simply can not discount the data available to analyze. Southwest runs an extremely safe operation when compared to others. According to Travel and Leisure's 2013 rankings, SWA was the number three safest airline in the WORLD and first among all U.S. airlines.

World's Safest Airlines

No. 3 Southwest (tie)

32 points
Long a passenger favorite, Southwest has proven that a low-cost, no-frills airline can also excel when it comes to safety. One of the few large U.S. airlines that doesn’t charge for the first or second checked bag, the Texas-based carrier has a reputation for jolly cabin crew as well as innovative seating and boarding.


World's Safest Airlines - Articles | Travel + Leisure