^^^ this

The key lesson learned for me was that this is an entirely transactional business. There is nothing like goodwill or “I rub your back and you rub mine”

You can help our crew support all day long - no brownie points for you when you need help with a day off.

It is always a negotiation.

That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be professional and deliver a quality product. Just don’t think you build any goodwill that you can cash in one day by going the extra mile.

TFAYD

Adding to this, helping out crew support and expecting some brownie points probably worked when this was a 500 pilot operation vs. a 5000 pilot operation. Now, there are simply too many pilots for them to remember a favor you did and there is a lot of turnover in CS. Nothing nefarious, just the fact of being in a large company.

When I was new I saved the day once by accepting an assignment outside my reserve availability, hustling to the airport, coordinating so they could board while, I was on the parking shuttle, etc., keeping a flight form being canceled.

Fast forward a month or two and I'm trying to make a commute home with 20 minutes left in my ready reserve with the door about to close. They wouldn't release me, even though there is no way they could have used me for anything. I learned then and there that there was no reciprocity and not to expect it.

Years ago there was (to a degree), not any more.

SW has just become another big business, it seemed to have morphed when Jerry handed the reigns to chipaway?

Wow. That does suck.

A bit, but I don't think it is necessarily any worse than other regionals. My point is that it is simply that in a reality of a large operation that favors often aren't remembered.

It doesn't mean I still don't have pride of work ethic and won't do what I can to "save the day" given passengers are people that have reasons to be somewhere (weddings, funerals, vacations, interviews, etc.). It just means I don't have an illusion that an individual act will be remembered by crew support.

And of course its important to balance being a "team player" with not doing things that ultimately cover up a lack of staffing and in the end make QOL worse for your fellow pilot group. Going outside the policy manual to help the operation should never become a norm that CS expects or relies on.

I’ve had that happen to me. Ya it sucks. But i also know it takes 12 positive experiences to forget or make up for 1 negitive... realy doesn’t happen that often and thats the game of commuting and being on reserve... I also remember the times things have worked out in my favor..

OO morphed when they got the United contract and that was way before Chip.

It morphed when SW stopped being an “airline” and became middle managers for DL/UA performing ACMI (aircraft/crew/MX/ins) duties.
What a strange business we live in, flying another airlines pax around pretending by painting our aircraft and dressing like we work for airline X but don’t. We really get paid by someone else who by the way doesn’t want you to work for them too long because then it cost a little more money. It is what it is, do your job professionally, collect pay, go home.

Hahahahahahahaha

But you also have to realize how brownie points can be seen by their management.

There was this one airline where pilots started sending gift cards to crew support. And crew support said “wow, these pilots are so nice.” It was a small airline and they remembered their names. And when this airline started offering 200% pay on certain trips cause the airline was understaffed, instead of paging for them they called the nice pilots. And the nice pilots started making $$$$. The entire crew support department got in trouble for this. True story...

Just understand that Crew support only follows their procedures. Don’t take it personally. People like to b*tch about their job but they only do their job.