Codfather--

Here is my experience at Southwest so far. No emotion. Take it FWIW. I know absolutely nothing about Delta.

Hired in 2000. Off reserve in 3 months. Every hard line since has had at least 17 days off (except February). 18 day off lines are the norm at the 3 year point.

I fly PM trips only. Lines are either AM or PM. It's easy on your body clock.

I commute. It's a no brainer. 12 flights a day to my base on SWA.

I don't fly extra and made $100k+ for my last 4 years as F/O, $120k the last two years.

I block about 720-750 hours a year.

I upgraded to captain in about 7 years and held a line in BWI first month after upgrade.

SWA is very politically correct. It's a big corporation.

1% of pilots are flaming a**holes. 1% are just ok. The rest are outstanding.

Facilities (pilot lounge etc.) are clean and new.

Going to work is not a drag. I show up, go home and forget about it.

I don't know if that helps but there it is. PM me if you want more.

Take care,

S.B.

Good post. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal. What's the Capt pay like? And don't worry..... we all have that 2% we could do without.

At CAL it is 58%.

8th year captain pay is $15,000/month on a 90 trip for pay month ($166TFP X90). That's about the lowest paying line you'll find and it's the lowest reserve pay except for February which is 84 TFP.

I'm pretty sure CAL and others are up there too. I think UPS and FEDEX pay their 1st year F/O's that much.

S.B.

Naw, we treat our 1st yr guys crappy, too. They only make $54/hr. Once you get off probation, well, then the captains get a million per year, and FOs get half that. Everyone knows that!!

So you guys took a pay cut? I missed that. LOL.

I love Southwest but the only widebodies on our property are based in Dallas.

S.B.

Moose,

What did you come up with?

DAL boasted the same thing, until 911. In the 60's EAL was the place to be, in the 70's it was CAL, in the 80's it was AAL, in the 90's DAL, today it's SWA.

I've seen it all baby, there's no slam dunks in this business. Good luck

DT,
After much deliberation, decided to go with SWA. DAL also seems like it would be a great place to be so it was really tough. Both have pros/cons but in the end, SWA (time will tell) was the best for my situation. Any news from you?

Godfather,

You never know if you made the right decision in this industry until the day you retire. I was hired to SWA in 2000 and reading one of the SWA guys posts it looks like I would probably be a Captain right now if I had taken the class date. Instead I went to DAL. While he was making $100K a year at SWA I was on furlough. That being said no one has an aviation crystal ball that I know of. After July of 2001 every swinging richard in aviation wanted to be a Delta pilot due to our contract, now we are the goat. Go with what fits you best and don't look back and play the what if game. It will only give you an ulcer.