PBS is great. Our PBS does need to be fixed to always honor seniority instead of sometimes violating it to increase the efficient use of flight crews.
Junior pilots will not have schedule flexibility.
If the economy tanks or we lose airplanes we will be fat and you will then be able to get any day off you want, but you won't be going up in seniority and your career stagnates.
So....

 

See, I thought we got 3% match our first year until I noticed they weren't matching my contributions on my payroll forms. When I called I got a simple "Oh... that's because you're a first year pilot." *** guys. Don't tell us you match 3% if you're not going to match.

 

It's after one year of service. Crappy language.

 

Not even crappy language. Straight up lying during orientation your first day. Only issue if I've had with the company so far so I can't complain. Incredibly misleading unfortunately.

 

Obviously someone must have mis spoke. Always look at what's written! Would it have changed your decision to come here?

 

No of course not. Definitely happy here. Just wish there was better clarification during orientation is all.

 

Congrats on the PBS success. I constantly was required to have 88 hours for my line to complete. I finally just started bidding some trips I wanted and locals to post or call in for. The main point was that there was no idea of what hours were required for your line to complete and I would always lose 2 or 3 day trips that were replaced with 4 day trips so PBS could add an additional 3 or 4 hours to my line. I learned how to bid around the constraints but SW PBS is a joke and help line and other "support" was just as bad.

I liked the Delta product and flying Delta trips. My option was to upgrade and commute, or switch to 175 Delta flying that I would have to commute to. I made the decision if I was going to commute, it may as well be to commute for mainline flying. It was nice that I didn't need to take a paycut for training (actually I think I made more in training than I did at SW) and I was able to get a seniority number while there is a hiring boom.

Bottom line is I didn't fly for another regional so I can't say how bad they are. And SW list of bases makes it an attractive option for almost anyone. The reason they don't offer more bonuses is they are able to fill classes without them. But everyone there would just rather point to how bad it is at other places than make things better at SW.

I was happy to make a career at SW when I first started but soon realized that SGU doesn't want people to stick around. I will say I am surprised at the number of people who I considered "lifers" that have reached out to me for suggestions to move on. Of course things will be better at mainline but that shouldn't mean you can't make improvements there. IMO it is pretty disgusting to watch what INC is doing to ASA/XJT. It is possible to have a contract with your employees and be successful. Just not at SW.

 

You would have never lasted here. You're mind was made up how horrible you had it here and even now after you've made it to Delta you still can't stop complaining about it. But like you said you never had to fly for another regional! Must have been nice... what are your thoughts on what Delta did to comair or any of the other carriers they owned? You know, since INC is so deplorable...

 

If it helps you ignore the points I brought up by making me the enemy that is fine. And I am not complaining, just simply countering the false statement that PBS is a wonderful tool that allows you to make the perfect schedule. There are limitations and those are controlled by INC with no input from the pilot group and no recourse when they violate the "contract" I'll admit that years on reserve with the horrible reserve rules may have jaded me. And the reason I never worked for another regional is because SW was the only place I wanted to work and I busted my butt instructing and paying for flight time until I had enough hours to apply to SW vs taking a job with another regional that required less hours.

I won't pretend to know your background like you have with me, so I can't say why you decided to work for other regionals before coming to SW. I'm sure you had your reasons for working at other regionals if that is what you did. Delta was always my dream but like others I bought into the fallacy that the next economic downturn would leave me on furlough or that SW was a "family" company and different from other airlines. So I made a decision that with the 2007 crash and age 65 pushed me beyond when I wanted to be hired and that I could gain seniority and have a good QOL at SW. Each month I thought things would get better as I gained seniority and would have some slight control over my work life. And each month it was the same disappointment. Until I decided to renew my original plan and apply to the airline I always wanted to work for. But had I had some simple QOL, I wouldn't have had the drive to do what needed to be done to move on. I'm not bitter about my time with SW. But I do think that people looking to work there should have a peek behind the curtain on what they can expect. Maybe they will have the same success with PBS that you have had and be perfectly happy?

And yes there are similarities between Delta and INC. Delta was put in a tight spot by Comair striking and decided to show Comair who was in charge. INC wanted to merge ASA/XJT and was spurned by the union and decided to show them who is in charge. The only difference was Delta at least told Comair they were being shutdown and didn't promise that with good performance they would be able to stay in business. I could be wrong but I believe Delta started diversifying after the Comair strike so that they would never be dependent on one single regional feed. INC essentially did the same thing opening DTW so they could phase out the sister airlines without disruption. If anything the lesson should be that working for a wholy owned is not the end all be all. But the fear of being Comair'ed is what is keeping every other Delta regional from seeking improvements or being compensated what they are worth. I promise to do my part on not voting in scope relaxations if the opportunity comes up.

 

Ya it's pretty vague during whatever orientation is... I found out pretty much all my impressions during orientation were wrong. Not so wrong that I'm ****ed, just wrong as it doesn't apply to me until year two.