Definitely more work than I'm willing to put in.

 

Union says the average TFP is 108. 120 is a pretty easy number if you want to work one or two extra days per month.

In three years, 3rd year pay will be $118, which would put you at $14,160 per month if you averaged 120 TFP. Then don't forget you'll get another 15%, or $2124 in your 401k and you'll also likely average 8% profit share, or another $1132.

I'd think if your making 12k now by the end of year three you'd probably be close to breaking even. Also, having worked overseas, there is no comparison to the benefits of a USA major compared to an overseas airline. That alone is worth something. I would not hesitate to come to SWA if I was given a CJO.

 

Thanks for the info everyone.

I would like to mention that I am not looking at SW as a means out of my current job. Just the opposite really. When I interviewed in 06 I had received the CJO from 3 other airlines and SW was my #1 choice.

But as we all know, with a family comes the responsibilities and I need to be very realistic about this big decision.

 

ROFF, I was an expat before SWA, and I came here dreading the first year. I have to say, it hasn't been nearly as painful as I thought. I just finished my first year recently, and I'd generally do 155-170 TFP's, some months more, some less. I'd shoot for 50-60 TFP's at second year rate as a probie. You get second year pay for anything you pick up beyond your original line value during your first year. This only happens during your first year. For your reference, our current rate is $67.32/TFP the first year and second year rate is $97.34. These rates go up on September 1.

I would end up with around 10-12 days off per month and roughly 19 nights or so in my own bed which is really what I use as a gauge considering I live in my domicile and don't mind working.

There are tricks to get 200+ TFP in a month, but that takes some work, and/or willing to chase OT in other bases, or working through your vacation if it falls during busy months. My record was 175 or so. I've had a classmate on reserve in another domicile who ended up with 190 TFP months staying in his base. It's doable, particularly during busy months. The trick is keeping your block hours low, and there are many ways to do that. Also it really helps a great deal if you live in your domicile.

How much you make here really depends on you... If you take time to learn the system and our contract, are willing to work and live in domicile, you can do really well here. If you don't really care to work more than your line, that's fine too. Unlike overseas, they aren't running a slave ship here. It's really up to you how much you make. That's the beauty of the system.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong SWA people but aren't you also limited to flying 1000 hours a year per regulations? So how can one do so many trips and make unlimited cash if you are restricted on the number of flying hours? I'm naive regarding SWA so pardon me if I'm not making sense.

 

Best rigs of any airline. Did a 2 day OT trip recently that paid 18.5. I flew 8.

 

Last week, I picked up a 2-day with only a DH back the next day, but it finished early enough so I got released from DH and came home that same day. Flew 3.4 block, paid 13.45.






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This is why work rules are critical, and even more important than hourly pay scale. This is also why the only time you'll get an accurate picture of SWA pay using APC calculator is if you're a line holder that doesn't ever pick up anything. Even reserve pilots won't get you an accurate number because reserves here fly and get paid average daily guarantee (6.5 TFP) if they're used to so much as fly a 40 minute leg, naturally more if they fly more than 6.5 TFP that day. Suppose you had a reserve pilot doing my OT described above. That reserve pilot would have probably made even more the next day if they changed his DH back and got him/her back to base later than originally scheduled. Any additional legs flown that day would have paid premium for that day... not bad for a reserve.

If we could only ELITT our reserve blocks, I would be bidding reserve.


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AND if reserves couldn't get tagged for seat support in the sim. Nope!

Otherwise I would bid it too, at least during the slow months.


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That's only DAL-based reserves, right?