SlipKid...I did it for you.

Let's take DAL 777 captain and 747-400 Captain for example.

Payrate is $330 per hour. Now let's multiply by that by guarantee, (because you only fly what's awarded (12 working days a month)) X 65.

= $257,400 per year

Let's give him $500 parking stipend
And let's give him $5000 for meals

That works out to $262,900 before tax or any retirement or profit sharing.

BTW, with 22 years at DAL I don't think you'd only be working 12 days a month on that equipment.

So, can you break it down better for me?
*rolls eyes*

A 5 yr DL FO on the 757 working a 85 hr line makes $14,200 or so.

A 5 yr SWA FO would have to do 108 tfp to match. Not hard.

Topped out scale on the WB @ an 85 avg is roughly 115 tfp/mo on the SWA side.

I pay nothing for medical. They spend anywhere between $2-500/mo depending on plan. I'll pay $36/mo for parking vs $500 for a higher deductible medical plan and PBS for bidding. Their rigs pay less then ours, but they generally fly less and have longer overnights in better locations. The grass is always greener, someone always has it better than you.

We made huge gains last year and hopefully we can achieve parity on many things without giving anything up on CBA2020.

Agreed. How many working days does it take to get to 85 credit on a 757 vs how many working days for us to get to 108?

Efficiency needs to be taken into account as well. As I said earlier doesn't it all boil down to W2's and working days?

In June, I worked 15 days to credit 113 TFP, and I had some very low paying trips.

Left field? Do you think we have ever had an industry standard contract?

It all adds up over the years. I've spent over $10k on parking alone since I've been here. The new uniforms represent the ONLY uniform items of mine that SW has ever paid a dime for, and they are complete junk. I've already donated all 6 pairs of my unworn plastic pants to Goodwill, and I actually feel guilty about foisting that crap on them. At least we got a B fund in the new contract.

I'm not sure what numbers you've been fed, but our pay was not that great for most of my career here. Up until the new contract, 12 year Capts pay was a smidge under $190 per TFP.

How much do you think our Capts made/make flying their lines? Even flying 100 tfp per month, which are typically 14-15 day months, it netted under $230k on the old scale.

I make what I make flying pretty close to, or maybe a little over my line with the occasional premium trip, provided I can get rid of close to the same number of straight flying days.

I have a life outside of work so therefore, have zero interest in working extra on my days off, over vacation etc.

These days, I endeavor to work whatever will get me the most $$ in 12 (or less) days, in non vacation months. I will, occasionally, go to 13 or 14, but only if it's premium or due to an overlap, the latter which I am typically able to avoid.

I usually do about 90-100 tfp per month. There have been a few months where I dip into the high 80's, but that's maybe once a year.

That said, last year I grossed around $260k, not counting the almost full retro, err, "bonus", but I was able to replace a lot of my straight flying with premium last summer, something that is definitely not happening this year.


Oh, and when did I ever "brag about working min schedule"?

I fly more or less the same number of days in my awarded line every month, except for vacation months, or months where I can replace straight pay trips with some premium, like in June, where I did 108 tfp in 9 days.

I'd love to work less, but I am trying to pay off my house and put my second kid through college. And 90+ is a comfortable number both pay and QOL wise.


There are so many variables between major contracts that, honestly, I wouldn't know where to start.

More evidence of exactly why we'll never get an industry standard contract. ;)

No, your cherry picked assumptions are likely as accurate as any guesses I can make. Carry on...... :D

Well said, and covers the events of the last few years nicely.

We'll be paying for those transgressions for decades.

You were a lot nicer than I'd have been had I written that, especially regarding our former union capitulators, err, "negotiators" and BOD Prez. ;)

The SWApA/company collusion goes back decades. You wouldn't believe some of the absolute screw jobs SWApA foisted upon our naive pilot group over the years. Heck, we ratified a concessionary (2006) contract in 2009, after living with the concessionary 94 contract that we extended, twice, for 13 years, and then ratified 17(!) concessionary side letters to top it off. Several biggies were given away via SL DURING Sec. 6 for the current contract.

This incessant BS finally came to a head during the last TA1. Even some of the most ardent Kool Aid swillers had had enough.

I was amazed at some of the faces I saw at the pickets. Guys I would've formerly pegged as potential scabs were ticked off enough by what was going on to show up and walk with us, which was encouraging. Of course, most of them went right back into YES! mode when TA2 came out.

I'll call it as I see it.....it's an airline of extremes. There's some ridiculously great things at SWA (sick accrual, vacation drops/credit, premium pickup, etc.) and then there's other aspects that are an embarrassment even compared to a regional contract.

For potential new-hires, you have to do some hardcore research and decide on what's best for you. It'll be a good fit for some but DLA, UAL, FDX will be a better fit for many others.

Again, I'll call it as I see it......in my 19 years and four airlines I've never witnessed a union that was firing as much on all cylinders. Unfortunately, in the past I was a casualty of that. Now it's to my benefit but in my estimation there's a long way to go. That's kinda irrelevant to this discussion.

The bottom line is and to prove the point of it being an airline of extremes, sometimes a trip will "blow up" with reroutes/JAs/etc and I just have to laugh at how much it pays and then there's some Mickey Mouse schit (okay, not some but a lot) that is just downright embarrassing for a "major" airline and leaves me shaking my head.

Yes you did. For those on the outside looking in....15 days of work a month "playing the system" should yield 120-130 TFP.

Im on 2nd year pay and am at 121 TFP so far for July with 16 off and no premium. That's just a line with some overfly from the one four-day I've done so far.