coopervane

Hey guys,

Running a spreadsheet to look at earnings between airlines. Obviously a straight 75 hour X hourly rate won’t work for Southwest because of your pay structure.

Can anyone suggest a conversion or “effective hourly rate” adjustment to help with real W2 amounts?

CA1900

I use 1.15 TFP per hour as a pretty good conversion rate.

So 90 TFP, the reserve guarantee, would convert to 78.26 hours, for example.

Similarly, $69.34 per TFP, our first year rate, would convert to $79.75 per hour.

WHACKMASTER

Additionally, most line holders average 107-110 TFP monthly. You can do a lot more but not much less if we’re talking realistically (unless you’re really senior and can get the primo trips that others will take as there is no outright drops).

Reserves credit more than the minimum in most months. Expect to spend a few months on reserve in all but the most senior bases.

ANGFlight81

1.15 is good for a rough estimate however there are many variables. I would just take our tfp and multiply it by the amount of trips.

We average 17-19 days off a month and average tfp for pilot is 107 per month. Some months more, the meager months as low as 90. I’m very junior and average 120-130 a month and still maintain at least 16-17 days off a month.

Schedules are very flexible here. Get good with elitt. Before anyone tears me up, no you cannot just “drop” trips here.

SrfNFly227

Are the rates shown in the Southwest profile page the straight pay amounts, or have they been converted already? It shows $79 for first year, so I’m guessing that means it’s already been converted.

slimothy

That is somebody’s conversion, not sure how accurate it is. But hourly rates are only a factor in a much larger equation for figuring out how much money you’ll make. Work rules play as big a roll as anything to determining your QOL.

SrfNFly227

Thank you for the quick reply. I flew 121 for 4 years, so I understand that hourly rates are only part of the equation. Knowing them gives a good minimum though for family budgeting reasons should I be lucky enough to get the call.

RJSAviator76

Except on reserve, unlike at other airlines, nobody makes the "minimum" here. You can easily count on 105-115 TFP per month while on reserve here even though you'll start with 90 or 96 TFP in a month depending if it's a 30 or 31-day month.

The people making the least money here are the lineholders who only fly their schedule and don't tweak it at all. They're the ones you'd apply the "80 x hourly rate" to and be somewhat close.

BZC17

For christ sakes!! The op asked for a conversion rate not a contract comparison. Give him the standard 1.15 +/- .02 and you are good. The fact that people average more has no relevance. We short change ourselves so much in this profession by adding qualifiers.
We make less per hour than Delta, United and American depending on the month. You make significantly less your first 4-5 years. (Dirty little secret) After that the pay disparity is not as significant but noticeable.
Realize that there is a min pay guarantee for a reason. Bad economic downturns could force you to be at guarantee.
Don’t get me wrong, Swa is a great place to work. We should be the highest 737 narrow body pilot in the industry for the amount of money we generate. You are shooting yourself in the foot with the “look at my w-2 argument.”

Rant off/

Proximity

It's completely relevant since the OP is trying to compare airlines.

Our rates for FOs years 1-5 are low but it is very true that at SWA you'll do better then guarantee on reserve. This doesn't happen at the other big 3 so it's something to consider when making a comparison. Reserve does have some negatives here but we do make out very well on reserve pay.