WHACKMASTER

I’d rather you guys get hired ten fold over the F-teeners that run this place.

FleetSnarl

That's exactly what this is about. Take an informal poll of pilots on the line at SWA and ask them what they think our leverage is in negotiations. Probably 80%+ will say "pilot shortage" as the number one thing or in the top couple of things.

Starting an ab initio program allows the company to fire back at us, and say, "What pilot shortage? We've addressed that. We've got XXXX number of people signed up for our ab initio program. No pilot shortage here. Next?"

Basically, this is management's way of neutralizing one of our strongest points of perceived leverage and taking the wind out of the sails of the vast majority of guys who think management should bend to our asks because, if they don't, nobody will want to work here.

WHACKMASTER

Which is why we need to be smarter and see right through this bologna.

SlipKid

Sadly, only a small percentage will see it, as usual.

FleetSnarl

Yep. OTOF, one guy's main issue with it is something about his favorite aviation school in Oklahoma isn't participating in the program. Oy vey. SAIEW. Most guys main concern is that the pilots coming out of the program will be sub-par (fair enough).

Few are expressing concern about why management is doing it now, seven months before negotiations open (enough time to enroll the program with enough "cadets" for management to be able to point to it as a pipeline of future pilots that nullifies any real concern of a pilot shortage).

Once negotiations open, management will say, "We've got X number of cadets signed up for the program. Our future hiring needs will be largely met by those X cadets. We don't see a pilot shortage." The NMB will turn to the union and say, "What do you got?"

Meanwhile, management will have been working on the pilot group via their propaganda machine (which is very effective). They'll publish facts and figures on projected hiring and how many cadets are coming through the program. They'll have the chiefs and their mouthpieces delivering the same message. Most will buy it and begin to think we don't have nearly as much bargaining power as we thought we did. Better vote yes before a recession comes along (or if already in a recession, before it gets worse).

Management is so, so, so far out ahead of the pilot group, it's kind of mind-boggling.

RckyMtHigh

They will be graduating into the greater industry pilot shortage. Just because they get a SWA interview, doesn’t mean they will want to come here. SWA still needs to be an attractive destination or these guys will be looking elsewhere- or leaving SWA within a couple years for greener pastures. I don’t see where it changes anything.

Zard

I read some more about this. It has a mentorship with a current SWA pilot.

How does one get to be a mentor? Is there a minimum number of flag ties to own or minimum sick bank or swag balance?

FleetSnarl

We like to think we're smarter than management. We're the most profitable airline in history. Management is not stupid.

Ask yourself why would they go to the time, expense, and trouble of setting up this program, if there was nothing in it for them? In fact, under their description of the ab initio cadet program, they specifically say why they're doing it: so that they can have a pipeline in the future in the face of a pilot shortage. We can be assured that they've costed this out and it's a net win for them.

People smarter than me have pointed out that SWA specializes in "desperation hiring". That is, they hire people who will subsequently feel a debt of gratitude toward SWA for rescuing them from whatever not-so-great circumstance: they were furloughed, they were at a sh***y regional, they were at a cr***y cargo or foreign carrier, they were military and sick of career worries and TDY's. The ab initio program is simply a version of that. They take a "zero" and over the course of a few years full of marination in SWA culture (assigned a pilot mentor, jumpseat rides, regular visits to DAL), they become a "hero" SWA pilot.

If you can't see how this makes a difference, then you're kind of proving SlipKid's point that only a few will see what's going on. The company will be able to bank on a steady supply of incoming pilots. They will be able to make that argument to themselves, to the NMB, and to a substantial portion of the pilot group.

Smokey23

This is undeniably a defensive move on the kompany's part to help out with the shorter supply of pilots they see coming over the next decade. But to call this a 'pipeline' from the likes of Swift, XO, et all, is something of an exaggeration. Soda straw seems more accurate considering the size of these operators vs. the staffing needs of SWA.

RckyMtHigh

It doesn’t matter to me what management is doing. If they think that this will cause me to accept a lesser contract, they are dead wrong. The old guard is on it’s way out. A large majority of the guys hired in the last 5 years are not desperation hires and are not going to accept a sub-par contract.