We all got those rain cloud guys, even SWA. Some of them post on this forum quite often. It's all good, it takes all types!

I think there's a lot of good information on these forums, but lately it seems a few have taken a turn, in regard to SWA. To each their own on that type of attitude.

 

No long call RSV. Get 16 off in a 31 day month. 15 off in a 30 day month. Credit starts at 90. Can pick up trips on days off if you want and credit goes on top of the 90. Rsv pays 6/day. Once given a trip, pay goes up depending on the trip’s pay. It’s a pretty good deal if you live in base.

 

Definitely..... At least these days, when they're not using reserves as much as they used to.

I moved to a domicile this year, so, in addition to working my a$$ off for 6 months actually flying, I also picked up a bunch of reserve blocks this summer and fall.

I didn't want to bid entire R lines because I needed to work RJS kind of schedules for half the year, and the hard won synthetic block buffers kill any chance of picking up out of TTGA/MOT etc. before sitting and not getting used.

In the end, I made made over $80k more this year than last year, while only blocking about 50 hours more and not working a single day for almost 3 months of it. I cannot imagine how much I could've made had I done this prior to 2018 before the open time disappeared.

I will never commute again.

 

Nicely done. Although your domicile is an outlier, you have made the most of a bad situation with manning. When manning is normal, there is an open time frenzy and you can pick up good(ish) flying. When we are overmanned like right now, Orlando captains are desperate hungry and will extra fly or bid open time on any and all reserve trips including sub rig chopped up bits and pieces so you bid reserve.

 

What domicile?

 

MCO....... Been based here for over18 years, but had a 3 plus hour drive.

 

Yup.

Since January of 2018, damn near every month has been like February for us in MCO. For the last 8 years or so prior to that, I averaged 2-3 premium trips per month. Since then, I've gotten exactly 2 premium trips, the last one in early July 2018.

It was one of the reasons we finally decided to move.

The commute was still doable when I could play the premium game in the summer and make 130 tfp in 12 or 13 days. Between that and the fact that my drive was trending 15-30 minutes longer every year, it was beyond time.

I've always figured that not living a reasonable distance from domicile was costing me between $50k and $80K per year since I upgraded. This summer proved it.

Even doing what I call "Iron Man Premium" (ALL straight flying, with some reserve blocks mixed in and one reroute that paid around 10 tfp extra), I was able to make significantly more than previously.

Don't get me wrong, it was a beotch, even living locally, and I was definitely feeling it by the time we closed on our old house in Nov, but would've been impossible had we not moved.

Another data point is that I only busted my a$$ from mid May to mid November. From Jan to April, I didn't even average 90tfp.

It will be much easier to maintain these numbers when spread out over the entire year. Even easier if we ever go back to our traditional manning levels, but I am not gonna hold my breath for that.

 

Cool, congrats!

 

AA guy here. I’ll throw in my .02 cents.

Of course the retirements here are great, and the wide body international prospects are as well. The work rules here are definitely lagging, in fact they may be the worst of all the majors, but I certainly wouldn’t call this place a glorified regional. Compare that to probably the best of all the majors at SWA. Will that change at AA? Very possible but it’ll take a different management team. The guys in charge now have a long and proven track record of battle with labor.

As far as company stability, AA is still quite profitable even though the margins are down. Much of that has to do with the constant battle with labor and of course the MAX grounding. The debt is huge this is true. Parker has spent as if the good times will never end. Will it pay off? Maybe, but he’s been very cavalier with the spending in my view. Oil spikes, an economic downturn and the party could come to an abrupt end.

If you can deal with these realities, welcome aboard and never look back. If you need company stability, the work rules, the soft pay that comes with said work rules, profit sharing and management that engages in meaningful, good faith contract negotiations on amendable date......well I think you know the answer.

Best of luck to you. You’re doing the right thing by asking around and collecting input, but in the end you may just need to go with your gut.

 

I perceive International long haul as less time at home that you're not flying, and wide body as irrelevant. Once your butt is strapped in, they are all pretty much the same from where you sit forward.