15 years to go and don’t think you’ll upgrade? ATL?

 

It's especially fun when it's a non-datalink airport, and I have to put on my headset just to hear the ATIS and get the clearance, and it's still a struggle because the music is so f'ing loud. If you need music on the ground that badly, get a set of headphones.

 

DAL Would like to give it up at 60 or near there if possible. Not sure I can do that at this point, but it’s a goal to shoot for. At this point I have absolutely zero interest in upgrading. If it was offered tomorrow I’d turn it down. I want better schedules and no commuting. As I climb the FO ladder it’s getting a little better. Getting abused right now just like every other FO. The thought of commuting to sit reserve and working all weekends again? 🤢

 

Until we have to shrink to become profitable. That’s what the airlines always do in bad times, this will be no different.

 

The only one saying that is you….

 

Funny, every communication from the company directly refutes what you just said. SWA has typically not telegraphed growth in the past due to the upsetting of the status quo that growth causes the airline industry which results in price wars, turf battles, and reduced revenue for a bigger slice of the same pie. This generally upsets the investor community, which swa is absolutely beholden to.

Read the Wall Street journal from Friday. There are two articles, one about how awesome United handled the pandemic by basically just hunkering down, the other on how SWA is operating on a razor's edge, which resulted in an epic meltdown in October. This was a shot across the bow to the C Suite. They don't listen to the pilots union, but they definitely listen to Jim Cramer and the WSJ, both of which have unloaded with both barrels.

Now they are all in on letting everyone know that 2022 is a growth year. They have broadcast hiring, hull numbers increasing, and in general that rapid growth is on the horizon.

Nobody has said a word about shrinking.

I am normally not very optimistic, but I think 2022 is going to be very good for pilots hired 5-10 years ago. We need to get people in the door fast, and that is very good in general. There are issues with labor relations at swa for sure, but if those barriers can be broken, a new contract this year is not out of the question at all.

 

As a seven-year dude, I hope your hunch is correct!

 

I have serious doubts that swa can fill classes with the number of new hires they’d like. We are 4-6 months behind everybody else in the post covid hiring process which means most CJO’s will be those who have already accepted offers and/or who already have class dates at other carriers. Unless a prospective new hire already lives in a jr swa domicile, accepting a job here vs any other legacy/cargo carrier is a break even proposition at best based on current pay and seniority projections.

 

Seriously. I rode on the JS at United and the guy in the right had just got off IOE and was already awarded 75/6 in his base and by the time he's done with training he wont even be on reserve. Another pilot I was waxing idiotic with from United has more senority in her base in 1.5 yrs than I got with over 5. Unless someone is wed to where they live and there is a SW base there I dont know why they would chose sw over another?

 

[QUOTE=e6bpilot;3313406]Funny, every communication from the company directly refutes what you just said. SWA has typically not telegraphed growth in the past due to the upsetting of the status quo that growth causes the airline industry which results in price wars, turf battles, and reduced revenue for a bigger slice of the same pie. This generally upsets the investor community, which swa is absolutely beholden to.

Read the Wall Street journal from Friday. There are two articles, one about how awesome United handled the pandemic by basically just hunkering down, the other on how SWA is operating on a razor's edge, which resulted in an epic meltdown in October. This was a shot across the bow to the C Suite. They don't listen to the pilots union, but they definitely listen to Jim Cramer and the WSJ, both of which have unloaded with both barrels.

Now they are all in on letting everyone know that 2022 is a growth year. They have broadcast hiring, hull numbers increasing, and in general that rapid growth is on the horizon.

Nobody has said a word about shrinking.

I am normally not very optimistic, but I think 2022 is going to be very good for pilots hired 5-10 years ago. We need to get people in the door fast, and that is very good in general. There are issues with labor relations at swa for sure, but if those barriers can be broken, a new contract this year is not out of the question at all.[/QUOTE.

Just look around? Fuel prices going up weekly, supply chains shutting down, grocery stores running low on merchandise and now you cannot even buy car parts. This is going to get a lot worse before it gets better. It may not get better in the next 3 years. But hey good luck with that 11 year upgrade. The Country is sinking into the abyss slowly. And you think this is labor/relations problem? Oh, okay.