Originally Posted by NuGuy

Had a bud of mine show up for work one day. Anything to do with the airline not physically bolted to the terminal was gone. Called scheduling and the number was disconnected. Called around with some numbers he had, and finally got a hold of someone: “Oh yea, we closed up last night. Guess someone should have called you.”

They stiffed him for $3500 to boot.

Point is, to think that anyplace in this business cares about you more than 2 seconds after your usefulness to them has ended, is suffering from some serious hubris. I don’t care whose name is on the airplane.

Originally Posted by loveislost7M8

Here is another letter written by one of our 81+ new hire pilots that have resigned. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Dear Southwest pilots,

My name is Gary, and I recently left Southwest for Delta. I was the one that Captain Bob, a friend of mine, posted about last week on this FB group about my leaving Southwest to go to Delta. I gave Bob permission to do this, not so you guys can flame me for leaving for Delta, but to use as ammunition to get a better contract.

Although I'm no longer there and was only there for a short time, I genuinely care that you guys will get an awesome contract that is deserving of all the hard work you do. Maybe my story will help.
When I started at Southwest, I had every intention of giving SWA a fair shake at being my forever airline. Let's face it, no one grows up as a little kid dreaming that they want to fly 737s 4 legs a day, overnighting in such exotic places as Lubbock. What attracted me to Southwest was that some of the best captains I admired and flew with were working there, making good money with a good schedule at a place with phenomenal culture and a management team that was more amicable than most others in the industry.

Although realizing a childhood dream of flying a heavy to my birthplace is cute, with less than 2 decades of my career left, making money is the primary goal. After having flown at the regionals for 13 years, doing 8 leg days on the Brasilia with overnights in Inyokern at a motel that makes Motel 6 look like the Sheraton, 4 leg days with a Lubbock overnight is nothing as long as it makes me a lot of money. If I really wanted to fly heavies to Asia, I would have taken a pay cut flying rubber dog **** on an Atlas 747.

I didn't need Southwest on my resume, because I had already gotten the CJO from Delta weeks before starting at SWA. If anything, Delta initially did me dirty by metering my start date back 6 months because I worked at a regional that flew their colors. I actually took a huge pay cut (over $12,000 a month) to be in training at Southwest instead of just staying at my regional until starting at Delta. I hope this shows how much I wanted to be one of your fellow pilots.

And I loved my time there. The people and culture were as good as I had hoped, the folks that run the training center were great, and the SWAPA folks really made me feel at home.
But the reality is, the warm and fuzzies of good people and good culture aren't why we come to work. It's for the big fat paycheck. The great people and culture are a nice bonus, but it means very little without that fat paycheck. Delta unexpectedly fast-tracked my class date and cut 3 months off the wait. How can I say no to making more money than I would have at Southwest?
SWA management needs a long hard look at their competition. Places like Delta and United have upgrade times in months, not the 8 years currently at SWA. In my E175 transition class back in 2016, I had a 21 year old new hire FO as my partner. He came to Delta only 9 months ago, and has ALREADY been awarded 767/757 captain for 2023. Captain on a widebody at a legacy at only 27 years old. It sure is a wild time. Had I stayed at Southwest, in 2023 I would have made the equivalent of $130 an hour, while he's making $272 an hour. I'll be so behind pay wise as an FO until I can upgrade at SWA in 7 years, and even as a captain at SWA , I would still keep falling behind.

If Southwest management truly wants to hire and retain the best of the best, they need to give the pilots a contract that they will feel happy with and never have doubts about "what would I have made at a legacy". It can't just be industry leading for narrowbodies, it has to be industry leading PERIOD. The more they draw out this contract negotiation, the harder it will be to retain pilots. 3 other classmates are former Southwest. 2 have been there for 4-5 years. Another Southwest pilot was in my interview group and will be starting in January. One of my Southwest classmates already left for United. This is just the front of a growing tidal wave of people leaving Southwest if management can't get it together and give you guys an amazing contract. I mean people leaving Southwest in the hundreds. The Delta training staff mentioned that they will hire about 2500 pilots next year and I've heard United's numbers are similar, with American not far behind. That's around 6-7000 pilots. Unless management can provide a worthy contract soon, a sizable portion of those 6-7000 are going to come from Southwest.
Even though my time at Southwest was short, I feel privileged and honored to have been a fellow pilot, and wish you guys the best of luck with your contract negotiations.

Sincerely,
Gary

Originally Posted by Fly4FunAA

I’m right there with this guy. I got hired with SWA May 2022 and I’m leaving for Delta as soon as I come off mil leave. With over 35 yrs left it just makes the most sense. A few more guys in my original class are thinking about bailing for Delta/United as well. Like how the author said, “this is the front of a growing tidal wave of people leaving.”

Originally Posted by RJSAviator76

Don't blame you one bit. I'm on the cusp of upgrade and I'm thinking about bailing too. One cannot overemphasize enough that this is NOT the airline described in "Nuts!" and I have as much faith in our current CEO and the management team as I do in gas station sushi.

Originally Posted by Lewbronski

But Watterson!!

The prophecies, concealed in the book of Nuts!, proclaimed his name!

And Soltau? What about Soltau?

Originally Posted by Opakapaka

Crap here sucks now for sure. I just ask that you all look back over the years at the majors and how easily they let pilots go. Just sayin.

Originally Posted by Opakapaka

Crap here sucks now for sure. I just ask that you all look back over the years at the majors and how easily they let pilots go. Just sayin.

Originally Posted by JulesWinfield

This. Two lines. I’m leaving on this date. Thanks for the memories, good luck. Adios.