Sent to me this morning (don’t shoot the messenger):

From the SWAPA presentation from someone who just started captain upgrade. Long but worth the read.

Meeting this Thursday to complete discussion on implementation. If that goes well… he thinks it will...than we should have something to review as a pilot group before Christmas. Should be in the next week or two after the swapa board votes. At that time… we would have 2 weeks of education… and then 2 weeks to vote. So it’s possible to have a deal voted and completed by 3rd week of January. Again depends on this Thursday. They see SWA is truly working on implementation and spending money… they can see this though their analytics. Even someone that spends billions on IT like Delta will take years to implement so he is happy with what SWA is doing but is also being realistic. Things like co-terminals will only happen after full automated implementation. Lots of things will be automated quickly or can be done with manual implementation but some things will take a while.. even if Google was doing it… like reserve Elitt. That can not be done manually so it will take time to achieve but they will agree on a timeline prior to the AIP (again hopefully Thursday.)

Why the movement recently?… Alan Kasher and Watterson were the bomb. When Hot Carl was in… and even Adam Carlise… crickets. Thats why a few weeks ago we got bad news again about the movement stalled.. it was because Alan was gone that week. Adam does not speak.. like 13 words in 4 days. Useless. When Alan came back… ball moved forward again.

Tom was asked about voting “no early and often.” He was pretty taken back by that and frustrated by the lack of education. He basically said that would be a slap in the face to say that without reviewing the offer. He said this proposal accomplishes everything we voted for as pilots for Contract 2020. It is up to each of us to make a decision but he would not send us something he didn’t think we would want. It wont be everything we want…. impossible.. even he has things he wants but its not the big picture… i.e. stipend for medical instead of reimbursement but the bigger picture is greater that. We met or exceeded everything we asked for as a collective group.

He said LCO is the biggest thing we could ever ask for and he was even shocked when SWA finally agreed to it. He said SWA doesnt know exactly what they agreed to and it will cost them dearly… prob 150 million plus for a couple years until they revamp their schedule execution. He sad this is the GREATEST quality of life event anyone has ever seen in the industry. This is a true game changer. He doesn’t want LCO’s to happen.. thats why it will cost SWA dearly.. and it will untill they figure it out to be more efficient. They are expecting SWA to work with SWAPA to work on solutions. Eventually the goal would be very few LCO’s.

BIG TAKEAWAY….—->He said that anyone that has left for United, Delta and American will regret leaving after seeing this contract… (caveat… unless they NEED to have that wide body feather in their hat.)

He said this contract has NOTHING to do with the F/A’s and the timeline is not about them either. He said my dedication is to the 11,200 pilots and “doesn’t care” what the F/A’s do. He did mention he thought it was NOT smart to vote down the industry leading offer though and thinks they will get a worse offer. He backed that up by saying we see their analytics and money they have set aside… we know what they can do and their isn’t a lot of leverage for the F/A’s. He said they are misinformed about striking… When he talked to the F/A’s they say "we will just strike.” He said they will not be released. The NMB has left and when you vote down an industry leading contract you don’t get sympathy from them.

Hotel language… improved… things like long hotels over 14 hours ect. Not a lot of details were mentioned though. SWAPA offered to have language that would only benefit the pilot group but SWA said no whatever they agree on they will ME TOO the F/A’s.


He is worried about the longevity of SWA if management doesn’t shift and create new long term plans. Our margins are significantly lower than our peers due to our inefficiencies. If these are not improved we will hurt. He is hopeful with Watterson but it will take time as Watterson is still hitting the ducks right in front of him that have been set up from years and years of neglect.

 

Brand new FO so don't cruify me but what does LCO mean?

 

Leg Change Overide. It’s a new concept this contract. Anything that falls outside the initial window pays 200%. Any change inside the initial schedule window pays 150%. Full details are unknown though.

 

LCO = Leg Change Override. It's the new method of premium or 'move up' pay. It's an improvement on current system, because it stacks and can't be absorbed by the rig.

 

Thanks for the update. I have been told it's a $12B deal.

 

Uh…..$12B? That’s like the amount of money we have in the bank, no? $12B deal over four years seems too good to be true. I hope I’m wrong.

🔥👇

 

Anyone know what the current cost of your agreement is over the next 4 if it was statue quo? Typically you’re shooting for a 100% increase.

 

Prob longer than 4 years by the time the next one is ratified.

 

The solid 8 year plan.

 

I think that is strategic. Not just because they're banking your cash for years, but generationally, by depriving you of one or more contract cycle over the course of your career.