Originally Posted by CA1900

Only place I've ever seen them is inter-island Hawaii, and they still exist. I only dislike them because of the usual >1-hour ground time between each leg.

I've also had entire duty days consisting of one scheduled inter-island leg, and those are amazing.

Originally Posted by A320 AA Pilot

Flew at SWA and decided to make the jump to AA. For me here were the reasons:

- SWA's schedule did not offer many options. Unless you are super senior, you flew either AM or PM lines. Most schedules you are either starting out very early or you land very late, especially with delays. I'll never forget one time I was waiting for the hotel van to take me to the airport for work around 3:30am. When it pulled up there was a SWA crew just getting done with their day. That was crazy.

- Fatigue calls at SWA happen on average a lot more than here at AA

- The number of legs flown per day on average at SWA was too busy for me. Flying 4 legs and sometimes 5 legs was crazy. This was not all the time of course, but it was often enough that you noticed

- The regional and national meltdowns at SWA is what really started me looking elsewhere. The response from the leadership, or lack thereof, was an indication of leadership not in touch with operations, my opinion

- Less flying options at SWA compared to AA. At AA more options to fly, aircraft, better upgrade time and more variety of flying overall, not to mention the Short Call and Long Call reserve at AA

Overall, this is the big difference for me....AA is way more relaxed overall. I am also flying the Airbus now and it is Cadillac compared to the 737. There's less rushing, less JAs, rarely fatigue situations, legs per day are less. Like I said, more chill and less hectic.

You WILL miss the flexibility of the scheduling at SWA. It is incredible what SWA can do with their scheduling. I already miss it.

The biggest risk for me, and probably you too, would be the loss of seniority and the risk of a furlough. I saw the hiring and retiring at AA and felt comfortable with the risk. I have a side hustle as a backup which helped too.

Lots of great people at SWA and I have no regrets going there, it just was not a good fit for me. This is key, what's right for you.

Don't get me wrong AA has its issues for sure, but overall, I have been happy with my decision.

PM me if you want or have any other questions.

Good luck with your decision.

Originally Posted by e6bpilot

Congrats and good luck. Thanks for the well thought out post. Stuff like this helps others who are in the same situation.

Are there any 5 leg days left in the SWA system, though? I certainly haven't seen one in many years. Once every 3 months or so I will do a 4 leg day. Other than that, I would say your post is fairly accurate. AA is a great place to hang your hat and the Airbus seems really nice.

Originally Posted by e6bpilot

Congrats and good luck. Thanks for the well thought out post. Stuff like this helps others who are in the same situation.

Are there any 5 leg days left in the SWA system, though? I certainly haven't seen one in many years. Once every 3 months or so I will do a 4 leg day. Other than that, I would say your post is fairly accurate. AA is a great place to hang your hat and the Airbus seems really nice.

Originally Posted by CaptTX

5 Legs are still around in CONUS, there pretty rare but I have seen them. I have seen 6 legs of interisland Hawaii flying as well, but again, extremly rare.

Originally Posted by Zard

ooof. All those legs pay 1.0, don’t they?KOA-LIH is what, 43 minutes of block and is probably the longest II leg?

That’s a lot of work for a min or barely above min duty rigged day. At least it’s pretty flying out there.

Originally Posted by Fly90

Thanks for the feedback. I was at a regional before so I am very comfortable with PBS. PBS is just fine with some seniority - it’s not so great as a junior guy. That said, with quick increase in seniority it’s not a big deal I guess.

The instructor deal at SWA was a horrible deal in my opinion (unless you lived in Dallas). The schedules those guys were working were atrocious.

Well so far it seems like the opinions way heavily towards AA. Doesn’t seem to be much going for SWA at all.

Originally Posted by Two10Till5Miles

I just don’t understand why those giving the advice to leave because it’s so much better are not taking their own advice and heading over to AA.

Originally Posted by Two10Till5Miles

I just don’t understand why those giving the advice to leave because it’s so much better are not taking their own advice and heading over to AA.

Originally Posted by RJSAviator76

Because they're "past V1" as they just love to say... but they really mean well and are overwhelmingly concerned for your well-being, your future and your family's financial stability... 🤪

Notice not that long ago, FedEx was the place to go and everyone on APC would tell you what fool would stay at SWA where upgrades are running 20 years!!!! when you can go to FedEx and upgrade on a 757 in a couple months? That one aged well, didn't it? Airlinedamus visionaries and all....