Almost 2 years. West coast to east coast.

 

Hopefully that irons out soon for you. I understand that pain from a previous airline life. Hopefully with the hiring of next year and the subsequent upgrades you can get back soon.

 

I ran a seniority calculator for a junior pilot. If SWA grows 0%, it takes 13 years to hit 50%. I think we have 300 some retiring this year and I believe our hiring will be a smaller number, thus "shrinking" with a quarterly loss. No one has any idea what the future of the airline will be here with Elliott. I'm personally doubting any fleet change or other big ticket item change any time soon. Our only hope is the 7max getting certified sooner than later. As an 8 yr FO, I can not hold a capt seat in any base. I'm planning on another 3 years to hold my base of choice while avoiding AM reserve as a capt.

Mrs Luscombe is at AA. Their retirements are still going strong. Each system bid, her seniority grows at a much much faster rate than my number at SWA.

The widebody FO life allows her to work less and earn more. Something to think about where you want to be in a few years. 4 legs a day with quick turns or the "1 and done" augmented option.

 

Good luck. You're doing more to fix your problem than most people who are often content to just complain about it while remaining in the situation because they like their alternatives worse or are too scared/lazy to actually do anything about it.

 

Thanks. I’m home about one day a week these days due to a day commute on both ends. I try to hustle my schedule as much as possible but it’s hard when you have nothing desirable to trade and can’t ELITT reserve. Went to RTAG this weekend and met with Delta and United. Lack of TPIC is definitely not helping.

 

They really need to announce where this new base is so the union can figure out how good it’ll be to unscrew this mess the company created and get people back where they want to be.

 

right. I think San Diego is wishful thinking on my end. Maybe Austin could get me to LAX or OAK. MCI or STL, I assume I’ll still be commuting to the East Coast.

 

I think it will be announced before the end of the month.

 

That's tough. In a company where the earliest upgrade may be as soon as one year, TPIC could make a 3 yr skywest CA a more attractive candidate than a 4 yr SWA FO. Tough situation to be in for sure. I hope it works out and you end up not having to commute soon.

I know it's not a popular option, but have you considered moving? It's a strange suggestion and perhaps I'm only making it because I was military and had to move every 3-5 years between age 18 and 47, but when I got out of the AF one of the first and most important things my wife and I discussed was moving to where my job would be, instead of trying to find a job where we already were. That changed the discussion dramatically and really let us talk about our life and career goals as a much wider horizon of opportunities instead of threats. Just food for thought...

 

My bet is STL, For The sole reason to give MDW Relief. AUS & SAN make more sense for distribution of crews .