Opteryx

I recently interviewed with Southwest. I am an 'outsider' (no experience in the airline industry) but have many friends in the industry whom I keep in touch with and have been working to get 'in' for a number of years now, so I think I have an idea of what the process is like at most of the majors. I must say, the process at Southwest impressed me.

It impressed me mostly because of the simplicity. No head games, no simulator or technical questions, no psychological tests. They do the LOI to look at your decision making process and CRM under (slight) pressure. They ask you some questions to get to know you and let you talk about yourself. Mostly they make you feel at ease and treat you like you're already hired, but that they just have to go through some formalities. Sure they'll do some checking around to see if you have any skeletons in the closet. I was impressed with everyone I met, and certainly the pilots that I met. They really made me WANT to come work for them. Of course I'm not hired yet, but am hopeful.

I've seen a lot of grumbling on here about Southwest, and that's OK because I know I only saw one small part of the operation, and still pretty much from the outside, but I say again, what I saw impressed me, and what I heard impressed me. Rocky said that the airline industry is very cyclical and that currently all the majors are "riding the wave" right now but the trough will come and Southwest is preparing for the next trough now. That's comforting and of course a philosophy backed up by practice as we know Southwest has not laid off in its existence.

The bottom line of my post is that the interview process at least really reinforced my desire to work for Southwest. I wonder if others feel/felt the same way.

Loon

From your post, i think you'll most definitely get the job (don't wanna jinx you though).
Everyone that I've flown with have been class acts (expecially when the bar tab comes )
I'm happy and hope you'll be too.

P.s. don't listen to the negative nellies on here and other forums; you could give the bulk of them the garden of Eden and they'd still *****.

shoelu

Although I am guilty of complaining, who isn't, I love my job. It is a great fit for me because it is the type of flying I enjoy. I don't enjoy back side of the clock flying through multiple time zones because I have done it and it negatively effects my quality of life. Therefore, the lack of a large long haul airframe doesn't bother me but it certainly is a negative factor for many.

The schedules are dense and efficient allowing more time off at home. A 48 hour Paris layover certainly offers an exciting way to spend a couple of days but if I had my personal choice I'd prefer to spend those two days at home with my family. That of course is a personal choice and each individual will vary.

The total compensation package lags the other big four but if the latest T/A passes, SWA will make a big leap towards catching up while still holding on to the best scope language in the business.

In the end it is a personal choice. There are certainly other airlines that will offer a faster upgrade and the opportunity to see the world while at work. I enjoy my life at work but depending on what your expectations are, your mileage may vary.

Opteryx

Someone in another thread here called SWA a "clown show." Really? Again, I'm on the outside looking in, but a clown show?

shoelu

Again, people will complain and frame their experience in the least favorable light. To be honest there are lots of things at SWA that make you shake your head and wonder why. SWA is famous for reinventing the wheel and doing things differently than every other airline. Does that make it a "clown show", it doesn't in my opinion but everyone is entitled to their own.

There is one inescapable truth, Southwest is good at what they do. They have remained profitable during the worst downturns, a feat which no other airline can lay claim to. They were hedging fuel when it wasn't a strategy that many others employed. They built a different route system not built on the hub and spoke strategy and have had great success with it. They have stuck to the single airframe strategy. They do not codeshare or employ joint ventures. Every Southwest passenger is delivered by a pilot on the Southwest seniority list. SWA was the first airline to offer ticketless travel. Southwest was the first major to offer a website. SWA does not sell tickets through any outside intermediaries such as Kayak, Priceline etc. Southwest has not jumped on the ancillary fee bandwagon, no bag fees, no change fees etc. but those revenue streams could be available in an economic downturn because they are now seen as industry standard.

There are many departures from the airline norm that have backfired as well, but I'll let someone else point those out. If your looking for a job that offers the best chance at surviving and thriving during the next downturn, I'd put my money on Southwest. That was one of my reasons for putting SWA at the top of my list. Is it perfect? I'd state unequivocally it is not but it is far from a clown show. At least some portion of Southwest success can be attributed to doing it differently than everyone else.

Albief15

Friends there love it. There is a line, however, around mid 2000s where "something" changed. Mergers, new CEO, and changing demographics all changed things. If you go to work resenting the guy to your left who made captain in 5 years, you'll be miserable. If you look at it as a very secure job where you have some great flexibility and perks, then you will be fine.

I never applied, as I wanted to fly international and wanted a different kind of career. Many associates are there, however, and live a very good life. Make it yours if you go, and have fun.

At the same time, there is nothing sexier than to airline recruiters than hiring someone from their competition. If you go, and after a short spell realize there might be something else you want, its not a 7, 10, or 11 year commitment like the military. Industry standard is two weeks. Some guys call from their next airline to quit. FedEx has had a SWA guy in about every class this year, and UAL has gotten quite a few too. Point is you will have more, not less options once you are hired at SWA. Knowing you are there because you want to be, not because it was your only option--will make staying there even more enjoyable if you stay.

RJSAviator76

I love it here. About half way through my first year, and I'm done commuting - already lived in a base, and now I hold it... I think this is a good place to hang it up for the career. No, you won't upgrade in 5 years, but you will be making north of 200k as an FO at that point without breaking a sweat. You can choose to be a high-time flyer and make quite a bit more and play the game to maximize your paycheck; or you can fly your line and end up with 17-18 days off - all up to you. There's something here for everyone... and if you live in base, that's the golden ticket at Southwest.

And you're also spot-on about the interview. I actually enjoyed the interview process. No psychometric BS, no hostility, just plain ol' get-to-know-you and throw some simulated stress at you to see that you don't turn into a raging a**hole under some pressure. I really think Rocky and his crew have the process nailed and do an outstanding job screening people.

Is it all roses? Nope... but I'm happy to spend the rest of my career here.

at6d

Same here.

full of luv

Pilots used to spend quite a little sum for a ticket to that circus.....which is by definition a "clown show".

I kid, I kid.

SWA actually has a pretty incredible safety record, especially considering the number of cycles they operate on a daily basis.

In response to Shoelu, SWA has (at least in previous years) been run like the next recession is right around the corner, always focused on containing costs and not over expanding too quickly. That has served them well when the rest of the industry was bleeding.

It's not that other airlines didn't want to hedge fuel in the mid 2000's, its that SWA had the $$$ to do so while all of the others were bleeding cash and pretty much had set their trajectory towards shedding pensions/high costs through BK court and controlling oversupply through mergers.

I guess you can say SWA was visionary by never offering a pilot pension in the first place, so their pilots avoided the pain of that benefit evaporating towards the end of their career.

SWA used to avoid the "major city" airports, but as of late they used the mergers of the other airlines to leverage their way into many of the airports they previously shunned. (Which makes their attempts to keep Delta out of LUV so much more interestingly ironic).

Congrats SWA pilots on getting mgmt to come around and stop ignoring y'all for the last five years when it came time for even a COLA raise.

e6bpilot

I think a lot of the hate on SWA from within recently has a lot to do with guys that have been here a while.
Satisfaction = expectation - reality
Things were way different here a decade ago due to the leadership of one man and the size of this airline. Now add the economy going to hell and the other airline pay going with it and SWA was suddenly a great place to be.
Since then, we have a new CEO who has turned SWA into a finance company for investors, cashed in a lot of goodwill points with the employees and given little in the way of return, and the airline has grown into a corporate behemoth.
It's. Just. A. Job.
I like it here because I can tweak my schedule to either have a bunch of days off or make a bunch of money depending on my month. I just took two weeks off to spend with my family without taking a day of vacation. I will still probably fly around 120 TFP this month even after taking those days off. I am a commuter. If I lived in a SWA city, I could do much better.
Next month I have a week of vacation and I am flying 6 days the entire month. I have 24 days off in a holiday month and am just a little below my original line total. I can either take all those days off or pick up more flying at my leisure.
I have accepted that in order to achieve that, I am willing to sacrifice a lot of the perks that other airlines offer in their contracts.
I guess what I am saying is that SWA is a give and take. If you want to have a lot of flexibility in your schedule and fly with some pretty good people, this is a great place. There are trade offs to that, though, and unless you are willing to accept those trade offs, you will be miserable, as many are who just can't get past them.
I am the first to let people know that working here isn't always great, but if you are someone who is generally happy and view this as just a source of income and not your life's satisfaction, you can be pretty happy here.