ZapBrannigan

It is inherent to the SW business model but I take exception to the notion that prospective applicants should know about these "eccentricities" before applying.

If they've worked at one or more other airlines I think there is an expectation that SW would use reserves the way everyone else in the business does. Most airlines use reserves like insurance. I buy homeowners insurance hoping that I'll never have to use it. But glad I have it if I need it. That practice lends itself to industry standard reserve practices such as long call / short call reserve, proffering of trips etc. At SW, reserves are highly utilized - as much as a lineholder and almost always exceeding guarantee. If you come from another carrier it is perfectly reasonable for you to expect that on reserve, living in domicile, you might not fly very much. But it's not like that at all at SW.

What about commutability? If you are from another airline you might assume that some percentage of trips in each domicile are commutable. That is, you could commute in for a trip on the day it begins, and commute home after it ends. You might be surprised to find out after arriving at SW that no matter how senior you become, there really aren't any commutable trips. There are a handful of PMs that finish early enough to allow a commute home IF you live in a city served by a late departure from your domicile - but the trips are not designed with afternoon departures on day 1 and morning arrivals on day 3 to allow for commuting. Nobody who has worked for another airline would expect that these trips aren't available at an airline where 44% of the pilots commute.

The reality is that SO many things are different at SW that the job seeker would need to do more than the basic research about domiciles, pay rates, days off, and upgrade times. They have to ask the simple questions that you might not have ever thought to ask. Questions like, "do they pay for parking?" or "What is the hotel language like?"

MarineFAC

That is not quite true. I picked up a one-day turn and got JA'd into an overnight into CMH. Didn't mind the extra pay, but I all brought with me was my kit bag with headset and iPad. Thankfully the hotel had free toiletries!

RJSAviator76

You picked up a turn which to my understanding has the same rules as a line holder (think JA). I was referring to working your reserve block and then being JA'd into your day off. To my understanding, they can only do that under "unscheduled overnight."

Please correct me if I'm wrong.


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e6bpilot

Correct. They will use that unscheduled overnight to grab you at an out base though. During peak flying, your trip sheet is really just a guideline from which to deviate.

MarineFAC

You are correct Sir! I misunderstood your original post/answer.