Just curious since I've never done it, but how long do you have to leave to commute to a trip from South Lake Tahoe "down the hill" to make a SFO sign-in reliably?

 

Just get him on at FDX.

 

Exactly. I’ve never flown a trip and felt I needed to call off fatigued. I don’t have to do red eyes. I don’t have hub sits. I don’t do morning flights. And I don’t have to commute. Ever. And that’s by choice. If I wanted to fly a 787 to a China, I’d have taken the interview. Long haul doesn’t interest me. Different strokes....

 

Would be a waste of time to go to the United interview. United will furlough again, and again, and again........ I would bet my entire PDAP or PRAP or whatever it is at the moment on that!

 

It’s a bit naive to think that SWA wouldn’t furlough either. The further management becomes removed from Herb, the more likely it becomes.
That being said if the choice is commuting vs non-commuting, always go with not commuting. If you’re not commuting, don’t care about upgrade times or flying to Europe, and are willing to hustle, SWA is a great place.
There are several quality of life items that UA has that SWA does not, but if you live in base and work it so you only do turns and two day trips, then those QOL items become a moot point.
(And by hustle, I don’t necessarily mean work every day, I mean work the system to your advantage -a lot of TTGA, ELITT, finagling etc)

All things being equal though? I would choose a legacy over SWA any day of the week....mainly because of QOL items (hotels, meals, paid parking, reserve rules, etc) the one thing SWA beats on is scheduling finagling.

A 737 UA w-hore won’t make as much money as an open time SWA w-hore , but at UA you don’t have to hustle to make more cash because you can just go to a bigger plane...
At SWA you cant make 20k a month working nine days in the right seat of a 777 either.

There’s always a tradefoff.

 

I wanted either UAL or SWA simply because both have a domicile where I live. I wasn't successful with Hogan, and SWA hired me a couple months later, so here I am.

I was wondering during my first year whether to keep my application at UAL active and retake Hogan. I chose not to for the following reasons:

1) I was already based where I was living, so that became a wash.

2) I've made it a point to learn to maximize my income at Southwest considering I live in base and can work out pretty nicely. In 2017, as a part first year and partly second year FO, I worked 185 days total in 2017 (by choice), and my W-2 was 170k. I managed to max out my 401k, with NEC contribution and profit sharing, I reached 415c limits, which for the current mil folks means I reached the IRS defined maximum allowable retirement contribution of $54,000 for 2017, and I'm getting an excess check in a couple of weeks.

3) I don't really care about flying a heavy or "seeing the world" consider I've flown literally all over the world in a corporate setting beforehand so that's not something I really care much about.

4) One of the things I was concerned with at Southwest was the relative lack of retirements when compared to the legacies. After almost 2 years on the property here, I'm in the mid 80's percentage-wise on the master seniority list. Upgrades are right at 60-61%. Based on projected hiring, mandatory retirements and not accounting for early-outs, I'd say my soonest upgrade will be right at 6 years on the property, or 4 years from now assuming the current trend continues and no major economic downturns.

5) Some of the other considerations... Southwest has the strongest balance sheet in the industry (can be a worry item actually), does not outsource flying, and has been historically profitable through some of the worst financial rollercoasters that plagued the airline industry.

When it's all said and done, my advice is go to the first one that hires you, and if you have a choice, live in base. It's a completely different job if you do for the better.

 

3 hours minimum. 2 from SAC. Greatly depends on time of day, and where in Tahoe you are, how close to 80 or 50. Have to get past SAC before commute, then get hit by hwy 80 into the bay and over the Bay Bridge.

Flying is probably more reliable unless SFO has flow.

Bottom line is, it can be done and is being done, but it's hard to do. You never know what you are going to get traffic, and SFO-slightest cloud and they get flow times.

 

Do not listen to anyone that measures themselves by the size of the airplane they fly or how far they fly it, those are usually the guys you dread seeing show up on your trip anyways with their white New Balance shoes, crappy knock off golf shirt, and giant cell phone holster.

Make your decision, don’t look back, and don’t sweat the small stuff-ever.

 

Is anybody doing that? It’s more of a lifestyle associated with the widebody…not So much flying them. I don’t envy Atlas guys, for example, because they fly a 747.

 

Wha? Man, I fly all the way to Beijing JUST TO BUY white New Balance shoes, crappy knock-off golf shirts, and cell phone holsters!!

What else would I wear on an overnight???