Ptwob401

I'm in a pickle. United's hiring timeline lagged Southwest by a few months in my case, and I ended up starting Southwest training about a week after interviewing with United. I got the call on my first day of onboarding with SWA. I don't anticipate a class start for a few months, so I'll likely be in or through IOE with Southwest by then.

Life situation and personal priorities:
I live in Denver and will for the forseeable future. I'm only about 35-40 min from the airport and I plan on living there for a long time. More than anything else (wide body, money, etc), I value time off and flexibility. Flexibility seems to be SWA's scheduling bread and butter, but I'm wondering how drastically different it is from the other Majors, and whether that's worth flying one airplane for life.

Looking for some guidance from folks who may have experience at SWA but switched (or know anyone who has). Or folks that are UAL Denver based and have some insight on life in that domicile regarding schedules. I'll also post this in the SWA chat to get the other side of the story.

My biggest concern is switching and regretting it. The new SWA contract is pretty solid and I dig the vibes at the training center at least. Could be falling for the propaganda but I haven't met anyone that hates their life, ha.

rickair7777

Tough call. SWA does offer flexibility.

But so would being senior at UAL, especially with widebodies in the mix.

I'd say it comes down to now vs. later... SW might allow you to enjoy life more in the short term. With UA you'll get there eventually, with more money and options for interesting destinations.

You said that money is a lower priority than schedule and I get that as far as cars, toys and vacation homes goes, but at some point when you have enough money then you have ultimate schedule flexibility: FIRE, pay people to fly your trips, whatever. You'd probably get to that point sooner with UA.

Also retirement... UA travel bennies would be nice if you care about global travel. As opposed to vacationing in OAK, BWI, etc.

As 737 pilot I'm a little biased. Towards UA. Gotta go the drugstore now, ran out of advil for my back.

MaCrOs

It's very subjective.
Our 8 ball (most junior in class) came from SWA. I personally worked at SWA (not as a pilot) in the past.
For me UA over SWA was a no brainer.
SWA trips in general are more productive BUT because you WILL work 3-4 sometimes 5 legs a day. Reward... More days off.
You CAN get close to those days off with planning, switching, potentially dropping etc. It will take a bit more work.
Now... That's on 737 comparing apples to apples.
Going to WB you will usually get 16+days off and work 1 leg a day... Every few days. VERY cushy compare to what you'll be doing at SWA.
UA has a lot more flavors to choose from compared to SWA that only has 1.
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Smooth at FL450

If you value time off (I presume at home and not in a hotel) and flexibility, SWA reserve works 2-3 days les per month and once you figure out monthly overlap you can create conflicts to drop even more. Once reserve elitt is implemented (trading raps with the company) then flexibility will go up significantly. Once you're off reserve and have access to elitt for your pairings (trading pairings with the company) then you'll be able to fine tune your schedule within a few months of being on line.

big difference is PBS vs monthly line bidding, and we will protect our monthly line bidding with everything we've got. Doesn't sound like the company even attempted to go after it this last round of negotiations.

oh and 5 leg days are virtually non existent. People who use that as a knock are living in the past. 3 is average with 4-leg days mixed in. But that's how we get more time off, by being more productive on the road.

good luck, there is no wrong answer.

hercretired

go to UAL. always go to work to the local in-town legacy, especially if in-town is a super base and HQ.

retirement = sim jobs, training center work etc. Heck even lost medical temporalily can still mean they can "plug you in somewhere" if Chief Pilot office etc are willing to back you.

Khantahr

There is a wrong answer, and that wrong answer is staying at Southwest. You'd be giving up minimal seniority at Southwest and you live in base. There's nothing to think about, go to United and don't look back. There is literally no reason not to.

People who complain about PBS don't know how to use it. The concessions for it (staffing requirements mostly) already happened at United and won't affect you at all. The flexibility it provides you is leaps and bounds over hard lines, all you have to do it learn it.

Wilfortina

I’ve talked with my friends at southwest, and it is true that the reserves get more days off than at United, but the reserve system is COMPLETELY different. Southwest is all short call, and at United it all starts as long call. Living in base this might not affect you much, but for commuters it’s a huge difference.
Southwest trips are AM or PM trips, so they generally aren’t commutable on both ends. Again, might not affect you.

e6bpilot

I can't believe nobody has mentioned the United training center gig. That is one of the best things about living in Denver and working for UA. There is no wrong answer in this case, I think both are great choices, but having that training center there opens up a whole other front for QOL.

KnightNight

Swa has more flexibility at a lower seniority, but your seniority growth there will be slower because of retirements and even more so considering max 7 issues.

LAXtoDEN

Because most pilots did not enter the profession to be locked in a dark room and simulator all day teaching the same lesson over and over and over. Not saying it’s a bad job, it’s great pay and home every night, but most of us became pilots to avoid the 9-5 desk job.