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Ditto, and if it comes to mass "killings," emphasis should be on cancer, heart disease, auto accidents, drug abuse and the plethora of other causes which take far more people out than shootings! https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/dataview/how-americans-die/ Of all the ways to leave this life, being a victim of a mass shooting is pretty far down the list of things to actually worry about! That narrative is about as ridiculous as certain ethnic groups who worry about being shot by the police. Facts show they are much more likely to lose their lives from a variety of other situations, but we all know that claim is not the driving force behind the movement! But never let a good crisis go to waste!

Can’t disagree there…but the memo even states that leadership shouldn’t ask people if they’ve had the shot or not. Though I am interested in seeing if commanders attempt to take admin/disciplinary action against those who haven’t had the shot and stop wearing masks…it will open up an even bigger can of worms.

While you're right that they look great and go with everything, especially a tucked in shirt and braided leather belt slung low to support the beer belly, I wouldn't wear them because I'd hate for someone to think that I'm pretending to be a captain when I'm really just a lowly flip switching FO.

For the love of the flying spaghetti monster, please stop saying this inane quasi-religious horse-shit. Also, you place way too much credit in the hands of political "leaders" to actually influence and shape the public's opinion. There are no JFKs in the wings, because that type of political actor is no longer possible.

I just saw some slides with the so-called "Bonus" take rate. The year isn't over but it's dismal so far. Only 14% of eligible 11F's have taken it. 0/10 F-15C pilots took it. And 3/32 F-35 pilots.

Live off base. People think that the 10 minute drive to work will somehow make or break their UPT experience, it won't. If anything it's 10 minutes to clear your nugget going to/from work. Get a roommate and a decent house and throw some ragers. Your future self will thank you.

You think pro gun folks don’t have the courage or intellectual honesty to condemn mass shootings? I’m struggling to understand the connection here.

So it looks like no more masks… https://www.stripes.com/news/us/masks-no-longer-required-for-fully-vaccinated-personnel-at-defense-department-facilities-1.673425

I have been waiting just about 4 months was told to expect 6-8 Timeline: selected: Nov 2020 @ Guard fighter unit MEPS: Completed prior to hire Sep 2020 SG Approval: Jan 2021 Enlistment: After NGB approval NGB Approval: Processing FC1: ? TFOT: ? UPT: ?

Continuation is offered after being non-selected above the zone. If the zone is expanded to encompass 5 years, you won’t be non-select above the zone until your 6th look. They have not implemented the 5 year zones yet, but there’s a good chance they will for 2022. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Overwhelmingly the people I've met who have adopted have been pro-life. Most have been deeply religious.

Varies on the crew, timing, location, etc. That being said, I've been to numerous dinners out with the entire crew, including flight attendants. Best have been Paris, Madrid, and Santiago. Lots of just pilots dinners, pubs, museums, tours, and hikes. Same sort of stuff happens on domestic trips but the international stuff sounds cooler. So, yes, crews do get together socially. I've taken the wife on lots of domestic trips with a long layover and a few international trips. Scored major points taking her to Paris and the Palace of Versailles for Valentines Day. Eating healthy gets tricky. Make good choices and don't eat everything that someone puts in front of you. The really dedicated guys bring their own food. I'm not that dedicated.

Ok, I’m game to hear your “debrief of lack of effective leadership.” However for context I’d like to know three things up front: What US elected leader did demonstrate effective leadership during the outset of C19 pandemic, or did they all initially bow to recommendations of “experts” who we know in retrospect were completely wrong (no outside transmission yet they locked us up and closed beaches, no surface spread yet they had us Clorox wiping groceries like idiots, etc.)? I’m trying to separate your analysis of Trump’s leadership from the leadership & recommendations from Fauci, CDC, WHO, NIH, etc. Do you acknowledge the unprecedented alliance of democratic political operatives, major media sources, and insurgent insiders within the government who conspired together to promote lies, even at the expense of hurting Americans, in order to damage Trump politically while he was attempting to lead during the pandemic? And finally, are you happy with our current national leadership regarding COVID; all the clarity of thought and consistency of guidance emanating from our CDC and White House? providing your thoughts on the above questions will be helpful in filtering out genuine discussion from trolling.

Generally speaking, if there is time, crews get together for dinner and beer at night. On long layovers (30+ hours) I've rented cars and and went sightseeing (Glacier National Park, among others) with the Captain. I was trying to get a 48 hour Paris, to try to get up to Normandy, then that bitch rona showed up and ruined everything. On one trip the Captain reached out to me before the trip started and we set up an whole day on a long Boise layover. We rented a car and went up into the mountains, rented 4-wheelers and had a blast. Ended the day at an awesome brew pub near the hotel. Then there are the slam-clickers...boooo!!!! Back to the general camaraderie part....one of my now good friends was someone from my indoc class. We ran into each other a few years ago and figured out we live like 3 miles from each other. Just had lunch with him today. He flies in the Reserves so we have that other common ground as well. Domestically, I try to keep to 3 day trips max. I'll cook some food to make 2 meals on the road, then I pack fruit, nuts and cliff bars to get through the day. I also take a Black Rifle company pour over kit, grind up some coffee before I leave the house and I make my own coffee each the morning before pickup. Plenty of options out there for flight kit bags that double as a cooler. Internationally, I'd take a meal for the leg over and have the FAs warm it for me. If carry whatever dried food International rules allow. On the return leg, I'd usually either bring leftovers from the layover or hit up a grocery store and buy some stuff for a meal. You can eat relatively healthy on the road it just takes some discipline and a little extra work.

Shack. I can't begin to tell you how beautiful it is to be less than 40 minutes from both my base and my guard unit. I bid reserve on purpose; sometimes long/most of the time short. There are days I get 3-4 hrs notice. Sometimes (rarely) it's a 4-day trip. A lot of times it's a 2-day or a day turn and I am back in my bed that night. I've gotten the call while I was mowing the lawn or working on the car and I was able to wrap things up and take a shower and pack and get out the door with time to spare. If you have the opportunity to live near a very junior base you can move up in the ranks on reserve pretty fast because a lot of Pilots are looking to get the hell out of there and move somewhere else so they don't have to commute more. I've flown with Captains that run off the airplane and asked me to shut her down because they're trying to make it to the next terminal so they can get home that night. Some have to stay in a hotel that night because they had no way to get back home and they're flying home on their off days. I couldn't imagine living that way.

Sure, I’m currently 4th year. SWA wasn’t initially huge on my radar either, but looking back and knowing what I know I probably would’ve targeted it. My guess is that’s what most guys from the other majors would say about their own airline too! Cons: - You’ll fly a 737…kind of cramped, non-Maxes are noisy, old timey overhead panel, etc. It’s a bigger deal to some than others depending on personal desire for variety or something big or going to the other side of the world. - Current year 1-4 pay lags the other majors, then it is about equal year 5 and moves ahead (of narrowbody scales) after that. Still, it doesn’t reach senior wide body pay elsewhere. - Days can get busy…3-leg days are probably average, 2 or 4-leg days are common, and 1 or 5-leg days exist (somewhat rare). So in a same duty day you’re doing more briefings, more up-down, ears popping, etc. I find it helps the day go by quicker than droning, but definitely tough to catch up on the Netflix que—I mean study the FOM. - Generally younger and evenly spread pilot group, so retirements trickle compared to other guys. Upgrade seems to always be at 8 years, give or take. - No long call reserve, and nobody in the pilot group who has to go back to the sims because they’re overdue on landing currency. The game for senior guys at other airlines seems to be minimizing time at work while still getting paid. At SWA it’s maximizing pay for the time spent at work. Pros: - 11 domiciles around the country (except the PNW) so odds of being able to drive to work are fairly high. - Company stability…the airline is run by real nerds who stay for the long haul. 2020 was the first year in its 50 year history it hasn’t turned a profit, and its financials are always well ahead of industry-standard. - Job security: I’ll keep this as a pro because it’s still true SWA has never furloughed a pilot. But I’d caution that past performance doesn’t equal future success, and last year there was an uncharacteristic demand from the company for pilot concessions, which when we didn’t agree to, resulted in furlough notices going out. It’ll be interesting to see if it foreshadowed a more “traditional” labor relations posture than we’ve historically enjoyed moving forward. - Trip trade market: since everyone is qualified on the same aircraft you’ve got a robust ability to trade or pickup trips with other pilots or with the company (some of that can pay time and a half). Picking up flying to make more money is usually pretty easy (except during pandemics). The flip side is the only way to decrease your flying is to hope another pilot wants to take your trip from you, which is tougher to do in July than it is February. - Culture-wise, I won’t get too rah-rah other than to say it is exactly as it looks from the outside. The work groups pretty much all get along and nobody takes themselves too seriously. I haven’t flown with anyone yet who I wouldn’t fly with again. - Being home: I think 50% of trips are 3-days, and the remaining are divided between 1, 2, and 4 days. Average line is 3-on, 4-off (x4) or 4-on, 3-off (x3) plus a random day for 13 total days of work. And you’re never more than 3 time zones away, so you can stay in touch with the family, get business done on the road, or get home quick if there’s a family emergency. - No language barriers, NATS procedures, non-radar environments, ATC driving you into thunderstorms, etc. All told, it’s not perfect or everyone’s cup of tea (especially if they’ve got the widebody international itch), but it’s been a joy for me and never nearly as bad as some of the warnings I’d heard. Definitely a great place to spend a 30+ year career!

I had the same issues (rotation/lateral mvmt) and finally had the flight doc look at it when it still hurt after nearly a year. Got an MRI and found that I didn't have an ACL anymore. Doc didn't DNIF me so long as I was able to egress the airplane and run to a safe distance. I finally got the surgery about a year after that (2 yrs after the initial injury) and was back flying in about 2.5 months. If you can manage the pain for now then you can probably schedule the surgery for whenever is most convenient for you (YMMV). Best of luck with recovery.

It’s not a good comparison to find another leader in the US that acted better - the actual comparison is whether another national figurehead or leader of another country was better at leading. That is the only valid comparison to the US president. And I challenge you to look at New Zealand or South Korea. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/16/new-zealand-coronavirus-success-446192 Youll find their population isn’t split down made up party lines, they listened to science, and they’re doing a lot better - not just by Covid numbers, but by perceived national unity. Also, I never implied that the current democratic leadership is good or better. I don’t even believe that. I sure as hell don’t think Cuomo or Newsom did a good job. What I do believe is that leadership over the last year from the United States, at a national level, was pathetic (similar to Brazil). But I guess everything now is polarized red vs blue and that’s the only lens most of you can see. This mentality is why Liz Cheney was just ousted.