Hugo Stiglitz

I’ve heard (but can’t verify) a new round of invites are going out from the previous window. Still doing 2x30-member classes in Dec, beyond that they’re either being tight lipped or don’t know, and that’s coming from a buddy on the hiring team. We do know they have ~250 of the final pilots out on the extended leave to bring back in Jan/Feb plus they’re trying to correct an imbalance by upgrading FOs, so wouldn’t be shocked if there are small (or no) numbers of new hires those months. Then by March it should be on like kong…so if all that guessing is right then I’d spitball the next window would maybe be in Nov. One thing that’s abundantly clear is they’re way understaffed currently for the schedules they want to run, so it’s a good bet there’ll be movement sooner than later!

Ok this is actually helpful, now I see my disconnect. Never heard of Nicole Wallace, as I doubt most people have, and I’d be willing to bet even those who have don’t ascribe a whole lot of value to whatever random thought flutters out of her mouth. I’m more than comfortable claiming she doesn’t speak for half of “society,” so I see no need to project half-baked thoughts from her, any random talking head, or social media warriors to the majority at large, much less raise my blood pressure over it. Incidentally I’m curious how you came across that clip…were you consuming your daily MSNBC digest when her comments perked up your ears, or did a conservative media source happen to pluck an offensive comment out of the mediaverse to create, as one smart dude put it, “a mechanism to continue to centralize topics they wish to talk about, in a light they wish to cast them”…? I say give American society more credit. People are still (mostly) sane.

I’m still unclear why you guys are triggered about Biles getting press. This isn’t some rookie the media anointed. I assume you’re unaware that she won 6 straight individual world championships leading into these. If Michael Phelps or Usain Bolt had withdrawn while favored to repeat I’d have also found that to be newsworthy at face value, not because of the invisible hand of some media overlord. To riff off the analogy a few posts back, I think this situation would be a little more like someone “quitting” BUDS for a medical after previously making it through #1 in their class 6 straight years. And if that actually happened we’d be sitting around going “damn, can you believe the run that dude had,” not whining about socialist participation trophies and cults of losers. Relax, the kids are alright.

Any of you guys buddies with the Tinker OG by chance…? My understanding is she either had vertigo or a mental break, either of which is debilitating. I get that despite all the “awareness” in recent years, people continue to distill mental illness down to a lack of willpower, but if she suffered that then she didn’t quit any more than Theismann when his leg snapped. If there’s any group of people able to make that distinction it probably ought to be us in the military, but maybe there’s a reason why our suicide awareness training keeps getting expanded every year. Also, I don’t get all this heartburn with the GOAT stuff. I’ll go out on a limb and say it was cooked up in the marketing department at Nike or wherever. Could she have shot it down? I guess. But according to my Google search from 14 seconds ago, she’s won the most medals in international competition in the history of the sport…so objectively and literally she is the GOAT. I mean Tom Brady could throw a hissy fit and walk out of a game this season, but that doesn’t take away what he’s already accomplished. And he probably will too. F’ing Tom Brady…

Well he did a massive favor for the pilots on their future airline interviews by providing pure story-time gold! “TMAAT you disagreed with a superior/demonstrated leadership/upheld flight safety…”

His public LinkedIn profile picks up 10 years into his career, but basically yes: NAF Staff > Legislative Fellow > Special Asst. to STRATCOM CC > 2 total years in ops as Sq DO & Deployed Sq CC > NWC > HAF Staff > AFFSA Deputy CC > Celebrity

The other reason commuting sucks aside from the 100% valid points above is I was caught a little off guard by how much time I’d lose putting together and then changing my commute plan. Different guys/gals put differing levels of concern into getting to work. For example, at SWA if you tell the schedulers that you tried to make a commute but got bumped for no fault of your own they’ll either let you rejoin your trip in progress, offer reassignment, or trip drop (no pay) without raising any eyebrows. Pretty sure most airlines have similar policies. But if it matters to be home on time you’re going to be tied to your phone all day or for a few days refreshing the latest delays, gates, loads, etc. It’s inevitable that you get delayed and miss your direct commute home, so now you’ve got to figure is it better to try for LAX-SLC-DEN with a long layover or can you Frankenstein an itinerary where LAX-SEA-DEN actually gets you in sooner with less chance of being bumped? Is it better to do 2 legs on company metal with more open seats or roll the dice with a lower jumpseat priority on a nearly-full direct OAL? And you’re trying to figure this stuff out while flying your trip. I’m getting myself all stressed just thinking up hypotheticals over here. That said, some people do it for decades, so I think as long as you have the right constitution for it (which clearly, I don’t), it’s manageable. Living and working between high-volume cities with numerous flights options (ie LAS-LAX) doesn’t hurt either. I’ve heard of one exception to what I just described (aside from Delta’s recent positive-space agreement), but I’m not smart on it: is it true FDX reimburses for positive space tickets on any pax carrier? If I were a long term commuter that’d be a game changer...

You’re right, YMMV. I’m a 100% QOL guy and spent about a year flying in my MWS with the ANG when I started at my airline. Aside from the increased number of days for a flying gig, the unpredictability is what really did me in. I’d carve out a month that let me keep my sweet/high paying airline trips, drop the crap trips for mil leave, and still be home for birthdays and anniversaries, etc. Then as soon as I’d get to the unit and we’d cancel for Wx/Mx/tanker availability/mission slip/whatever then I’d have to scramble to decide whether I should annoy the unit by going non-current or else pick up extra days, which would of course mean giving up more airline pay or annoying the wife. Long story short, I took an ANG staff job 3 years ago and have a very predictable 2 days/month, 2 weeks/year schedule. Boring? Yes. Demanding? No way. I miss the plane, miss some of the flying (but not all of it), mostly miss hanging out in an ops squadron. But definitely don’t miss the beans, the exercises, the extra days away from home, the checkrides, or any of the standard trappings of AF anti-aircrew culture. All told, I have no regrets and am spending way less time either at or thinking about work now, which was my ultimate goal. Obviously you’ll get a wide range of perspectives, and your own preferences will differ from every else’s, but that’s been this guy’s experience at least!

There is a disparity between min guarantee and actual average pay. At SWA even though guarantee is 76 hours, the average credited (when our contract was signed) is 94. I’m going to take a wild guess that the average pilot picks up 1-2 extra days of flying. The rest of the difference is through premium time (time and a half for reroutes, changed show/block-in times, uncovered flying, etc.) or rigs (min guaranteed credit per day or trip no matter how short it is). And then vacation pay effectively credits about 4 hrs/mo on average for a new guy (goes up with a seniority). Personal example, in 2019 (last “normal” year) I only ever dropped flying and averaged 46 block hours per month, but my W-2 pay ended up just slightly below what it would have been by doing the hourly rate x min guarantee math. When I made the switch, my apples to apples comparison was how many days are spent on duty for the pay…20 (or 30?) in the AF vs the contractually protected 13-16 depending on the airline. The airline won’t stop me from working 5 days/week (and adding 50% to my salary) if I wanted…well, as long as I’m legal. Alternatively, we all know how it’d go trying to score 3-day work weeks in the AF.

Can partially confirm for SWA. The crews that bid PM trips are notoriously fun loving. Things can get real social with FAs… One thing I never thought I’d see at work: about 2 years ago a policy came out directing pilots/FAs to stop hugging on the job. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Blocks are usually 3 or 4 days. There’s a 14-hr daily availability period for early flights starting around 3am, and another starting around 11am that covers late ones. Have to make it to the airport within 2 hours if called during your period. Trips are assigned based on how many days you have remaining, so if you’re the only one with 2 days left in your block and a 2-day trip drops, you’re getting it. You can set a “fly” preference (trips will be assigned by seniority) or “pass” preference (reverse seniority). Reserve days are rigged whether or not you’re used, and once assigned you get the higher of the reserve or trip rig. But unlike lineholders you don’t get reassignment pay, so you tend to get rerouted all over. Hopefully something we can fix… Reserve utilization is high at SWA…it all depends on time of year and whether or not a pandemic is going on, but I usually wouldn’t get more than 3 or 4 days unused in a month. YMMV!

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!

You could try the 3rd Military Airlift Squadron group...closed group, but maybe message the moderator. Think they used to fly SOLL II when the C-5 did it, lots of old timers there.

Following up on the refi stuff, we just recently closed a VA IRRL with Trident that dropped us a half percent from the loan we initiated with them all of 9 months ago. I’d never really considered it, but Jon broke down the costs and it was basically free money. We live in CA where housing is...expensive, so 3.125 was our rate on a still-jumbo balance. However we did roll in all our funding fees so that we literally owed nothing. As was the case the first time, it was nice being able to fire off a text whenever a question popped up, but all in all it took maybe 3 or 4 total emails to get the whole thing done.

At the risk of beating a dead horse over how awesome Trident is, just throwing in my 2 cents about our experience. I picked them 100% off the feedback I read in this forum, so I guess we took a little bit of risk, but I felt more confident with each recommendation I read. Jon was very sharp (obviously, he flies for the world’s best airline), he answered all of my questions during our initial conversation, and even tried coming up with some creative ways to save us money. Sure they offered excellent rates and could speak military/airline with me which was extremely helpful, but there are two examples that motivated me to now offer my own recommendation. First, there was a typo in the paperwork that worked to my advantage, and when they found it on review, rather than asking me to pay up the extra money, Trident assumed the cost themselves. Then the night before closing a question popped up that needed legal review. The Trident guys stayed at work late and gave me regular updates in the morning to make sure I wasn’t wondering if we’d be able to close. They’ve got the concept of customer service nailed, so I’d happily use them again. Thanks Jon and Elena!

I went SWA because they were the first to hire me, but I was weary about some of the same stuff I heard about them as far as quality of life goes. I finished my first year a couple months ago and was surprised that my logbook showed an average of 2.3 legs per day and 1.9 hours per leg. There are a hundred other variables leading to why I or anyone else would choose to stay or go, but just pointing out that from my perspective the ‘SWA is overworked’ narrative I kept hearing on AD was either overhyped or else I’ve just been fortunate.

Reading the instructions...good move. My PME was missing from it too...is that being masked?

I agree...well said. Besides the fact that the troll is now well-nourished.

Just because YOU haven't heard of things doesn't mean they haven't happened. Reference Bone at Diego, Buff airshow demo at wrong airport, Thunderbird wrong altimeter setting, etc. Okay, stepping slowly away now from the troll.....

I smell a troll. This happened at Shank. When exactly did you see a tanker fly the ILS into there? Gear up/wrong airport landings have happened before, and probably will keep happening too, as long as toolbags keep thinking their tribe is too smart or too good to do something retarded.

Trolling. "If we elected FEs to Congress, we'd be swimming in cash."

No kidding. You know, speaking from one amazing pilot to another, I think they ought to take all the inexperienced C-17 pilots to some aux field with a "nice paved under run" or something so they can practice how to flare into the zone...

I'm using King Schools right now...AOPA/King/American Flyers all seem to charge about the same (except for the one-time American Flyers fee), but King was the only one I saw that didn't require a notarized certificate/snail mail or a trip to the FSDO when you're done...everything's taken care of online.

Amen! First some tips that'll help you get through UPT: - Only your parents are impressed when you say you "rocked" something. Not even your UPT friends (or we) are. - It's not just "UPT humor." Think of these shenanigans as part of the tradition that goes with being a military pilot. Now to answer your question: you're on the right track. Try to come up with something that rhymes, and try to roast each person once, saving the last (and best) one for who you're trying to pass the wrench off to. Make fun of their dumb mistakes, or if you've got nothing on 'em, make fun of their dumb hobbies, looks, etc...just keep it harmless. For example, you can say: "Lt Studly thinks I'm a dolt for not saying so to speak, but at least I didn't hook for forgetting to pin my seat," NOT "at least my significant other didn't have an affair with the USEM last week." This stuff isn't meant to get in the way of getting ready for mid-phase; it's meant to lighten the atmosphere so mid-phase doesn't seem so overbearing...so have fun with it! Oh yeah...and pics usually help. -Hugo