The new airline thread

[CaptainMorgan]

Best DFW based airline?  I’ve heard AA is going bankrupt any day now and SWA is a glorified regional. Any thoughts?

Nice 2nd post. Go home.


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[Grabby]

2 hours ago, merica1776 said:

Best DFW based airline?  I’ve heard AA is going bankrupt any day now and SWA is a glorified regional. Any thoughts?

That you're either an ass clown, or you listen to ass clowns.

[AirGuardianC141747]

Great information over and over again. Seniority reigns King, although I would consider living in domicile a very close second if it’s really where you want to live. Those who have cities/towns they want to live/die in because it’s their Dream location and it is a domicile for Big 3/Purple/Brown/SW,JB,F9 whatever gig in aviation or not have a ton of options going for them and I envy as most would. Aviation has great $ opportunities and if DFW, ATL, ORD, etc, etc, etc, fits the bill you have somewhere to shoot for. This past decade has been the first time a pilot can choose a location and then consider the outfit which serves him/her the best for the most part. Adding international and/or commuting creates a more complicated situation. Heavy international takes more time within the pax ranks especially now. A lot of international is held by the cargo outfits early on in your career with wide bodies, schedules get better with time. Do you want international now or later, will it be 3-5 days or 10-14 days depending on lifestyle, children, independent spouse, etc. Domestic hub turns whether pax (just shorter turns vs cargo), day, night, day and night flying are all great questions. 3AM wake ups for 6AM departures day after day for 3,4,5 days 8-12hr days OR 7PM night departures hanging out at a night station(lounge chair/room) return by 7AM. Red eyes for junior pax folks or extra $ for the senior their is goodness in many outfits that you can do a lot of different schedules within a year on property. You may find daytime sleeping does work for you, maybe not - it is a huge consideration for some.

*I don’t recommend 17 Days for the general public (I normally do 14-16, still long), but we do day/night and everything in-between. We are slave to the customer we fly for that day. Purple/Brown it will be night, tracks, good food, etc. 75% of the other time it’s random routes daytime and night time or reverse. AMC, DHL, Race Teams, Car manufacturer’s, Alibaba, clothing, Flowers, Lobsters for Asia, they just don’t care they just don’t want it there. Off for a couple weeks, commuting on company dime sometimes my time once a month living where I want to live and sleeping half or third the time just works for me as 74 cargo and 777 would work but don’t go to nearly as many locations. 76 guys like their schedules, 73 folks are starting to fly more. Regarding future longevity with several kids in tow, take care of yourself and go to the Big Players. Pre-pandemic adventure come on over the water isn’t super fine again just yet, pretty decent depending on your priorities.

Everywhere has some greatness, some more than most but they ALL have fleas. Take some time and read the topics that interest you on APC such as schedules, class drops, pay, vaccine, contract woes, management styles, new hires, etc. Read the chatter from the line folks doing the deed and find where your priorities/interests lie to best best fit your future for you and your family. ***Very tough right now with the Pax folks and some cargo info as recovery is different at many carriers and today’s win or loss can be tomorrow’s dream or epic fail.***  I wish everyone the best and I push folks who are with us to move on as fast as they can if their dream job is elsewhere. Our variety is unmatched and will get you hired on a routine basis. Nothing guaranteed, but with Atlas blood in the water the Sharks are always near, or just do the flow thru programs for a few years or way less. Most Mil folks are ripe for the picking, especially with the latest changes of approach(folks) entering this profession.

Edited October 9, 2021 by AirGuardianC141747

[AirGuardianC141747]

Hacker has it right. I do September off with time prior and time after getting 45-60 days or so to myself/wife. September is great for all that was mentioned, it’s just a better time spent in the pool, chilling around suburbia, open range time, best weather ever. Winter in the U.S., might as well be somewhere else enjoying their beverages, eats and warmer climate or summer near or below the equator. Best thing about these aviation “jobs”(it is for some), I NEVER think about “work” at home til I need to get my ticket 24 b4, then I pack and have a beverage. No Queep/additional duties at least for myself. Truly amazing.

Edited October 9, 2021 by AirGuardianC141747

[Springer]

On 9/29/2021 at 7:22 AM, slc said:

Ditto on bidding off Sept.  Flight loads are less, kids are back in school, no crowds, cooler, parks/campgrounds are dead.   

 

Side note: is that pic Grindelwald area?

Well west of there but we headquarters out of Wengen.  Discovered the Lauterbrunnen Valley area (below) when stationed in Germany.  Has changed little in the last 40 yrs unlike the rest of the world.  Airline job allowed us to retire <60 and visit it often.  I plan to die there.

Edited October 10, 2021 by Springer

[FLEA]

10 hours ago, AirGuardianC141747 said:

Great information over and over again. Seniority reigns King, although I would consider living in domicile a very close second if it’s really where you want to live. Those who have cities/towns they want to live/die in because it’s their Dream location and it is a domicile for Big 3/Purple/Brown/SW,JB,F9 whatever gig in aviation or not have a ton of options going for them and I envy as most would. Aviation has great $ opportunities and if DFW, ATL, ORD, etc, etc, etc, fits the bill you have somewhere to shoot for. This past decade has been the first time a pilot can choose a location and then consider the outfit which serves him/her the best for the most part. Adding international and/or commuting creates a more complicated situation. Heavy international takes more time within the pax ranks especially now. A lot of international is held by the cargo outfits early on in your career with wide bodies, schedules get better with time. Do you want international now or later, will it be 3-5 days or 10-14 days depending on lifestyle, children, independent spouse, etc. Domestic hub turns whether pax (just shorter turns vs cargo), day, night, day and night flying are all great questions. 3AM wake ups for 6AM departures day after day for 3,4,5 days 8-12hr days OR 7PM night departures hanging out at a night station(lounge chair/room) return by 7AM. Red eyes for junior pax folks or extra $ for the senior their is goodness in many outfits that you can do a lot of different schedules within a year on property. You may find daytime sleeping does work for you, maybe not - it is a huge consideration for some.

*I don’t recommend 17 Days for the general public (I normally do 14-16, still long), but we do day/night and everything in-between. We are slave to the customer we fly for that day. Purple/Brown it will be night, tracks, good food, etc. 75% of the other time it’s random routes daytime and night time or reverse. AMC, DHL, Race Teams, Car manufacturer’s, Alibaba, clothing, Flowers, Lobsters for Asia, they just don’t care they just don’t want it there. Off for a couple weeks, commuting on company dime sometimes my time once a month living where I want to live and sleeping half or third the time just works for me as 74 cargo and 777 would work but don’t go to nearly as many locations. 76 guys like their schedules, 73 folks are starting to fly more. Regarding future longevity with several kids in tow, take care of yourself and go to the Big Players. Pre-pandemic adventure come on over the water isn’t super fine again just yet, pretty decent depending on your priorities.

Everywhere has some greatness, some more than most but they ALL have fleas. Take some time and read the topics that interest you on APC such as schedules, class drops, pay, vaccine, contract woes, management styles, new hires, etc. Read the chatter from the line folks doing the deed and find where your priorities/interests lie to best best fit your future for you and your family. ***Very tough right now with the Pax folks and some cargo info as recovery is different at many carriers and today’s win or loss can be tomorrow’s dream or epic fail.***  I wish everyone the best and I push folks who are with us to move on as fast as they can if their dream job is elsewhere. Our variety is unmatched and will get you hired on a routine basis. Nothing guaranteed, but with Atlas blood in the water the Sharks are always near, or just do the flow thru programs for a few years or way less. Most Mil folks are ripe for the picking, especially with the latest changes of approach(folks) entering this profession.

Hey.... I take offense to that 😛

[FLEA]

2 hours ago, Springer said:

Well west of there but we headquarters out of Wengen.  Discovered the Lauterbrunnen Valley area (below) when stationed in Germany.  Has changed little in the last 40 yrs unlike the rest of the world.  Airline job allowed us to retire <60 and visit it often.  I plan to die there.

Not sure if this is true or not but a Belgian colleague told me once Switzerland has a death tourism market where cancer patients or other suffering people will travel there for assisted suicide (because it's legal). But the majesty behind it all is you have to wait like 7 days in country and while you wait they tell you to go take some walks. So people go to die, then they start absorbing all the views and by the time they're allowed a procedure they change their mind. But for anyone who has never been, that is how beautiful Switzerland is. I can't really think of another way to illustrate it. It literally causes you to contemplate life differently. 

Edited October 10, 2021 by FLEA

[bfargin]

Will the move by SouthWest employees give pause to all of the mandate nazi CEOs?

[Guardian]

Nope. People will channel Reagan for all the wrong reasons and fire them.

[Sua Sponte]

57 minutes ago, bfargin said:

Will the move by SouthWest employees give pause to all of the mandate nazi CEOs?

Some SWA pilot friends of mine have said the flight cancellations weren’t because of the employees. 

[Hugo Stiglitz]

2 hours ago, Sua Sponte said:

Some SWA pilot friends of mine have said the flight cancellations weren’t because of the employees. 

Fact. Our union pulled the data and showed this weekend we’ve just had an average number of sick/fatigue calls and higher than average volunteer pilots picking up trips. 
The root cause is boring: they stretched the network too thin before staffing was back to appropriate levels, so there’s no slack to absorb any disruptions at all, which is a compounding problem in a point-to-point network. SWAPA’s been warning about it for months, and sure enough this is the 2nd or 3rd time it’s happened this year.
The fact it happened a week after the vaccine mandate is coincidental, but it’s been fascinating and somewhat horrifying watching how rapidly misinformation is created and then propagated as fact. Is this how doctors have felt this whole time??

Edited October 11, 2021 by Hugo Stiglitz

[ClearedHot]

2 hours ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

Fact. Our union pulled the data and showed this weekend we’ve just had an average number of sick/fatigue calls and higher than average volunteer pilots picking up trips. 
The root cause is boring: they stretched the network too thin before staffing was back to appropriate levels, so there’s no slack to absorb any disruptions at all, which is a compounding problem in a point-to-point network. SWAPA’s been warning about it for months, and sure enough this is the 2nd or 3rd time it’s happened this year.
The fact it happened a week after the vaccine mandate is coincidental, but it’s been fascinating and somewhat horrifying watching how rapidly misinformation is created and then propagated as fact. Is this how doctors have felt this whole time??

It is an interesting coincidence and I heard the union put out a statement saying it wasn't them.  There is other information on the margins that is feeding the false narrative, didn't the union petition the court last week to shutdown the vaccine mandate?  Also, I believe I saw a report that said 40% of the pilots are still not vaccinated.

[brabus]

Despite the misdirection of SWA this weekend, there are thousands of pilots who are old enough with enough money to say “fuck your mandate!” and leave. A lot of airline guys in the 55-65 category who don’t trust anything and will never get the vacx…or so it seems at least. I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility that major airlines could be faced with epic shortages, or have to push back on the mandate. Maybe it doesn’t come to fruition, but it’d be naive to think it’s not a reasonable possibility at this point. 
 

A friend at General Dynamics said the company is struggling with this as they have thousands of employees in the south who in general are not getting the vax, and they also know firing all of those employees will crush the company. Biden has really put a hell of a lot of Americans and American companies in a terrible spot. Let’s go Brandon!

Edited October 11, 2021 by brabus

[ClearedHot]

1 hour ago, brabus said:

A friend at General Dynamics said the company is struggling with this as they have thousands of employees in the south who in general are not getting the vax, and they also know firing all of those employees will crush the company. Biden has really put a hell of a lot of Americans and American companies in a terrible spot. Let’s go Brandon!

That is a common and so far closely held fact among MANY defense companies.  I think numerous critical DoD contracts will be impacted.  The current EO fines companies with DoD contracts $5000 PER employee PER day.  

[TheNewGazmo]

Aside from the obviously return of travel demand, I am sure the vaccine mandate was something the airlines expected months ago and part of the reason why they ramped up hiring again, knowing that a good number of people may choose to leave over it.

[ClearedHot]

[HuggyU2]

Jacksonville Center is where the rumor about the vax is coming from. A majority of controllers called in sick Friday in protest of the Biden mandate. 

[ClearedHot]

6 minutes ago, HuggyU2 said:

Jacksonville Center is where the rumor about the vax is coming from. A majority of controllers called in sick Friday in protest of the Biden mandate. 

I think the press was mistakenly reporting it was Jax Airport when as Huggy notes it was Jax center.  The FAA spin was many had to take a mandatory two day break after getting the jab.

[pawnman]

6 hours ago, ClearedHot said:

Well, well, well... if it isn't the consequences of his own actions. 

[FUSEPLUG]

Oh good!  pawnman is in the airline thread now.  Finally some real perspective on all of this.  

[pawnman]

58 minutes ago, FUSEPLUG said:

Oh good!  pawnman is in the airline thread now.  Finally some real perspective on all of this.  

Just curious... do companies get to impose whatever restrictions they want, and if you don't like it, go somewhere else? 

Seems like I've seen that argument in a few threads on here...

Would you feel different if he'd gotten fired for smoking weed? 

[Hugo Stiglitz]

11 hours ago, ClearedHot said:

It is an interesting coincidence and I heard the union put out a statement saying it wasn't them.  There is other information on the margins that is feeding the false narrative, didn't the union petition the court last week to shutdown the vaccine mandate?  Also, I believe I saw a report that said 40% of the pilots are still not vaccinated.

Correct on most counts. The union obviously would lose big if SWA can make a case that this was a job action, and ironically they’re not being helped by the outside voices who want it to be true.
But they pulled analytics and objectively there have not been any more sick calls than usual, and also we’ve had more off-duty pilots volunteering to pickup than usual…unless the union’s blatantly lying (which would be dumb because the company has the same data).
The union has had a suit against SWA for the past few months regarding status quo violations while in negotiations (SWA has unilaterally implemented all kinds of policies), so the vaccine mandate got tacked onto the suit as an additional violation. Haven’t heard anything remotely close to putting a figure on how much of the pilot group is fully vaxxed from the company or union, so I’ll leave that untouched.

[BashiChuni]

1 hour ago, pawnman said:

Just curious... do companies get to impose whatever restrictions they want, and if you don't like it, go somewhere else? 

Seems like I've seen that argument in a few threads on here...

Would you feel different if he'd gotten fired for smoking weed?

get out of here nav

[Ryder1587]

SWA - what a perfect example of how fast misinformation spreads and how quick people spread it to try to push their agenda.  What a sad social media world we live in when this is our reality.  Nobody wants the truth. They want confirmation bias. 

[pawnman]

1 hour ago, BashiChuni said:

get out of here nav

Oh no, is your post-discharge job looking like it's in jeopardy? 

What do you think...gonna vote with your "deeply held beliefs", or with your wallet?

I know which one I think you'll take.