Hello fellow Southwest Pilots, SWAPA, and Company,
Today, January 26th, marks my last day as a pilot for Southwest Airlines. I am amazed by the people here at Southwest; The way I have been treated since I started class on 10/18/22 has been mostly great. The energy that surrounds the training center was nothing short of phenomenal and they really did a great job of making me feel at home. When I came to class at Southwest I also had another job offer at United Airlines. I would like to preface this message by stating that I live in Minneapolis so my choice between the two has nothing to do with where I live or how I commute. That being said, I came to class at Southwest with the full intention of treating this opportunity as my end game. The idea of flying a single aircraft type for 40 years was a factor but I'll choose quality of life and pay over metal any day. I seriously have enjoyed just about every person I have met here and that is very rare and special.
Alright so why am I leaving? The simple answer would be me just saying that I can see how long the contract negotiations are being dragged out by the company and that's a good precursor for things to come, but that's not all of it. The fact of the matter is, the pilot shortage is here, and it's a massive problem (not to be downplayed by an airline I want to be at). Saying that we want to hire 2,100 pilots (and some change) next year isn't a solution. To find the solution the company seriously needs to ask themselves How can we get those 2,100 pilots to show up AND STAY?. Holiday meltdowns, delayed contracts, reroutes, double deadheads, the list goes on and on; It seems like the company is doing everything in its power to make sure those pilots don't show up. I haven't been here long, but it really seems like this company has lost touch with the people that make this Mega Airline run, THE EMPLOYEES. Sure you can take valuable funds and buyback stocks from your shareholders, but don't act confused when we have meltdowns because the company neglected the infrastructure and the people that make this airline run like a swiss watch on a good day.
Some of the quotes I've heard from management have been so out of touch; I really just have to scratch my head and wonder. Referencing the email that was sent to the Denver Ramp Agents on December 21st (If you saw it you know); I was a ramper for three years under a different carrier and nothing even close to being that tone deaf ever landed in my mailbox. It breaks my heart that my fellow co-hearts are being talked to like that. But then again, management scratches their heads and wonders why no one showed up to work the next day out on the Denver ramp. You can't blame the rampers.
My confidence in this company's ability to retain the awesome new young talent is dwindling. Southwest has lofty hiring goals but so do all of the other major airlines, the pool to choose from is only getting smaller. Bob Jordan seems like a nice enough guy, but going on CNBC and saying that Southwest will pay them (the pilots) Market Rates. Yikes!? Southwest flies ⅓ of all domestic flights daily! We are the market rate. Again, tone deaf. I guess we can take comfort knowing that were seen as a commodity and not people. These pilots that you're hoping to hire in the next 1-5 years are paying attention (Let me be an example). The job opportunity here at Southwest was second to none but leadership needs to step up and do what's right. Get these pilots a contract that reflects the hard work they do and the hiring will take care of itself. People like me want to be here, I hope management pulls things together so the people like me get to STAY here too. Going through 2 months of training to find a dead end is not on my list of fun things to do.
Since I am no longer a commodity of Southwest Airlines and I am in fact a person moving on, I'd like to close with my going rate. First, Parking, I was honestly shocked to find out that parking expenses to show up to my job here are 100% on me. Second, Southwest lacks biddable positions and has extremely lengthy upgrade times compared to the other major airlines. It's time to get creative. This in itself results in a huge problem, my ability to increase my paycheck and QOL is seriously constricted. I may retire number 12 at this company but the seniority movement and lack of biddable positions would hinder my ability to change things up as I progress through life. Being a senior First Officer or being a Junior Captain is still years down the road here. Third, the technology here is seriously out of date, and I'm not just talking about Sky-Solver. This type of stuff has already been outlined in the SWAPA Numbers Podcast time and time again but I think it's a pretty safe bet that the people in the castle down in Dallas haven't listened to any of it. Everything like SWALife to Workday provides a serious learning curve when comparing it to my previous airline. Why do new applicants have to fill out 2 separate job applications? That could easily be condensed down to one. We have these IPads but they are not being used even closely to their full potential. I'm not necessarily an environmentalist but the amount of paperwork I have been handed since new hire and on the line answers my question of who is keeping the Dunder Mifflin paper company in business. These are just small examples to outline some of the technology shortcomings. Fourth, I think the statement that Southwest pilots should be the highest paid narrow body pilots falls short. Southwest is a work horse for the US domestic and vacation market. The pilot pay and quality of life here should be industry leading, not just in reference to the narrow body pilot market.
Some other inconveniences. When going through Sims we were not given the option to bid on our sim slots. It doesn't matter much to me being the plug of the class but, what we ended up with was senior guys in the class going late into the night when it's not what they wanted and I would have gladly taken it. I get the fact that the company wants to be efficient but I only had 2 days off in a 16 day period and I was waking up at 4am every morning. Efficient or slightly cruel? It was a little bit of a wakeup call and foreshadowing for how aggressive the pairings are built on the line. There were a couple instances where my IOE schedule was changed without anyone telling me. I spent a 10 hour duty day in the MSP airport only for all flights to cancel and me to get sent home. They removed that day from my schedule; The only thing I have to show for it are some SWAG points that vastly undercut my market rate. There are multiple other instances of inconveniences but these are some of the things that made me question my willingness to stick it out here at Southwest with two other offers on the table.
I am not writing this because I have a chip on my shoulder. I am writing this because I truly do believe Southwest employees are the best people in the industry. The people of this company are seriously being let down by management and they deserve better. Not just contracts, but they also need to be provided the tools necessary to provide a smooth operation for our customers. When I was doing research on Southwest before I decided to come here I came across the internal motto that Southwest used to run on employees first, customers second. This idea still rings true but is something management has drifted from in order to make a quick buck. If you take care of the employee, the employee will take care of the customer. I really do appreciate all of the people I met here and I am very sad to be leaving. I hope my words here can be a little bit of fuel to get the Southwest employees the respect and pay they deserve.
With LUV,
