I haven't kept up - hiring at the major/national level

We were always told that they would be sticking around until their leases expire. That doesn't start happening until 2017. Now all of the rumors are that management is going to sell them to Delta, which will result in almost all of our captains losing their captain seats, and all of the 717 FOs (e.g., me) losing all of that good 717 relative seniority and getting forced out into the general system where our seniority is atrocious. I would go from bidding 30% in seat to bidding about 90%. Needles to say, many of our pilots are freaking out right now.

Could they have possibly seen any other result with the SLI that was agreed to? This seemed black and white from the perspective of an outsider, and it was clear that guys were voting in their own furlough with the SLI.
 
Honest question: is there ever a point that you'd start handing out resumes and looking elsewhere in the 121 world or is SWA too good of a horse to ride, even given recent events?

Depends on the circumstances. The big thing you have to look at is the time value of money. I don't think that SWA will remain at the top of the pay heap for much longer. However, going to another airline means starting over at bottom of the longevity scale, which means you're losing that time value of money for at least several years. Several years early in your career is worth a whole lot of investment income by the end of you career. Since my goal is to retire as soon as possibly, preferably no later than 55, then it's difficult to make the numbers work going somewhere else. The only places that would work would be UPS or FedEx at this point. UPS isn't hiring, and FedEx is hiring only in small numbers, and you really need internal help. I really don't know people at FedEx, so it's unlikely that I would be successful getting there. That means that I'm probably a SWA pilot for life.
 
We were always told that they would be sticking around until their leases expire. That doesn't start happening until 2017. Now all of the rumors are that management is going to sell them to Delta, which will result in almost all of our captains losing their captain seats, and all of the 717 FOs (e.g., me) losing all of that good 717 relative seniority and getting forced out into the general system where our seniority is atrocious. I would go from bidding 30% in seat to bidding about 90%. Needles to say, many of our pilots are freaking out right now.
i'll trade spots with ya..
 
Whys everyone always in such a rush to get to retirement? That means you're close to going tango uniform which I want no part of. Life's short, screw retirement. I'm going to work to stay active for as long as I can.
 
Whys everyone always in such a rush to get to retirement? That means you're close to going tango uniform which I want no part of. Life's short, screw retirement. I'm going to work to stay active for as long as I can.

Who says you can't be active in retirement? You're just active doing what you want, instead of doing what your employer wants.
 
Whys everyone always in such a rush to get to retirement? That means you're close to going tango uniform which I want no part of. Life's short, screw retirement. I'm going to work to stay active for as long as I can.

Agree 100%!!! Screw retirement. Im a big believer that the brain always has to stay active. I plan to fly til 65, then start a flight school or aviation consulting business.


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I plan to retire as soon as I possibly can and then die quietly in my sleep, likely under an avalanche after I huck a 150 footer in the backcountry at the age of 90.

I can't imagine my entire life being flying. The other things I do with my time are much, much, MUCH more interesting and enjoyable.
 
Is not shuffle board Tuesday's enough brain stimulation for you guys? I already eat dinner at 4pm and go to bed while the sun is up for the damn 5am flights out of scenic Jackson Mississippi.... Might at well move back to Vero Beach and hang it up at 28.[/quote]
 
I plan to retire as soon as I possibly can and then die quietly in my sleep, likely under an avalanche after I huck a 150 footer in the backcountry at the age of 90.

I can't imagine my entire life being flying. The other things I do with my time are much, much, MUCH more interesting and enjoyable.

I love flying, and sharing flying, buuuut...... I want the point of my life-my purpose-to be involved in my family's life, do volunteer work, and enjoy God's outdoors (or Mother Nature's depending on your religious/atheistic views :D ).
 
Whys everyone always in such a rush to get to retirement? That means you're close to going tango uniform which I want no part of. Life's short, screw retirement. I'm going to work to stay active for as long as I can.
Retirement to me means being able to do whatever I want and being able to quit at any time. At this point, I can't quit because I'll run out of money in a few years. In the future hopefully that isn't the case.
 
Retirement to me means being able to do whatever I want and being able to quit at any time. At this point, I can't quit because I'll run out of money in a few years. In the future hopefully that isn't the case.

Yep, what he said. I can't WAIT to have enough money to retire so I can finally travel the world and visit exotic locations with my boy-toy companion who is half my age. If I want to exercise my brain, I'll learn a new language, or build a boat, or do whatever else I've always wanted to do but didn't have the time to do because of that four-letter word - WORK!
 
Like Cap'n D and wheelsup, my dream of my active, 100% not-dead-standing-up older years doesn't involve getting phone calls in the middle of the night to go operate an aviation appliance. I love flying airplanes. I love lots of other stuff, too. If flying airplanes has to go away so I can do all the other stuff I want (but can't afford) to do, well, I'll miss you, flight levels. But not that much.
 
I'm with ATN, I love to fly but if I can retire before age 65 forces me out, and spend time with my family doing things I want to do, I'm all for it. Retirement doesn't mean you aren't active, there are plenty of other things to do to keep you physically and mentally occupied that don't take you away from family and friends.
 
I agreed with that you can stay active after retirement. There is a couple who is in their 50s at my home airport who is retired. They both have pilot licenses. They have built a rv-6 and a rv-8. They sold they rv-6 and now have the rv-8 for sale now they are close to finishing their rv-10. They have a home here in Ohio and a home in Florida and fly their plane between the two. What a life
 
I'm honestly bewildered by the notion that retiring means you have nothing left to live for. Smells like slavespeak. "But I'd waste away and die if no one could tell me what to do anymore!". Uh, what? Are you an automaton? How bout a human being, are you one of those? Build a boat, or a homeless shelter, or a death-ray and extort one MEEEELYUN dollars from the governments of the world. Life is full of Possibilities. Waking up at 4am to go push some (awesome) buttons and enjoy the (awesome) view, is just one of the billions of things you could be doing. Get a freaking hobby. And then bring the UN to its KNEES!
 
Brotha, I gave up about 2 years ago and have switched to plan B. I doubt we'll touch any big iron for another 5-7. But I'm sure some new hire will think he'll sneak in with 1000 pic, they always do. We just need to get the Q, who cares about pay :)

I feel like there's gonna be a lot of posts in the upcoming years with "I've paid my dues at XXX regional...phone is not ringing, just got my 1000PIC, what's going wrong?"
 
If Im 60, and my job is to fly a 777 to Tokoyo, Rio, Paris etc 3 or 4 trips a month, Im not retiring anytime soon.

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