SWA reducing minimum requirements again

Yeah, the out of cockpit thing is pretty common for a lot of retiring mil folks too, many with thousands of hours but not much (or any) in the last 12/24/36 months. There have been onesey-twoeseys of folks going from that straight to the majors, but for the most part, they all need to do a victory lap for a few months in the regionals (or somewhere equivalent) as well. I get that it is frustrating, but keep your head up. Your flying career isn't dead unless you let it be.
 
Acrofox said:
In my case, it was barely a year off at the end of a decade of airline flying. My previous shop would have sent me to do one sim session, then straight back to CQ. (And I'd be ready for it. I'm ready for it now.)

That said, I was surprised to be invited to interview, as I figured it was at the outside edge of recency. I've now been informed that the team sending out interview invites doesn't take those things into account, which seems a bit ... off, to me.



The problem is that the regionals are pretty awful right now with regard to quality of life. (I do know that's nothing new) The thought of spending all my time commuting across the country to fly myself to a burned husk after ten years, for the -possible- opportunity to move on? That's a bit tough, I'm not going to lie. After seven weeks of out-of-base reserve sitting in random hotels in 2021, I was a complete zombie on the days I was home. The thought of doing that again from ground 0 is ... tough.



I'm definitely venting. It's incredibly demoralizing getting rejected by a second major in a row when everybody you know is getting hired everywhere, even people who've barely touched a thrust lever. Believe me, I came into the game never expecting to move to a major, so it's not that I feel specifically entitled to the job—but if you look at the subject of this thread, and the discussion about how "desperate" airlines are to hire, it might be clear why it's so crushing.

My non-pilot friends are absolutely stunned that I didn't get hired. "But isn't there a huge pilot shortage right now?" "Have you tried flying private planes?" "You should go work for Delta." "Have you applied overseas?" "What about the military?"

Most of my pilot friends are all pretty shocked, too. "Have you tried <my shop>?" "Have you tried ACMI?" "You need to go back to a regional." ... and while the latter might be true, it's certainly demoralizing. I've been cheering people on for four years now as they move up, move on, and land their dream jobs. Watching flight attendants I work with put themselves through flight school, come back as pilots, and then move on to the majors.

From a mentoring and cheerleading point of view, it's been literally the most amazing thing, and I'm so happy to see good people go to good places.

But part of me is a bit gutted, I have to admit.



I had thought, after Alaska said no, that this might be the door that opened. But it seems not.

Anyway, I don't want to make this stupid thread about me. I just wanted to drop in to say that they're apparently not that desperate yet. :p
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Yeah, I hear you. In 2018, I left a lucrative contracting job to go to a regional at 35 years old. I took a 60% pay cut and commuted halfway across the country to NYC. Right after, they slowed hiring down, so I had to commute to reserve for 6 months. After a couple of years, covid hit. Then, I got hired at a ULCC and now I’m at a legacy before I hit 40.

It was absolutely worth it. Quality of life might suck, but in the grand scheme of things, a couple of years isn’t a long time. You’ll most likely be gone before a year is up, and there’s some fat pay at regionals now.

If you really want it, you can’t prioritize quality of life at this stage.
 
soon it will be like college recruiters. Someone from airline A, B or C will show up to the home of parents who have a kid getting their ratings from ATP and say “ Ma’am, we’d love to offer your son / daughter a full ride here at Southwest. We know they only have 165 hours so far but we feel that they would make a great addition to our program”
 
I seriously doubt that anyone flying pistons with 1500 hrs. (since the turbine req. is caput) is ever going to see the inside of an SWA cockpit. I think that this min drop is for the mil bros.
 
Maximilian_Jenius said:
I seriously doubt that anyone flying pistons with 1500 hrs. (since the turbine req. is caput) is ever going to see the inside of an SWA cockpit. I think that this min drop is for the mil bros.
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The next 5 years or so will be interesting. Delta, United, AA and SWA are hiring ~8k This year alone, combined. This doesn't include ULCC and other segments. I doubt there are even 12k regional pilots on property right now, maybe 15k tops. I'm sure most of the qualified 91/135 guys who are interest in 121 have made the jump already. No one knows the exact numbers, but I guess my point is never say never.
 
CoffeeIcePapers said:
The next 5 years or so will be interesting. Delta, United, AA and SWA are hiring ~8k This year alone, combined. This doesn't include ULCC and other segments. I doubt there are even 12k regional pilots on property right now, maybe 15k tops. I'm sure most of the qualified 91/135 guys who are interest in 121 have made the jump already. No one knows the exact numbers, but I guess my point is never say never.
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I thought SWA still wanted 500 turbine?
 
CoffeeIcePapers said:
The next 5 years or so will be interesting. Delta, United, AA and SWA are hiring ~8k This year alone, combined. This doesn't include ULCC and other segments. I doubt there are even 12k regional pilots on property right now, maybe 15k tops. I'm sure most of the qualified 91/135 guys who are interest in 121 have made the jump already. No one knows the exact numbers, but I guess my point is never say never.
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So you're saying there's a chance? :D
 
CoffeeIcePapers said:
The next 5 years or so will be interesting. Delta, United, AA and SWA are hiring ~8k This year alone, combined. This doesn't include ULCC and other segments. I doubt there are even 12k regional pilots on property right now, maybe 15k tops. I'm sure most of the qualified 91/135 guys who are interest in 121 have made the jump already. No one knows the exact numbers, but I guess my point is never say never.
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Chances are there will be another recession that brings airline hiring to a halt (and ushers in yet another round of airline banruptcies, mass furloughs and "Compassages") long before things get too interesting.
 
Yakob said:
Chances are there will be another recession that brings airline hiring to a halt (and ushers in yet another round of airline banruptcies, mass furloughs and "Compassages") long before things get too interesting.
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They’ll fix it with age 70.

then you will The Lost Decade, Redux
 
derg said:
You said that last two times. GET GOING! :)
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Ha! I fully recognize now that I should have gotten my CFI instead of my AMEL a year ago, like was suggested here by the collective. But I really thought at the time that I could get bites and avoid instructing. Reality has hit me hard in the face. I have arrived.
 
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