At the peak of the holiday travel season in December 2022, a Once in a generation A blizzard crossed the Rocky Mountains before stalling over the Great Plains, bringing high winds, frigid temperatures, near-zero visibility and heavy, wet snow from Colorado to the East Coast.
In Buffalo, New York alone, a record 56 inches of snow fell. The storm caused mass flight cancellations that disrupted vacation plans, but while most airlines were back in business within days, Southwest Airlines (Love) it just fell apart.
The storm triggered a domino effect of chaos in the company’s operations, as outdated scheduling systems and IT infrastructure — some dating back to the 1990s — couldn’t keep up with rescheduling demand. Southwest’s flights, which operated on a “point-to-point” system serving smaller markets, kept standby crews hundreds of miles from where they needed to be, making it impossible for the company to regroup.
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Southwest ultimately canceled 16,900 flights, stranded 2 million customers and ended up paying $1.1 billion in losses, including $750 million in customer refunds and a $140 million fine from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Sidelined, frustrated and riddled with safety concerns, Casey Murray, a Southwest captain and president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA), said National Public Radio Pilots had seen these problems build up for years. In fact, in the summer of 2022, SWAPA had taken to the picket lines, not to demand a pay or benefit increase, but to protest improvements to Southwest’s system technology.
Not long after the crash, Southwest CEO Bob Jordan apologized to customers and promised 1 billion dollars The value of the company’s IT investments and upgrades. By August 2024, half of its technology will have moved to a more efficient cloud operating system and its Wi-Fi network is ten times faster than before.
On board flights, customers noticed additional improvements in the form of redesigned cabins, larger overhead storage bins, new charging ports at seats, and faster WiFi. Additionally, by 2025, the company has promised that logging onto the internet will be completely free. It will also drop its open seating model and begin assigning seats, a move Jordan said will 80% of customers want.
The public doesn't seem to hold any grudges, either, as price-conscious travelers booked even more seats on the budget airline during the 2023 holiday travel season than they did in 2022.
In May 2024, Southwest was named The #1 airline in customer service by Newsweek in a survey of 30,000 customers that looked at communication, professionalism and accessibility over a three-year period.
And for those in the cockpit? In January 2024, Southwest's pilots union approved one of the largest pay increases in the airline industry, approving a new contract that included a 50% salary increase for the next five years. It also included a new process for scheduling flights during “unusual events.” Captain Murray summed up the agreement by saying it “fairly rewards our pilots and supports our operational needs.”
Under the terms of the contract, pilots received an immediate 29.15% raise, followed by 4% raises each year through 2027 before culminating with a final 3.25% raise in 2028. Pilots also saw increased benefits to their retirement, scheduling and parental leave policies.
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A Brief History of Southwest Airlines
Founded in 1967 by Herb Kelleher and Rollin King, Southwest was originally incorporated as Air Southwest Co. and operated between Houston, Dallas and San Antonio. The airline catered primarily to business travelers and specialized in low-cost off-peak flights during the evenings and weekends.
The airline has long been known for its customer focus through a combination of humorous advertising, strong community relations and a term it dubbed “transparency,” self-described as a combination of treating customers fairly while providing value.
In 1971, the company moved to Dallas' Love Field Airport and changed its name to Southwest Airlines. In its initial public offering on June 8, it adopted the symbol LUV, demonstrating its commitment to the area as well as its loyal customers.
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Southwest is also known for its innovation: it hired the best employees in the industry. first black captainLouis Freeman, in 1980, and successfully sued to end the practice of All-female hostesses in 1981. It was the first airline to offer ticketless travel (1994) and owner of the industry's first website (1995).
How many pilots does Southwest have?
Today, Southwest serves 117 destinations in the United States, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean and is the fifth-largest airline in the world. Of its 75,000 employees, 10,746 are pilots.
Because of the airline's “point-to-point” network, pilots have a larger network of home bases than other airlines, including Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Nashville, Oakland, Orlando, Phoenix and, of course, Dallas.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet”>
Freedom One (737-800)
Gallons of paint: 64 photo.twitter.com/Gsua5uwps5
— Southwest Airlines (@SouthwestAir) twitter.com/SouthwestAir/status/1692944532021678547?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>August 19, 2023
How big is Southwest's fleet?
Southwest operates a fleet of 817 Boeing aircraft. Operating exclusively Boeing 737 series aircraft is a cost-saving method for the airline, as it reduces the cost of training and maintenance since the planes share common parts. According to Southwest, the average age of its fleet is 11 years.
To attract customers and stand out in the skies, Southwest uses custom-designed paint jobs that say a lot about the aircraft, often featuring the flag of its home state, patriotic themes, or the specific cultures of destinations, such as Hawaii.
Since 1997, Southwest pilots have also participated in a “Adopt a pilot” and make classroom presentations to fifth-graders, who learn about life as a pilot and conduct STEM experiments in aerodynamics by making and flying paper airplanes. Art students also create designs for the ties on their pilot uniforms, and the winning designs are manufactured for Southwest’s entire fleet.
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How much do Southwest pilots make?
According IndeedAccording to a survey by Jobs.com, which compiles salary information from employees, users, and job postings over a 12-month period, Southwest pilots earn an average salary of $173,677 per year and peak at $479,000 per year.
Glass door It uses a statistical method that takes into account current and recent job postings as well as user-generated data. It reports that the salary range for Southwest pilots is between $215,000 and $370,000 per year, with a median of $282,000. It also lists additional incentives of $24,000 per year, which could include bonuses, commissions and/or profit sharing.
While other major airlines pay their pilots hourly rates based on the type of aircraft flown, it's harder to break down Southwest pilot salaries this way since the airline does things differently (again). Push flight Southwest reportedly pays its pilots per flight segment (243 miles) flown, with pilots earning 10% more for every additional 40 hours flown. Its monthly booking guarantee is 87 flight segments over a 30-day period.
Another online source, The Wright Experiencehas broken down how much his salary will be per segment in light of his new contract.
Southwest Chief Officer Salary
| Experience | Payment per segment flown |
|---|---|
|
1 year |
$116.41 |
|
3 years |
$192.14 |
|
5 years |
$201.28 |
|
10 years |
$218.65 |
|
12+ years |
$222.08 |
Southwest Captain Salary
| Experience | Payment per segment flown |
|---|---|
|
1 year |
$291.02 |
|
3 years |
$295.60 |
|
5 years |
$300.42 |
|
10 years |
$312.35 |
|
12+ years |
$317.25 |
In other words, a captain with five years of experience earns $300.42 per segment flown. If he's in reserve, he's guaranteed to fly at least 87 segments during a 30-day month (not including additional segments or overtime). That translates to approximately $26,136 per month or $313,638 per year.
What are Southwest's pilot benefits?
Southwest pilots receive a comprehensive benefits package that includes paid time off, medical, dental and vision insurance, short- and long-term disability insurance, maternity and paternity leave, 18% retirement contributions, profit sharing and unlimited, free standby travel privileges for themselves and their families.
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Does Southwest have a flight academy?
Southwest prepares its captains and first officers of tomorrow through its Pathway Program Destination 225This 13-month, full-time program trains cadets to become certified flight instructors and prepares them for a career as a Southwest First Officer. Typical candidates represent a variety of backgrounds that may or may not include prior cockpit experience as well as roles in the U.S. military.
Southwest partners with three regional airlines, CAE in Mesa, Arizona, SkyWarrior in Pensacola, Florida, and US Aviation in Denton, Texas, that provide flight instruction to cadets. Southwest First Officers serve as mentors to cadets throughout their careers.
FG Trade; Getty Images
How can I become a Southwest pilot? What are the prospects for 2024?
To apply for a pilot job, visit the careers page on Southwest's website: https://careers.southwestair.com.
At the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, as customer demand for travel resumed, Southwest hired 1,140 pilots in 2022 and 1,916 pilots in 2023.
Travel Weekly reported that Southwest planned to hire only 350 pilots in 2024 and adjusted these plans in line with its business plan, which estimated “low to mid-single digit” growth beyond 2024.
Since Southwest operates an all-Boeing fleet, it has also been affected by the ongoing crises at the troubled manufacturer. In January, the FAA ordered Boeing to halt production of all Boeing aircraft. Boeing 737 MAX Series plane after a piece of fuselage fell off Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 on January 5, 2024.
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