This week, guest host Ella Ziober reviews the most recent versions of the CBA source documents as we near the end of the second quarter. With Q3 around the corner, take a listen to hear about the mountain of IT work being done for the next phase of implementation. The Q&A has something for everyone this week. Whether you’re contemplating a Nashvill…

Today's SWAPA Number is 26. That's 26 fatigue calls per 10,000 duty periods, which is our current fatigue rate. That's less than half of what it was a year ago and one of the lowest since the start of the pandemic. So today on the show, we're going to talk with SWAPA Safety and FSAC member Scott Hutchinson about recent fatigue trends, what's new in…

This week, guest host Alexis Thomas reviews the recent Empower accounts merger, and points to all the resources that Pilots have at their disposal when the ability to move funds to the Schwab 401k becomes available. It was a big tech week for SWAPA as the Scheduling and Analytics Committee presented at the Flight Ops IT kickoff, and the revamped SW…

Today's SWAPA Number is 16. That's the section of the contract that covers hotel standards. So on today's episode, we spoke to Hotels SME, Seth Kornblum, about the Crew Accommodations Board, hotel language, and some of the issues that have arisen since the ratification of the CBA. If you have any feedback for us at all, please drop us a line at com…

This week, Casey Casteel from SWAPA Communications discusses upcoming implementation items like the training elections form that will go live soon as well as several items that were clarified or added in Side Letter One to the CBA, including open time pay multiples, open time alert timelines, and document-based training. If you’ve ever had a questi…

Today's SWAPA Number is 4,200. That's how many Southwest pilots will retire by 2035. We may have stopped hiring for now, but those 4,200 pilots will need to be replaced and trained. Today we'll be talking with SWAPA President, Captain Casey Murray, and Training and Standards Committee Chair, Captain Greg Bowen, about how things are going in the tra…

Today's SWAPA Number is 17.A.2. That's the section of our new CBA that deals with VPTO, or Voluntary Paid Time Off. On this special episode of The SWAPA Number, we are welcoming NC Chair Jody Reven, EFA Committee Chair Erich Schnitzler, Committee Member Greg Auld, and Scheduling Research Committee Chair, Scott Plyler, to discuss a voluntary paid ti…

This week, host Captain Matt McCants gives us the high points of the newly released Scheduling Handbook – a must have in a Pilot’s tool box to resume own navigation through the new CBA. He also covers how much error pay and fixed audit pay have been recovered by SWAPA since date of ratification. The Q&A this week has topics ranging from online lega…

Today's SWAPA Number is 231 million. That's the net loss for Southwest Airlines in the first quarter of 2024. Today, we're sitting down with Eric Schnitzler and Greg Auld of the Economic and Financial Analysis Committee to shed some light on the industry as a whole, as well as the financial outlook of Southwest Airlines, given some recent events. I…

This week, guest host and Communications Director Amy Robinson walks us through the newest expansion of Trip Trade Giveaway and ELITT. If you’ve ever wanted to pick up or trade with the company over a non-fly or vacation event, you’ll want to listen in and understand how that works. If you have any feedback for us at all, please drop us a line at c…

Today's SWAPA Number is 4,452. That's the peak number of flights per day in the revised June schedule. That's just over 6% more than last year. So today we're going to speak with SRC supervisor, Meagan Nealon, SRC committee member, Dan O'Connor and SRC Chair, Scott Plyler about where the network schedule stands for the summer season, as well as dis…

This week, host First Officer Tony Mulhare from SWAPA Communications discusses a potential shift in position by the Company regarding early morning crew meals. This week's Contract Admin Q&A covers several topics, including bereavement leave and why overfly credit can sometimes be absorbed by daily rigs. If you have any feedback for us at all, plea…

This week, host Captain Matt McCants from SWAPA Communications outlines the next high points in April’s implementation schedule. He also plugs the upcoming SWAPA polling event, and gives the membership a look into active debates, including a grievance between SWAPA and the Company. If you have been part of an online reroute, you’ll want to listen i…

In this episode, host First Officer Tony Mulhare from SWAPA Communications discusses frequently asked questions about STD and LTD and the special open enrollment period, which closes April 12. He gives an update on implementation items for April, including sick trip accrual and the reduction in the ELITT Umbra, otherwise known as the gray bar, and …

Today's SWAPA Number is 134. That's the number of cases that the Critical Incident Response Team, which we refer to as CIRT, has handled in 2024 alone. Today we're going to talk to SWAPA CIRT Chair, Captain Dave West, about what his team does and how you might interact with CIRT during your time here at Southwest. If you have any feedback for us at…

As we wrap up Contract 2020, frequent friend of the show, Damian Jennette, will give us some highlights including some never before heard clips that will give you, our listeners, some insight into the process it takes to bring you information directly from the source- our SWAPA subject matter experts and leaders - throughout this last year. If you …

In this episode, host Captain Matt McCants from SWAPA Communications discusses the three education products available to Pilots that explain changes in the new Short-Term and Long-Term Disability Plans, and the actions Pilots may need to take. He also covers some very common scheduling and pay scenarios, along with some great Q&As that Contract Adm…

Today's SWAPA Number is 50%. That's the percentage of monthly base earnings a SWAPA pilot will receive while on disability under our new contract. That benefit begins 60 days and lasts until FAA retirement age, if necessary. This major improvement from our old LOL plan was a key pillar of Contract 2020, but that begs the question, do we even need a…

In this episode, host First Officer Tony Mulhare from SWAPA Communications discusses the upcoming open enrollment period for the newly negotiated MetLife disability plans and some associated questions. He also goes over several unique Contract scenarios, including ones pertaining to split-to-cover reserve assignments, the SWAPA Pay Audit tool, and …

In this episode, host Captain Matt McCants from SWAPA Communications discusses the road ahead for the new disability plans and the education that will help inform pilots about the changes. He also answers several unique contract questions, including ones with March scheduling and pay provisions. With Spring Break flying ramping up, you won’t want t…

Today's SWAPA Number is 12. That's how many domiciles Southwest will have once we open Nashville in May of this year. So on today's show, we're going to talk with SRC chair Scott Plyler and SRC member Dan O'Connor about what that means for our pilots and our network. Amy's out sick today so joining me as host is the third member of SRC 3, Meagan Ne…

This is the SWAPA Ride Report for Friday, March 8th, 2024. In this episode, host First Officer Tony Mulhare from SWAPA Communications discusses some common questions about Ground Time Override and how to find overrides on your payroll report. Tony also provides a brief update on the current open enrollment period for the company provided life insur…

This is the SWAPA Ride Report for Friday, March 1st, 2024. In this episode, host Captain Matt McCants from SWAPA Communications discusses some common concerns about the short-term and long-term disability plans on the horizon. Matt also provides a brief update on what can be expected in the new versions of the Annotated CBA, the big-ticket scheduli…

Today's SWAPA Number is 1.5%. That's the 2023 profit sharing percentage that Southwest will be paying its employees this year. So today on the show, we're going to talk with NC member Damian Jennette about how that number was derived, how it compares to the industry, and how it fits into our pilot's retirement planning. If you have any feedback for…

This is the SWAPA Ride Report for Friday, February 23rd, 2024. The SWAPA Ride Report is your source for headlines, updates, and answers to frequently asked questions regarding your new Collective Bargaining Agreement. This week we answer some frequently asked questions from Benefits, Retirement, Contract Admin and SRC. If you have any feedback for …

Introducing: The SWAPA Ride Report, a new must-listen podcast to understand the latest developments with the new CBA, including frequently asked questions from pilots on the line. Check in for the Ride Report every Thursday. This week's edition focuses on Implementation updates and popular topics in the 401K, Scheduling, and Contract Administration…

Today's SWAPA number is eight, that's how many new overrides are being implemented and paid between now and March 1st. Today we're going to talk to SRC Chair, Scott Plyler, and SWAPA Manager of Schedule Analytics, Meagan Nelan, about where we stand so far with implementing the new contract, what's further down the line and what the membership shoul…

Today's SWAPA Number is 92.7. That's the percentage of pilots that voted to make the Tentative Agreement between SWAPA and Southwest Airlines, a Collective Bargaining Agreement, in the vote that closed last week. On today's podcast, we're talking with SWAPA president, Captain Casey Murray and SWAPA VP, Captain Tom Nekouei, about what comes next for…

Today's SWAPA number is 745. That's how many pilots that have entered longterm disability since 2020. As our pilot group is considering the TA before them, we'd like to zero in on an area of our contract that holds a lot of confusion for our members and their families, and that is disability. To better understand how disability works, what is chang…

Today's SWAPA Number is 64%. That's the percentage of Contract 2020 that will be effective on date of ratification. By the end of 2024, that number will rise to 84%. Today on the show, we're going to talk with Jody Reven, Scott Plyler, and Damian Jennette about the implementation of Contract 2020, why we agreed to the timelines in the implementatio…

On this Contract 2020 TA Education episode, we'll hear from Negotiating Committee Member, Damian Jennette about Section 4, Benefits. 00:20 Section 4 Overview and Language 01:27 Codifications 02:18 Survivor Eligibility and Retirees 04:24 All things COBRA 05:14 Medical, Dental, and Prescription Drugs 08:17 Disability Overview 10:22 Disability and Inc…

On this Contract 2020 TA Education episode, we'll hear from Negotiating Committee Chair, Jody Reven about Section 3, Expenses. 01:10 Expense Reporting and Reimbursement 01:40 Exceeding Limits Language 02:22 Per Diem 03:02 Additional Per Diem 04:00 Uniform Expenses 05:31 Parking Expenses 06:09 Provisional Parking Expenses 06:34 FAA Physical Exam Exp…

On this Contract 2020 TA Education episode, we'll hear from our resident host, Kurt Heidemann about Section 2, Compensation. 00:31 Overview of Language Changes 01:07 Pay Rates and Increases 02:06 Amenable Dates 02:55 Post Amenable Strategy 04:22 Post Amenable Raises 04:50 Ratification Bonus 04:59 Pay Rates Discussion 06:12 Conversion Factor 06:46 F…

On this Contract 2020 TA Education episode, we'll hear from Negotiating Committee Chair, Jody Reven, about Section 1. 00:14 Strategy and Protections 01:09 Industry Comparison 02:58 State Owned Enterprises, Partnership Language, Exclusion List 06:52 Expansion of Network Discussion 08:30 Fragmentation 09:58 Domiciles Outside of CONUS 10:35 Mutual Ben…

Today's SWAPA Number is 3. On our Contract 2020 Negotiating team, we call our core of scheduling SME's, SRC3. That's Scott Plyler, Dan O'Connor, and Meagan Nelan, who are the individuals most responsible for the complete rewrite of our work rules. On this episode, we're going to sit down with them for a discussion about those scheduling sections of…

On this Contract 2020 TA Education episode, we'll hear from Negotiating Committee Member, Damian Jennette about Section 5, Retirement. 00:17 Retirement Headlines 00:39 MBCBP Overview 01:57 MBCBP Funding 03:28 Private Letter Ruling – Additional Funding 04:26 Excess Contribution Limits 05:22 Four Sources of Spill Cash and Filling Qualified Buckets 07…

On this Contract 2020 TA Education episode, we'll hear from resident host, Kurt Heidemann on Section 6, General. 01:18 Uniforms 02:20 Required Documents 02:55 Crew Meals 04:48 Jumpseat 06:23 Pilot Travel 08:55 Team/Company Meetings 11:10 SIDA Badges 12:01 Retirement and Resignation Procedures 13:50 Company Relations 14:31 Records, Data Analysis, an…

On this Contract 2020 TA Education episode, Senior Legal and Labor Analyst Lexi Taylor will be talking with Jay Bellar, Chip Ellsworth, and John Miller, members of the SWAPA Check Airmen Committee, about the new Check Pilot Guide. 00:21 The Check Pilot Guide 00:48 Scope and Expectations 01:55 Reduction in Force Language 02:33 Preferences 03:38 TGDO…

On this Contract 2020 TA Education episode, we'll hear from Kurt Heidemann on several small sections, starting with Section 7, Seniority, Section 8, Vacancies, Section 20, Safety, Section 22, Furlough, Section 23, Supervisory Duties, Section 24 Dues, Section 25, IT, and Section 27, Terms of Agreement. 00:50 Seniority 02:40 Domicile Right of Return …

On this Contract 2020 TA Education episode, we'll hear from Negotiating Committee Member, Damian Jennette, on Section 17, OJI. 00:25 TPAs and Compensable/Non Compensable Discussion 02:07 OJI in Current CBA vs New TA 04:20 Sick Bank Usage 04:54 Flight Ops Involvement 06:08 Description of Official Duties 07:09 HDQ Chief Pilot Involvement 08:16 OJI Ma…

On today's Contract 2020 TA Education, we hear from our usual host, Kurt Heidemann, on Section 17, Leaves of Absence. 00:16 Big Picture Changes 00:38 General Section Overview 01:17 LOA and Vacation 01:53 Longevity 02:34 Emergency and Bereavement Leave 03:45 Sick Leave Accrual 05:05 Visibility of Sick Time 05:38 Sick Bank Buyback Discussion and Accr…

On this Contract 2020 TA Education episode, we'll hear from Contract Admin Chair, Seth Kornblum, on Section 16, Hotel Standards. 00:16 Hotels List 01:17 Hotels Standards Manual 02:23 Required Accommodations 05:01 The Crew Accommodations Board (CAB) 07:34 Hotel Standards Provisions 08:34 Short and Long Stipulations 10:06 Self Walk Protections 10:47 …

On this Contract 2020 TA Education episode, we'll hear from Senior Legal and Labor Analyst, Lexi Taylor on Section 15, Training and Standardization. 00:20 Section 18 and 23 Overview 01:01 Training Awards and Assignments 03:01 Training Trading 03:37 Fatigue and Sick 04:15 Training Adjustments 04:55 Training Pay 05:45 Training Pull and Footprint 06:4…

On this Contract 2020 TA Education episode, we'll hear from SRC member, Dan O'Connor, about Section 14, Vacation. 00:21 3 Main Changes to Vacation 01:22 1.5% Floor and Industry Comparison 03:33 Additional Spring Break Weeks 04:08 Elimination of Floating Vacation + More Open Time Weeks 06:13 Vacation Trade Opening 07:11 The Value Add of Removing Flo…

On this Contract 2020 TA Education episode, we'll hear from SRC Chair, Scott Plyler and SRC member Dan O'Connor, about Section 13, Reserve. 01:02 The Reserve Proffer Process (RPP) 02:08 How RCO and RPP Interact 03:32 Non Conforming Pairings 05:42 Reserve Preferences 06:23 Release to Check In 09:20 LCO/Pay Multiple Integration 10:59 Release at the E…

On this Contract 2020 TA Education episode, we'll hear from SRC Chair, Scott Plyler and SRC member, Dan O'Connor about Section 10, Exchange of Flying. 00:18 Change in Exchange of Flying and Automation 00:35 TTGA Changes 02:18 TTGA Over Non-Flys 03:55 New Open Time Giveaway Rules 05:15 Jetway Trades 06:09 ELITT Changes 08:22 DTC Limitations 08:38 PN…

On this Contract 2020 TA Education episode, we'll hear from SRC members, Scott Plyler, Dan O'Connor, and Megan Nelan about Section 12, Schedule Execution. 01:09 Checkin & Report, Release 01:51 Legalities During Execution 03:49 Execution Timeline Table Discussion 06:28 Crew Contact Rules 08:08 Rest Requirements 09:30 Deadheading Language and Standar…

On this Contract 2020 TA Education episode, we'll hear from SRC Chair, Scott Plyler and SRC Member, Dan O'Connor about Section 11, Voluntary Additional Flying. 00:24 Voluntary Additional Flying Overview 00:44 Contractual Splits 01:32 STC and Open Time 03:27 Open Time Rigs 04:12 Changes to Monthly Open Time 07:16 Review of Pay Multiples 08:53 MOT an…

On this Contract 2020 TA Education episode, we'll hear from SRC members, Scott Plyler, Dan O'Connor, and Meagan Nelan about Section 9, Pilot Schedule Planning. 01:05 Timeline Changes 01:38 Changes in Duty Time 02:40 Schedule Quality Asks and Changes 03:47 Commutability 04:46 Average Pairing Length Discussion 05:30 Red Eye Discussion and Provisions …

Today's SWAPA Number is 20, as in 20 questions, because that's what we're doing today on the show with typical host, Kurt Heidemann, who also happens to be a part of the NC. We've been in negotiations for more than three years, and the SEP process ran for two years before that. With that much time, a lot of our pilots either forgot or weren't here …