Seniority

[lexijane]

I've been with Southwest since May 1993. I was in the I.A.M when I was in reservations, and as a Customer Service Agent. When I went into Operations January 1999 I joined T.W.U. Even though I have more years with the company I am not the number 1 agent in my department. That is the way things go. We can either be babies about it and whine about where we fall in seniority, or how fair is it that one person with more years in the Airline Industry has less seniority than another. Or, we can be adults and just deal with it and be happy that we have a job with a company that is actually doing well in this economy. This is only my opinion on this matter. Some of you may have a different opinion. The wonderful thing about living in the United States is that we have the freedom to speak, and not one person is right or wrong. Looking forward to seeing our newest family members join our group, and expanding to the cities that Airtran used to operate under.

 

[citrus jock]

I've been with Southwest since May 1993. I was in the I.A.M when I was in reservations, and as a Customer Service Agent. When I went into Operations January 1999 I joined T.W.U. Even though I have more years with the company I am not the number 1 agent in my department. That is the way things go. We can either be babies about it and whine about where we fall in seniority, or how fair is it that one person with more years in the Airline Industry has less seniority than another. Or, we can be adults and just deal with it and be happy that we have a job with a company that is actually doing well in this economy. This is only my opinion on this matter. Some of you may have a different opinion. The wonderful thing about living in the United States is that we have the freedom to speak, and not one person is right or wrong. Looking forward to seeing our newest family members join our group, and expanding to the cities that Airtran used to operate under.

I don't disagree, and I find your post refreshing. I was flying last week with a guy complaining about having to "start over" whenever there's a furlough, merger, ceasing of operatons, etc. I told him that I can certainly sympathize with him (I've been through several of those myself), but I also said that if he were looking for stability when deciding on a career, he (as was said in a certain Indiana Jones movie) chose poorly. At least in the pilot ranks, you either "hit it just right" or you "hit it just wrong" when it comes to timing of being hired. It seems to work out ok to good for some guys, and completely wrong for others. And that's assuming you work for the same airline for all of your career, which is obviously rare. This guy was whining about how "we should have a national seniority number so we don't have to start over or go backwards (assuming same DOH)". I told him that might be good (haven't really thought about it), but there wasn't a national seniority number system when he got hired, so its not like the rules were changed after he made his career choice. If he didn't know that situations like this (and many others) could happen, he could chalk that up to his own lack of knowledge. I chose this career, partly, because I didn't want the same old 9 to 5 routine. This job is anything but routine. Sometimes thats good, and sometimes it not. I never thought I'd be able to choose just non routine good things only for me. With that attitude, I'm seemingly handling this better than my co-pilot that day. I too look forward to working with all the folks at SW.

 

[num1bearsfan]

I don't disagree, and I find your post refreshing. I was flying last week with a guy complaining about having to "start over" whenever there's a furlough, merger, ceasing of operatons, etc. I told him that I can certainly sympathize with him (I've been through several of those myself), but I also said that if he were looking for stability when deciding on a career, he (as was said in a certain Indiana Jones movie) chose poorly. At least in the pilot ranks, you either "hit it just right" or you "hit it just wrong" when it comes to timing of being hired. It seems to work out ok to good for some guys, and completely wrong for others. And that's assuming you work for the same airline for all of your career, which is obviously rare. This guy was whining about how "we should have a national seniority number so we don't have to start over or go backwards (assuming same DOH)". I told him that might be good (haven't really thought about it), but there wasn't a national seniority number system when he got hired, so its not like the rules were changed after he made his career choice. If he didn't know that situations like this (and many others) could happen, he could chalk that up to his own lack of knowledge. I chose this career, partly, because I didn't want the same old 9 to 5 routine. This job is anything but routine. Sometimes thats good, and sometimes it not. I never thought I'd be able to choose just non routine good things only for me. With that attitude, I'm seemingly handling this better than my co-pilot that day. I too look forward to working with all the folks at SW.

It also sounds like your friend would make a nice communist. A national seniority number is a nice idea assuming all were equal parts, but that's not the case. Some airlines have higher compensation and that's directly affected by it's relative success AGAINST the other airlines. And those airlines have every right to impose higher hiring standards. If you want to open this can of worms then you're talking about completely re-regulating the airline industry. Hey I think China has a booming domestic airline industry, maybe they have a more socialist friendly seniority policy there.