The SWAPA Number

161 (JA Panel, Scott Plyler, Meagan Nelan, Seth Kornblum, Scott Hutchinson)

Today’s SWAPA Number is 161. That's the average number of pilots per day, that were JA’d to work on a day off in the month of August, so far. We've seen JA records shattered this year. The most open time JA’s, the most unscheduled overnights, or what we call RON JA’s, the highest fatigue rates, the highest sustained reassignment rates and the most food and hotel availability problems ever recorded.So on today's show, we're going to talk with several SWAPA SMEs, including SRC chair, Scott Plyler, Meagan Nelan, SRC analyst, Contract Admin Chairman, Seth Kornblum, and our fatigue specialist, Scott Hutchinson. They will put some numbers to what our crews are seeing out on the line, talk about some contractual tools our pilots have at their disposal, and tell us about some issues our members have been facing this summer.If you have any feedback for us at all, please drop us a line at comm@swapa.org or tap here to send us a text.Follow us online:Twitter - https://twitter.com/swapapilotsFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/swapa737

40 (Communications Team)

Today’s SWAPA number is 40 That’s about the average number of comm pieces SWAPA distributes to our members, the media, and other outside audiences on a monthly basis.SWAPA SMEs produce a huge amount of information and it’s our Communications Team’s job to turn it from a rough draft into a polished product, usually with very short deadlines.On our 50th episode a while back, Kurt Heidemann and Amy Robinson talked about their role in Comm. Today on the show, we’re going to talk with the rest of the members of the Comm Team about their SWAPA Comm products and how they work to keep our Pilot group educated and unified.If you have any feedback for us at all, please drop us a line at comm@swapa.org or tap here to send us a text.Follow us online:Twitter - https://twitter.com/swapapilotsFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/swapa737

23.7% (Seth Kornblum and Lexi Taylor, Training)

Today’s SWAPA number is 23.7%. That’s the number of Pilots who got their preferred training week in 2018, our baseline year for Contract 2020. You don’t need a math degree to realize that it’s worse than if the schedule were picked randomly out of a hat. Lack of adherence to training preferences are just one problem we hear about from our pilots every month.When I’m talking to guys outside of SWAPA, they are generally surprised by how much of SWAPA’s time and resources are spent handling training issues. While each of us go usually go to training once a year, as a whole, our group is exposed to thousands of CQT events combined. Add to that ETOPS training and ExTO requals and training has had an oversized impact on our Contract Admin Committee for a while now.Even Labor Relations is on record saying the training section of our current CBA needs to be redone. It was written for training we no longer even do with the transition to AQP. This week, the NC will present our Section 10 language to the Company which will cover training and upgrade procedures so we’re going to talk to CAC Chair Seth Kornblum and Tier 1 Coordinator Lexi Taylor who worked in Training Scheduling, before joining SWAPA in 2015. They will help us understand the problems we need to address and exactly how we’re going to do that in C2020.If you have any feedback for us at all, please drop us a line at comm@swapa.org or tap here to send us a text.Follow us online:Twitter - https://twitter.com/swapapilotsFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/swapa737

4 (Scott Plyler, Meagan Nelan, SRC)

Today’s SWAPA Number is 4. That’s the number of sections of Contract 2020 that SWAPA has dedicated to scheduling and work rules. That tells you how important scheduling is to our pilots because it directly impacts our productivity, pay, and quality of life. Since Section 6 negotiations resumed in the spring, SWAPA has painstakingly walked through our scheduling proposals line by line with Labor Relations. With those sections completed in June, we thought we’d bring back frequent guest Scott and Meagan to review with us the many improvements SWAPA is seeking in Contract 2020.If you have any feedback for us at all, please drop us a line at comm@swapa.org or tap here to send us a text.Follow us online:Twitter - https://twitter.com/swapapilotsFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/swapa737

50 (Kurt Heidemann and Amy Robinson, Communications)

Today’s SWAPA number is 50. That’s the amount of SWAPA Number podcasts we’ve produced for our pilots since we started in August of 2019. We’ve gotten a lot of great feedback about them because they let us talk directly with our SMEs about subjects in an easy-to-follow format. So today on the show we’re going to celebrate that milestone by turning our mics around and interviewing our long-time hosts Kurt and Amy so they can give a look into the inner workings of SWAPA Communications.If you have any feedback for us at all, please drop us a line at comm@swapa.org or tap here to send us a text.Follow us online:Twitter - https://twitter.com/swapapilotsFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/swapa737

68.8 (Gary Niemann and Matthew Cain, Safety)

Today's SWAPA Number is 68.8. That's the number of ASAP reports filed by Southwest pilots per 10,000 flights in 2019. In this episode, we're going to talk with SWAPA Safety chair, Gary Niemann, and vice-chair Matthew Cain about the programs their committee oversees and the work they're doing to mitigate risk. They're also going to give you some advice on what to do if ATC ever gives you a number to call.If you have any feedback for us at all, please drop us a line at comm@swapa.org or tap here to send us a text.Follow us online:Twitter - https://twitter.com/swapapilotsFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/swapa737

2013 (Hank Ketchum, Internal Audit Committee)

Today’s SWAPA number is 2013. That was the last year SWAPA’s Internal Audit Committee made a formal report to our board of directors. As a member-driven organization, SWAPA owes it to our pilots to make sure that our policies and as well as compliance with those policies is beyond reproach. Casey Murray ran for office with transparency and fiduciary responsibility as two of his key tenets. With those in mind the board recently passed a resolution to fund the Internal Audit Committee for 2021 and appoint former NC member Hank Ketchum as Chair. Today on the show, we’re going to talk to Hank about the goals of the IAC, what the membership needs to know about the process, and what that means for SWAPA today and in the future.If you have any feedback for us at all, please drop us a line at comm@swapa.org or tap here to send us a text.Follow us online:Twitter - https://twitter.com/swapapilotsFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/swapa737

24 million (Erich Schnitzler, SWA Financials)

Today’s SWAPA number is 24 million. That’s the amount of money SWA will contribute to employee PS for Q1. It’s one of the first signs we’re recovering from the worst of the pandemic. With Q1 earnings last month and the annual shareholder meeting this month, we thought it would be a good time to talk to EFA Chair Erich Schnitzler about recent financials, what’s going on in the industry, and to give us some idea of what Wall Street analysts think about our future prospects and the strategic value those relationships provide to SWAPA.If you have any feedback for us at all, please drop us a line at comm@swapa.org or tap here to send us a text.Follow us online:Twitter - https://twitter.com/swapapilotsFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/swapa737

815 (Casey Casteel and Jason Brooks, New Website)

Today’s SWAPA number is 815. That’s the number of hits our current website gets on a daily basis. While that may seem like a lot, in reality that’s far fewer than what we’d like to see. In an effort to give the membership a better experience and provide some more searchability, SWAPA has been working for many months on a redesign of the site. So on today’s episode we are going to talk to two staff members who have been working on the site’s design and functionality: Solutions Architect Jason Brooks and Communications Specialist Casey Casteel. While it is important to mention that they have had a host of other people supporting them, they have really been the front line people on this project.If you have any feedback for us at all, please drop us a line at comm@swapa.org or tap here to send us a text.Follow us online:Twitter - https://twitter.com/swapapilotsFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/swapa737

112 (Casey Murray, 2021 update)

Today’s SWAPA number is 112. That’s the number of days our SWAPA President Casey Murray has held office. In that brief period, our Association has had to handle WARN Notices, the pandemic and vaccines, the MAX return to service, early ExTO recalls, and the return to Contract 2020 negotiations.To say it’s been a busy time would an understatement. So today on the show, we’re going to talk to Case about his first three months on the job and find out from him what his plans are for SWAPA for the rest of 2021.If you have any feedback for us at all, please drop us a line at comm@swapa.org or tap here to send us a text.Follow us online:Twitter - https://twitter.com/swapapilotsFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/swapa737