The SWAPA Number

Today’s SWAPA number is $191,745. That’s the annual amount Southwest Airlines will pay to a 12-year Captain for up to 5 years who takes VSP. It’s a substantial amount of money, but it requires walking away from your profession at the top of your career, however, for many members it’s a decision worth considering. Today on the show, we’re going to talk to NC Member Damian Jennette about some of the questions SWAPA has gotten about VSP and hopefully clear up some of the common misconceptions circulating out there right now. 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

Today's SWAPA Number is 300%. That's the increase in calls Project Lift to seen since the start of the recent pandemic. We all know that everyone's under enormous amount of stress these days, so it's no surprise their call volume has spiked. Today on the show, we're going to talk to SWAPA Special Services chair Chess Fulton about the type of calls that Project Lift handles, what pilots can call them for and what to expect when the pilot reaches out.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

Today’s SWAPA number is 4346. That’s the number of fatigue calls that have been made since Southwest started keeping track in 2011. If your run the math, more than 1 in 3 of all SWA pilots have personal experience with making a fatigue call. On the show today, we’re going to talk to SWAPA Safety Committee member Scott H and SRC Committee Member Fred Deakins about those fatigue calls, the joint Fatigue Safety Advisory Group, and the value our fatigue policy provides to our pilots and the Company.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

Today’s SWAPA Number is 3. That’s the number of candidates we have running in the SWAPA 2nd VP Special Election. The candidate elected for this position will serve for the remainder of the 2020 term that will be vacated in June. The 2nd VP serves a vital role within SWAPA and we are lucky in that we have three candidates for the position this go-round. We sat down with Tom Bake, Tom Gasparolo, and Tom Nekouei, or “the three Toms” as we like to call them to discuss why they decided to run and the issues they want to bring to the forefront for the membership.  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

Today’s SWAPA Number is 98,000. That’s the number of total passengers that flew in the U.S. on April 22. And for comparison, Southwest has about 62,000 employees. Today on the show, we’re going to talk with EFA Committee member Greg Auld who will tell us about this week’s earnings announcement, the impact of the coronavirus on the industry, and what the CARES Act means for us and our airline. 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

Today’s SWAPA Number is 35%. That’s the current amount of flying in the May schedule compared to what was originally planned. We don’t need to belabor the point of what’s happening to our industry and our airline is unprecedented. I think that’s pretty clear to all of us. Today on the show, we’re going to talk with SRC Chair Scott Plyler and staff member Meagan Nelan who will help us with a postmortem of the March and April schedules, the impact of the May bidding timeline MOU, and what we can expect in May and beyond. 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

Today’s SWAPA Number is 19. Today on the show, we’re going to talk to SWAPA VP Michael Santoro about the impact COVID-19 is having on our Pilots and our Company.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

Today’s SWAPA number is 415. That’s the number of calls the ProStandards Committee fields on a yearly basis. On the show today, we’re going to talk to SWAPA ProStandards Chair Rick Grindstaff about what types of calls Prostandards handles, how often they are talking to pilots, and what their success rate actually is. 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

Today’s SWAPA number is 3/13. That’s the date our 2019 Profit Sharing will be funded. This year it will be equal to 12.2% of qualified earnings. On the show today, we’re going to talk to SWAPA’s Director of Retirement Mike Haynes along with NC member Damian Jennette about all things Profit Sharing, including some of SWAPA’s goals for 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

Today’s SWAPA number is 2 million. That’s the number data points Contract 2020 preparations produced. Over a period of three years, we received more than 200 blank sheet questions, and over 600 follow up polling questions that resulted in 17 Negotiating Points and other educational materials on topics SWAPA Pilots indicated are important to them. With thousands of pilots participating in each one, our NC can be confident that they have the pulse of the membership when they sit down to negotiate with the Company. On the show today, we’re going to talk to two of our negotiators, Casey Murray and Jody Reven, who will tell us more about all of the work they’ve done so far and tell us about what they think about the negotiations that will start this week. 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