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 us at all, please drop us a line at [email protected] or tap here to send us a text. Follow us online: Twitter - https://twitter.com/swapapilots Facebook...
Feb 23, 2024•8 min•Season 1Ep. 2
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 world. If you have any feedback for us at all, please drop us a line at [email protected] or tap here to send us a text. Follow us online: Twitter ...
Feb 15, 2024•10 min•Season 1Ep. 1
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 should expect going forward. If you have any feedback for us at all, please drop us a line at [email protected] or tap here to send us a t...
Feb 12, 2024•24 min•Season 5Ep. 2
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 SWAPA and its members in a post contract 2024. If you have any feedback for us at all, please drop us a line at [email protected] or...
Jan 29, 2024•32 min•Season 5Ep. 1
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 changing and what we've seen from Q&A on the Contract 2020 Resource Center, we have on today's show, NC member and benefits ex...
Jan 15, 2024•27 min•Season 4Ep. 17
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 implementation plan, and what happens if the Company doesn't meet them. If you have any feedback for us at all, please drop us a line at comm@s...
Jan 01, 2024•49 min•Season 4Ep. 16
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 Contract 2020, where we started and where we ended up. If you have any feedback for us at all, please drop us a line at comm...
Dec 20, 2023•31 min•Season 4Ep. 15
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 Benefit Discussion 11:03 PDEW Buckets 12:28 Re-Opener Language 13:33 Alternate Training Location Provisions 14:35 Management Rights For more informa...
Dec 20, 2023•16 min
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 First Year Pay 07:28 Line Guarantees 07:53 Rigs 09:10 Pay Multiples 10:15 Overrides 11:10 Leg Change Override 11:57 Ground Time Override (GTO) 12:...
Dec 20, 2023•25 min
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 Expenses 08:08 Non-Routine FAA Exams 09:14 Head Set Reimbursement 09:47 Moving Expenses 11:15 Involuntary Displacements 11:55 Moving Weight Limits 1...
Dec 20, 2023•14 min
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 Incapacity Language 12:39 Income Disability 14:14 Elimination Period Changes 16:40 Mental Health and Substance Abuse 18:12 Social Security Offset Re...
Dec 20, 2023•39 min
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 07:59 Non-Qual Plans Today and Moving Forward 08:58 IRS and PLR Timeline 11:22 PLR Protections 14:11 Contingency Planning 14:59 Account Structure a...
Dec 20, 2023•30 min
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, and Access 19:01 Joint Budgets 20:29 Infectious Diseases, CC Pay 21:41 Benefits Entitlement 22:38 Aircraft Equipment 24:18 Pilot Information 25:17 ...
Dec 19, 2023•29 min
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 05:57 Line Construction 07:03 Collaboration with the Company on Schedule Planning 09:14 All Things Co-Terminals 13:43 Overlap Correction 14:...
Dec 19, 2023•22 min
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 and OTP Working Together 09:46 ELITT and DOT Changes 11:28 Open Time Alerts 12:01 Reserve Integration 12:41 Hourly Open Time 13:05 Short Notic...
Dec 19, 2023•19 min
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 Standards 12:45 IROPS Discussion 13:37 Commuter Rules 15:28 Company Scheduled Ground Transportation 16:58 Removal From Flying (Fatigue and Sick...
Dec 19, 2023•39 min
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 PNZ 10:15 Co-Terminal ELITT 11:43 Direct Drop and Pickup Details 13:20 Reserve ELITT 14:13 ELITT DTC For more information, visit the Contract ...
Dec 19, 2023•15 min
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 End of A Trip 12:17 Deadhead Release 12:46 Short Notice Call Outs 15:59 Split to Cover Language 17:41 Inbound Reserve Language 18:57 Voluntar...
Dec 19, 2023•31 min
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 Floating Vacation 08:33 New Vacation Bidding Process 10:50 Vacation Bidding Interface 11:27 Vacation Accrual 12:45 Vacation Days Adjustment Abi...
Dec 19, 2023•17 min
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 06:45 Short Training Events 07:30 Sim Device/Training Contingencies 07:56 Holiday Training 08:17 Training Travel 09:07 Training Bids, Timelines, and ...
Dec 19, 2023•23 min
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 Transportation Requirements 15:00 Accommodation Selection and Ongoing Review Process 16:48 CAB Data Sharing 17:37 Operational Support and Self-So...
Dec 19, 2023•24 min
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 Accrual Protection 06:15 Automated Sick Calls and Online Sick Calls 07:17 Medical Leave 07:50 Personal Leave 08:15 Moving Leave 09:22 Legal Duty Leav...
Dec 19, 2023•18 min
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 Manual and Voluntary Duties 09:30 Compensable Claims and CC Pull 11:03 Death Benefits For more information, visit the Contract 2020 TA Education Re...
Dec 19, 2023•13 min
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 03:31 Downgrade Language 03:54 Seat Locks 04:14 Safety and Data Collection 05:43 Recording Device Language 06:23 Incident Handling Language 07:46...
Dec 19, 2023•24 min
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 TGDOs 05:33 Changes to Schedule and Pay Protections 06:52 Compensation & Additional Qualifications 08:00 All things Line Checks 11:56 Comp Bank For mo...
Dec 19, 2023•16 min
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 to know the why's behind some of our asks and how the NC conducts our negotiations. So today, we spent some time talking...
Nov 27, 2023•35 min•Season 4Ep. 14
Today's SWAPA Number is 11/30. That's the date the federal mediators assigned to our negotiation have indicated that they expect Southwest and SWAPA will have a deal. So on today's show, we'll speak with SWAPA President, Casey Murray and Negotiating Committee Chair, Jody Reven. about what that date could mean and what our members can expect as that date arrives. If you have any feedback for us at all, please drop us a line at [email protected] or tap here to send us a text. Foll...
Nov 13, 2023•31 min•Season 4Ep. 13
Today's SWAPA Number is $70,000. That's roughly what SWAPA spends on an arbitration when we and the Company can't settle a grievance before it gets that far. Arbitrations are a required part of the RLA process that we operate in as professional pilots. Today, we're going to talk with Contract Admin chair, Seth Kornblum about some of the work that he and his committee do to defend our CBA from violations, and our pilots from potential discipline. If you have any feedback for u...
Oct 30, 2023•35 min•Season 4Ep. 12
Amy Robinson: Today's SWAPA Number is four, as in stage four cancer. Imagine if you were given that diagnosis by your doctor on today's show, myself and Tony Caparella from the Benefits team ended up talking with SWAPA pilot Todd Hermling about what he felt when he heard those words from his doctor as well as what he's experienced while he's been out on disability. We also talked about how he dealt not only with his diagnosis, but what advice he has for other pilots who may b...
Oct 16, 2023•26 min•Season 4Ep. 11
Today's SWAPA Number is $37.5 million. That's the total expenses in the 2024 budget, which will be voted on by the membership this month in the fall general election. Today, we're going to talk to SWAPA's Second Vice President Tom Nekouei, Executive Operating Committee member Hank Ketchum, and Director of Finance Brian Hickman about the next year's budget and what changes might be included and how the money is being spent. If you have any feedback for us at all, please d...
Oct 02, 2023•27 min•Season 4Ep. 10
