The SWAPA Number

Today's SWAPA Number is $85 million. That's Southwest Airlines' net profit for the fourth quarter of 2021. Even with our operational issues, we managed to get back in the black. 
Today on the show, we're going to talk to two members of our EFA committee, chair, Erich Schnitzler and member Greg Auld, who will put Southwest's financials into perspective for us and update us on some of the recent industry news while they're here. We'll also ask them about the memo from Labor Relations on costing Contract 2020.

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Today’s SWAPA Number is 58,014. That’s the number of times the Company has told SWAPA they would circle back on a SWAPA proposal or request for information or solution. Though maybe a little exaggerated, it’s still a frustratingly high number. Today on the show we’re going to talk to SWAPA President Casey Murray and Vice President Mike Santoro about their frustrations with SWAPA's current relationship with Flight Ops and what they see as the solution moving forward.

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Today’s SWAPA Number is 76.  That’s the number of resolutions passed by your Board of Directors in 2021.  Many of them are for internal business, such as Pilot committee nominations, and do not normally generate much discussion within the Pilot group. However, the final resolution passed at the December Board meeting surprised a few of our Pilots, because it tasked the Negotiating and EFA Committees with studying the feasibility of splitting from any other Southwest Airlines work group for hotels and transportation.  

  So in an effort to discuss how that resolution even came to pass, we want to talk to the SWAPA team who help defend our Pilots against disciplinary action, senior counsel Stella Dulanya and Contract Admin Committee Member Mike Panebianco as well as Chair of SWAPA’s Professional Standards Committee, Jon Ross, to discuss how some of the issues are also impacting his team.  

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Today’s SWAPA Number is $8.7 billion. That’s the amount of money our Pilots have invested in the SWAPA Pilot 401(K). It’s a big chunk of money that our 401K Committee oversees. 
In addition to two SWAPA staff members, the committee consists of three pilots: Chairman Andrew Payne, Brian August, and Jon Athans. Today on the show, we’re going to talk to Andrew and Brian about their work to preserve and grow our Pilots’ retirement savings.

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Today’s SWAPA Number is 3.  That’s the number of new board members joining us today to discuss what they’ve learned so far, what they hope to accomplish in their time on the board, their background, and who encouraged them to run for Rep in the first place.

With us today are new board members elected to serve as vice-chair in their bases.  Mike Piscitelli representing Baltimore, Mark Powers representing Denver, and Kevin Reece representing Phoenix.

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Today’s SWAPA Number is 450.  That’s the number of cases that the Critical Incident Response Team has worked over the last year. With the holiday season approaching, we know that stress levels, both at home, and on the road, tend to increase this time of year.  So  today we are talking to SWAPA Project Lift committee chair Chess Fulton, and chair of the HIMS program, Tom Stanley.

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Today’s SWAPA Number is 67. That’s the number of reciprocal jumpseat agreements with other carriers. Many of our Pilots rely on the jumpseat to commute or just travel non-rev. It’s an important part of their lives for both productivity and QOL. 

Unfortunately, things don’t always go smoothly for our jumpseaters. With changes to our weight and balance systems this summer and the occasional incorrect procedure used by ground ops, our Jumpseat Committee members have plenty of work to keep them busy. 

So today on the show, we’re going to talk to Jumpseat Committee chair Brian Ross and member Helen Cook. They're going to tell us all about the work they do to serve SWAPA and OAL pilots and ensure Southwest Airlines remains a jumpseat friendly carrier. 

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Today’s SWAPA number is 68%. That was October’s On Time Performance, the lowest modern record for the month of October. By comparison, the historical average for October is 83%. It’s clear our operation is struggling.

So today on the show, we’re going to talk to a couple of regular guests- SRC Chair Scott Plyler and SRC Analyst Meagan Nelan.  They’re going to give us SWAPA’s assessment of the Columbus Day weekend meltdown, explain some of the root causes of our operational problems, and give us an idea of what our pilots can expect for the rest of the year.

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Today’s SWAPA Number is 420. That’s the number of days since our CBA became amendable on September 1, 2020. While things have been slow going thanks to the pandemic, we’re about to reach a major milestone this month when SWAPA finishes presenting it’s full Contract 2020 proposal to the Labor Relations team.

By wrapping that up, the focus will shift to the Company’s comprehensive proposal and a start to negotiating in earnest. So today on the show, we’re going to talk to NC Chair Jody Reven and our usual host Kurt Heidemann will be joining him to answer questions.

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The Company's COVID policies are always changing, so today we're bringing you a quick update with the latest from VP Mike Santoro.

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