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March 21, 2023

Last month, SWAPA attended the Women in Aviation (WAI) conference in Long Beach, CA. SWAPA decided it was time to join the likeness of other Pilot unions that have attended these type of job fair conferences for years. The reception was very well received by conference attendees as well as our own Pilots who volunteered to work the Southwest booth as Pilot recruiters and Pilot volunteers. The overall mission of attending was simple: Provide an honest line-Pilot’s experience on pay, benefits, and day-to-day flying at SWA, including the details of our current Contract, our goals in negotiations, and how SWAPA is advocating for our Pilots on a daily basis. 

The SWAPA booth was represented all three days by SWAPAfamily Outreach Chair Captain Jean Peck, MDW Chair Captain Laurin Toriello, SPC DEN FO Gina Martyn, SPC MDW FO Kelly Hanley, MDW FO Morgan Smith, and SWAPA’s Cara Monahan and Amy Robinson. A special thank you to LAX FO Mara’D Smith and LAX Captain Cindy Grant who came and volunteered to support the Union on their days off and talked to conference attendees. SWAPA whole-heartedly supports the hiring of more female Pilots particularly because Southwest has the lowest industry average, sitting at just 4% female versus our peers. However, it became evident how challenging that will continue to be with archaic maternity language stuck in 1984 that leaves much to be desired from young female aviators who have yet to start a family. Our Negotiating Committee has made promising progress toward improved language in this area, but until there is a new contract promoting those benefits, SWAPA is bound by the current language. 

Whether conference attendees were currently in flight school working toward various ratings, military Pilots contemplating their next career move, or even qualified applicants seeking their next job, the value of SWAPA’s presence cannot be overstated. Many applicants had some tough questions about the current state of our contract negotiations and pressed about the possibility of whether or not it would draw to a close anytime soon. 

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Last month, SWAPA attended the Women in Aviation (WAI) conference in Long Beach, CA. SWAPA decided it was time to join the likeness of other Pilot unions that have attended these type of job fair conferences for years. The reception was very well received by conference attendees as well as our own Pilots who volunteered to work the Southwest booth as Pilot recruiters and Pilot volunteers. The overall mission of attending was simple: Provide an honest line-Pilot’s experience on pay, benefits, and day-to-day flying at SWA, including the details of our current Contract, our goals in negotiations, and how SWAPA is advocating for our Pilots on a daily basis. 

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The SWAPA booth was represented all three days by SWAPAfamily Outreach Chair Captain Jean Peck, MDW Chair Captain Laurin Toriello, SPC DEN FO Gina Martyn, SPC MDW FO Kelly Hanley, MDW FO Morgan Smith, and SWAPA’s Cara Monahan and Amy Robinson. A special thank you to LAX FO Mara’D Smith and LAX Captain Cindy Grant who came and volunteered to support the Union on their days off and talked to conference attendees. SWAPA whole-heartedly supports the hiring of more female Pilots particularly because Southwest has the lowest industry average, sitting at just 4% female versus our peers. However, it became evident how challenging that will continue to be with archaic maternity language stuck in 1984 that leaves much to be desired from young female aviators who have yet to start a family. Our Negotiating Committee has made promising progress toward improved language in this area, but until there is a new contract promoting those benefits, SWAPA is bound by the current language. 

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Whether conference attendees were currently in flight school working toward various ratings, military Pilots contemplating their next career move, or even qualified applicants seeking their next job, the value of SWAPA’s presence cannot be overstated. Many applicants had some tough questions about the current state of our contract negotiations and pressed about the possibility of whether or not it would draw to a close anytime soon.