The SWAPA Number

Today's SWAPA Number is 21.6. That is the growth percentage in Southwest's revenue per available seat mile or RASM in the third quarter, an all-time record. So what does that number mean to us? Does it have a downstream effect on the line flying we do? To answer those questions and more, we're sitting down with our economic and financial analysis committee to go over the recent thir...

Today's SWAPA number is 60, as in 60 million in net assets. SWAPA has spent the last three years focused on building a strong financial position as we prepare for the next negotiating cycle, which begins in just nine months. So today we are sitting down with SWAPA Second Vice President, Hank Ketchum, Internal Audit Committee chair, Andy Rose, and our Finance and Pilot Benefits Director, Nia W...

Welcome back to the Contract 2029 Survey, Educate and Poll series. In today's podcast, Glenn Wickline and I chat about the second week of scheduling topics with Scheduling and Analytics Committee member Steven Anders and Negotiating Committee member Jacob Thomas. 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: Tw...

Welcome back to the Contract 2029 SEP series. Today's podcast covers some frequently asked questions about Schedule Planning and Execution. For a deep dive into these topics, please read the articles available on the website under the Contract 2029 tab or in the app under the Negotiating Point. Let's get started. If you have any feedback for us at all, please drop us a line at comm@swapa...

Welcome back to the Contract 2029 SEP series. In today's Survey, Educate and Poll podcast, we sat down with Eric Gavin and Steven Anders from the Scheduling and Analytics Committee to discuss what responses came in during the blank sheet surveys on schedule planning and exchange. Let's dig in. If you have any feedback for us at all, please drop us a line at comm@swapa.org or tap here to...

Today's SWAPA Number is 3, as in our three executive officers giving us a brief on the third board meeting of the year. You received an email from the board of directors this past Friday that hit the high points, but three days of business are tough to capture in a quick email. So here's President Jody Reven, Vice President Kevin Hornburg, and second Vice President Hank Ketchum, to go ov...

Today's SWAPA Number is 365. That's the number of days of the year that you're probably thinking about your schedule. Whether that's for a minute or several hours, it's always on our minds. Contract 2020 was designed to operate with all of the new scheduling additions in place and working in concert. Two and a half years after ratification, implementation is almost complet...

Welcome back to the Contract 2029 Survey, Educate and Poll series. I'm Tony Mulhare with SWAPA Communications, and today I'm joined by negotiating committee chair Kurt Heidemann, as well as committee member Jacob Thomas. Today's discussion will focus on retirement and expenses, and we'll hit the highlights of the vast amount of information that we've made available on the...

In this episode of the Contract 2029 Survey, Educate, and Poll Series, host Tony Mulhare is joined by Tony Caparella, Debi Shields, Damian Jennette, and retiring SWAPA IT Director Will Young. The discussion focuses on retirement and benefits planning, with Will sharing firsthand lessons and challenges he encountered while preparing for retirement. His experience provides practical insight for pilo...

Welcome back to the Contract 2029 Survey Education and Poll Series. Today we are relaunching the Contract 2020 TA Education podcast on Section 3: Expenses, which was originally recorded in December 2023.   Most of that conversation between NC Chair Kurt Heideman and President Jody Reven, who was the NC Chair at the time, is still true.   Hopefully this will provide a thorough look at what our expe...

Today's SWAPA Number is 3, as in the 3 step technique that Professional Standards recommends using for conflict resolution out on the line. Listen in to find out what that technique is and how to use it. 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/swapapilots Facebook - https://w...

Today's SWAPA Number is 10. That's the number of subject matter experts and executives that were on the town hall that took place on July 28th. So for this episode, we are providing you an opportunity to hear that town hall in case you missed the live event, during which we posed questions ranging from SWAPA's relationship with the company to where we are with implementation to the...

Welcome back to The Contract 2029 Survey Education Poll series. I'm your Communications Committee Chair, Matt McCants. My guests today are Kurt Heidemann, your negotiating committee chair. And Resident Benefits Subject Matter Expert and NC Member, Damian Jennette. We are going over the recently surveyed topics of sick leave and a sick bank buyback program. If you have any feedback for us at a...

Welcome back to the Contract 2029, Survey, Educate and Poll Series. I'm Tony Mulhare with SWAPA Comm. And today, I'm sitting down with Tony Caparella, Brent Wiesner, and Damian Jeanette to talk the benefits portion of the contract. Damian is on our 401(k) committee now, but was on the negotiating committee last cycle, specializing in the benefits plan. Tony and Brent are our benefits com...

Today's SWAPA Number is 83,503. That's the number of queries fielded by Contract AI in its first nine months. So today we're joined by IT Chair Will Young, Committee Member Thomas Lowrey, and IT director at Leigh Sperberg to discuss where we are and where we're going with SWAPA IT. If you have any feedback for us at all, please drop us a line at comm@swapa.org or tap here to se...

Today's SWAPA Number is 13. That's the number of pilots on the SWAPA safety committee covering multiple departments. They all look at different parts of the safety world, but together, they refine exactly how we keep safety our number one priority. So, today, we're joined by Safety Committee Chairman Ken Schwantner and Safety Committee Member Gary Niemann to discuss all the flight s...

Join host Amy Robinson, Matt McCants, and guest Amanda Burford, SWAPA’s Hotels Liaison, for a discussion on crew accommodations as part of the Contract 2029 Education Series. This episode covers key insights into hotel policies, processes, and the role of the Crew Accommodations Board in supporting pilots on the road. For more information, visit the Crew Hotels and Resources Site . This site gives...

Today's SWAPA Number is 4.6 as in 4.6%. That was Southwest Airlines operating margin in the first quarter of 2026. That's the best first quarter margin that the company has produced since before the pandemic. So today, we'll take a look at the company's financial performance, how its revenue initiatives have played out and where we go from here. Joining us today are SWAPA Secon...

Welcome back to the Contract 2029 SEP Education Series. This episode builds on recent scheduling education tied to a potential new fleet, focusing on key points due to time limits. Members from SWAPA, APA, and Delta ALPA discuss long‑haul widebody scheduling concepts as a due‑diligence exercise—not a forecast—to help pilots understand how widebody operations differ if future fleet changes occur. I...

Welcome back to the Contract 2029 Education Series as we continue our focus on scope. The first four lessons reviewed Section 1 basics, current airline partnerships, differences between Southwest and other airline scope, and common FAQs. Those resources set the foundation for today’s discussion with negotiating chair Kurt Heidemann and EFA chairs Erich Schnitzler and Greg Auld on new fleet types a...

Communications Committee Pilots Matt McCants and Tony Mulhare go over the 26 Frequently Asked Questions from the first 3 weeks of education on Section 1. From important definitions to differences in our competitors' scope language, this is a great summary that leads into our discussion of new fleet possibilities next week. If you have any feedback for us at all, please drop us a line at comm@...

Today's SWAPA Number is 1.1. That's the percentage of pay that Southwest will distribute in profit sharing from 2025. So today we're sitting down with retirement guru and negotiating subject matter expert, Damian Jennette, about profit sharing, the market-based cash balance plan, and updates to our retirement accounts in 2026. If you have any feedback for us at all, please drop us a...

Welcome to your Contract 2029 SEP Education series. In this first episode, Negotiating Committee Chair Kurt Heidemann will go over all areas of Section one for our Pilots. 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/swapapilots Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/swapa737

Today's SWAPA Number is 7/1/27, as in July 1st, 2027. That is when SWAPA has the right to early open negotiations for the next collective bargaining agreement. That may seem like a long way off, but in order to be ready for that moment, the membership must form the outline of what we are trying to achieve, and we do that through a process called Survey, Educate, and Poll. Joining us today to...

Today's SWAPA Number is two because today we're sitting down and telling the stories of two pilots in our ranks that are some of the most powerful we've had the honor of sharing on this show. Midway First Officer Emanuel Prince grew up on Chicago's west side in a two-bedroom apartment with his eight siblings. While most of his friends were trying to be like Mike, Prince had his...