The SWAPA Number

Hosted by SWAPA

Business Education Leisure

Website RSS feed

Episodes

274

Latest episode

Nov 2026

Language

EN-US

About the show

In each podcast we explore a number that will help us explain an issue that matters to our Pilots. This might be a scheduling metric, a Company financial number that impacts us, or anything else that has significance to us as SWAPA Pilots.

Listen to episodes

60 recent

November 2, 202639 min

21.6 (EFA, Erich Schnitzler, Greg Auld, Jeff Coover, Justin Brown)

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 third quarter earnings call. I'm joined by Southwest Airlines Pilots Association and committee members Greg Auld, Jeff Coover, and Justin Brown. This isn't just a discussion about Q3 2026, it's about what it could mean for negotiations in 2027. 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

October 12, 202631 min

60 (Budget, Hank Ketchum, Andy Rose, Nia Williams)

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 Williams, to get an update on how we'll finish the 2026 budget and then look ahead to the 2027 budget, which the pilot group will vote on this fall. Fiscal Year 2027 Proposed Budget 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

October 7, 202629 min

Schedule Planning and Exchange Education | Contract 2029 SEP Education

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: Twitter - https://twitter.com/swapapilots Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/swapa737

October 5, 202620 min

Schedule Planning Q&A | Contract 2029 SEP Education

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.org or tap here to send us a text. Follow us online: Twitter - https://twitter.com/swapapilots Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/swapa737

September 28, 202654 min

Schedule Planning and Exchange | Contract 2029 SEP Education

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 send us a text. Follow us online: Twitter - https://twitter.com/swapapilots Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/swapa737

September 21, 202640 min

3 (SWAPA Execs, Jody Reven, Kevin Hornburg, Hank Ketchum)

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 over all the agenda items that were covered during the September board meetings. 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

August 31, 20261 hr 5 min

365 (SAC, Scott Plyler, Eric Gavin, Meagan Nelan)

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 complete. This show is also timely because we also have back-to-back SEP cycles for scheduling on our doorstep. So today I'm sitting down with scheduling and analytics chair, Eric Gavin, former SAC chair, Scott Plyler, and SAC manager, Meagan Nelan, to talk about all the scheduling tools and features on the table so that you can maximize your quality of life and pay. SHOW NOTE LINKS: The SWAPA Ride Report: Q3 Implementation Preview, Vacation Shift How-To-Guide, & Contract Q&A Vacation Shifting | Probie to Pro 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

August 24, 202635 min

Retirement and Expenses | Contract 2029 SEP Education

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 website. So please get over to the Contract 2029 page on swapa.org or the negotiating point on the SWAPA app for the deep dive 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

August 17, 202628 min

Retirement | Contract 2029 SEP Education

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 pilots and employees navigating their own retirement decisions 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

August 4, 202616 min

Expenses | Contract 2029 SEP Education

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 expenses language says today, some background and context on how we arrived at this language, and how it compares to the rest of the industry. 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