A little education on SWA
Ok, first off I apologize to anyone who thinks I am talking down to them during this post, but I am tired of reading posts from people who don't know or understand how we operate at SWA. I am not going to address the ongoing investigation, lets wait until the NTSB report is published to learn exactly what happened. there are way too many versions out there right now to say anyone knows what happened that day.
So let me clear up some items:
Taxi speed: Our maximum taxi speed is listed in our FAA approved manuals. Don't like it, too bad. Show me an incident where our taxi speed was involved. As you will see repeatedly in this post, it saves gas. If conditions are acceptable, why should I not taxi faster and save fuel. To those who repeatedly use the number 40 knots, WRONG. Not even close.
Our pay/getting short cuts enroute: We are payed by TFP or Trips for Pay which are established by the planned distance of the flight. If we overfly we do get more based on block time. So whether it takes us the planned 2 hours or a shorter amount of time, we are paid the same. If I can cut 5 to 10 minutes off a flight with a few shortcuts, the pax are happy to arrive early, I may make up some time if I am running late, and best of all I save fuel. Less fuel burned equals less cost to the company which means my profit sharing check is bigger next year. As for picking up extra flying, sure if your flown block time is lower you have that ability if desired, not everyone does, probably less than half. It's a chance to increase their paycheck, if they feel they need to, that's their call. If I have an extra expense in my future, I too try to pick up some extra flying to help pay for that. Rest rules still apply as do the current flight time restrictions, so no problem. This summer I have averaged 65 block hours a month with a high of 75. Not even close to pushing a limit.
Flap selection for approaches is based on conditions. I've used flaps 40 in LAX, yes to help make the reverse high speed, (again, why not, shorter taxi=less fuel burned=less cost etc etc) and I've used flaps 30 going into Midway (gusty winds, flaps 40 approach speed corrected for gusts was right up against the 40 limit speed, 30 flaps had sufficient stopping margin and gave me a bigger buffer against a flap overspeed). Yes we prefer to use 30, but as stated earlier, that's the normal setting on an NG.
Approach speeds: provided to us by the performance computer and we are to be stabilized at that speed by 1000 ft. Our aircraft data is analyzed and if someone is exceeding the stabilized approach criteria, they will receive a call and asked about it. Burbank was before the stabilized approach criteria was established and the Midway incident had other factors that contributed as well.
Go arounds are uncommon, but I have been involved with several. I can tell you that when the criteria warranted it, we have accomplished a go around. This has obviously been a huge subject of conversation during flights recently and you would be surprised how often we actually do go around. Maybe we should be doing even more of them, but to see people making blanket statements about us NEVER going around is just flat out wrong.
Finally, like all other companies we have our share of "difficult personalities" but we are not cowboys pushing the limits every time we get on the aircraft. We have had a few incidents thru the years and I'm sure have narrowly avoided others. We are professionals who came to SWA thru the same channels that have brought each of you to where you are today or where you will end up in the future.