Southwest says pilot ‘resumé washing’ is new hurdle in talent war

Pilots from smaller carriers are applying for jobs at Southwest Airlines only to leave months later to work for bigger rivals, the latest salvo in the U.S. aviation industry’s war for talent. The process, which Southwest COO Andrew Watterson called “resume washing,” is a way for ambitious pilots to sidestep policies he said large US carriers put in place to protect staffing for their associated regional airlines. Pilots normally take jobs at those smaller airlines to build enough flying hours to apply at bigger ones through agreements between the carriers. But some aviators can see their careers stalled if the larger rivals slow or stem that hiring process. Pilots stuck at these airlines have been frustrated to see major carriers reportedly use six-figure bonuses to lure pilots from cargo carriers like United Parcel Service Inc. and FedEx Corp. So they are increasingly looking to be hired at a low-cost carrier like Southwest, then leaving within a year to secure a job at Delta Air Lines or United Airlines. Regional pilots “know that if I get Southwest or another airline on my resume, I can get to where I want to go,” Watterson, the Southwest COO, said in a Dec. 13 interview in New York. “So they use us as a premeditated way station. They come to Southwest, get hired, trained, spend six months and then they flip their resume and apply somewhere else.”<br/>