Andy

Not only yes, but he!! yes. And HA's west coast flights only go to Hawaii.

2loud

I'll play CEO/inner circle for a day or two.... what the heck, it's kinda fun.
Obviously, Virgin will be operated separately for a couple more years. Same certificate....what exactly does that mean? The Airgroup (Horizon+Virgin+Alaskan) or Alaskan Airways? At this point, it really doesn't matter since we virtually have zero scope.
After the Airbus leases run out, I'd grow Horizon, buy a bunch of E190s, and have Horizon fly them. All Virgin employees will be integrated into Horizon and those who want a shot at Alaskan will get the same preference as the current Horizon employees. Depending on the market demand and growth, the Airgroup can opt to put bigger planes (Alaskan -800, -900, & Max) in these markets and once again promise growth to this pilot group with a big "IF". This is a win-win for the pax, company, and share holders. There will be no mess with dealing with seniority integration at Alaskan and the stability will make Wall Street happy, which in turn will make the company happy.
Pilot integration ASAP or we will be screwed once again, my friends.

BunkerF16

So what if they only go to Hawaii now......the slots/gates/planes can be used to go anywhere......it's about significantly increasing presence in an area at a rapid pace......what they do with the assets once they get them can be different than what they're being used for currently....

Andy

Dude, 2 flights per day out of SFO and 5 out of LAX is a lot different than what VX flies out of those airports.
They fly out of the international terminal in SFO and terminal 2 in LAX. They likely borrow other airlines' gates or use common use gates at every airport on the west coast they operate out of.

Hawaii's strength is their flights to and from Hawaii. And a large percentage of those flights go to destinations other than CONUS.

Mesabah

Yes, since both the carriers are ALPA, regardless of contract, under federal law ALPA merger policy will apply. There is no way in hell both carriers will come to an agreement, meaning arbitration is 100% likely. The number 1 Virgin guy, is likely to be number 2 on the combined list. Welcome to the downside of being ALPA-ALPA, the more senior airline always gets the shaft.

ASpilot0936

Exactly. And when that happens, all these koom by ya rituals will come to an abrupt halt. The pilot groups will be even more divided. All the more reason for the MEC not to dick this up.

Steve400

Wow, I never thought about airgroup putting VX pilots with Horizon. Is this even legally possible? If it is possible, I'm sure thats what they will try to do. Alaska has always told us at Horizon that they don't want a real flow through because they want to control the interviews and exactly who is hired, and they didnt hire anyone at Horizon. If Virgin pilots merge with Alaska list, then they lose control over roughly 600 pilots that they never interviewed.

Mesabah

Merger policy is designed to do one thing, send it to arbitration so ALPA doesn't get a DFR suit. You have no control over the process, neither does the MEC, hell they won't even talk to you about it because of a possible DFR.

The only advice I can give is always get a joint CBA first, best to at least get paid during the battle.

Packrat

There's no way this can happen. The prime directive in the ALPA Merger/Frag policy is that neither pilot group gain any windfalls in seniority. To place a 9 year VX Capt alongside a 30 year AS Capt would be a HUGE windfall gain in seniority. For the same reason, it would be grossly unfair to VX pilots to suggest any form of staple as happened in the SWA/AT debacle.

It's way more likely and reasonable that the VX pilots are placed on the list either with DOH or a ratio with AS pilots hired at the same time. Combine that with a No Bump/No Flush clause that insures NO CURRENT VX or AS Capt loses their seat unless they bid out of it.

There are NO "career expectations" since the best BOTH groups could expect to hold is narrowbody Captain. I would expect this SLI merger to go as smoothly as the DAL/NWA merger where individual pilots neither lost or gained significant relative seniority.

Justdoinmyjob

I do know that I've had to wait on a Hawaiian flight at our gate in LAX before, because they used to borrow our gates at 5. With the move to 3, who knows now?