coolyokeluke

Southwest currently has 713 planes and they want to have 10k in 3 years. Hiring about 760 pilots this year and 1000 next year.

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ForeverJunior

EXCELLENT!

If I was 10+ years younger & had less than 2 years invested with ALK, I'd be outta here too.

AltoCumulus

I would say that it's a bit more senior to that probably around the 4 year mark if you are talking about going to delta or AA. Both of whom are facing a flood of retirements. You would catch up in pay by your 2nd year NB pay and your movement up the seniority list will be much much quicker. At either you are looking at being at the 50ish percent mark 10 years from now. As far as not wanting/caring to fly wide-bodies...it's not just about that, it's the fact that other people senior to you want to fly wide-bodies and therefore your climb up the base-position list will be much faster.

Put another way, your movement at Alaska is like being on the 777 at United...only worse.

ForeverJunior

So, I just heard that 10 ALK FOs just got hired by Delta.

RJs2majors

Long time lurker here and my first post, so here it goes.
I heard the same rumor and I'm a bit torn myself. I like the people that I fly with here at Alaska and enjoy layovers like Hawaii and Mexico but I can't see myself spending the rest of my career here. I've never thought I'd say this since I've always aspired to work for Alaska all my life. Man, how things change! I'm in my mid 30s and it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense to stay, especially having lived under this management and schedule. I'm not here to bash the company in any way but only to express my frustrations. After speaking with my friends and coworkers, I can't think of a single reason to stay. The beauty of working here was that I can live in the PNW and fly for a solid airline. The truth of the matter is that other airlines such as DAL offer the same QOL with much better pay and overall package. I can neither confirm nor deny my status here on a public forum but I will be bailing for greener pastures when the call comes. Good luck to all.

ForeverJunior

Good luck, RJ.

I don't blame you a bit for wanting to leave.

Angle Lake will never change. Same old shenanigans...

RJs2majors

Thanks FJ. The decision wasn't an easy one since I like working here. It is, or rather, was my dream airline. It's like marrying a supermodel only to find out that she's a bipolar psycho biahtch who doesn't put out and won't keep her vows. I know other airlines are far from perfect but at least they pay industry wages and offer opportunities for advancement. I've worked for some fly-by-night management but the Angle Lake sets a whole new low in my opinion. For such a successful award winning company making record profits, they sure seem to do a good job of lowering the bar to where no airline management has gone before. Also, what's up with Crew Access? It's like going from cell phones to wall mounted dial phones. Anyways, I'm convinced that money and advancement options can buy my QOL.

ForeverJunior

They will never do the right thing here. They are about PR & management types pat each other on the back.

Meanwhile, they look down at the employees with contempt. It's not just the pilots either.

They try to get by with blowing smoke up our a$$. "You are the best." etc.

Angle Lake is all about being super cheap. They will never change their ways, because they are just a bunch of penny-pinching management types. Leadership is lacking.

They have a tendency to let things get really bad before wak

ForeverJunior

They will never do the right thing here. They are about PR & management types pat each other on the back.

Meanwhile, they look down at the employees with contempt. It's not just the pilots either.

They try to get by with blowing smoke up our a$$. "You are the best." etc.

Angle Lake is all about being super cheap. They will never change their ways, because they are just a bunch of penny-pinching management types. Leadership is lacking.

They have a tendency to let things get really bad before waking up and trying to fix it. Unfortunately, it's going to take 20-30 more FOs leaving before doing anything about the contract.

BTW, this is the same airline that fired the SEA rampers AND Kasherized the pilots at the same time... right before the summer travel season.

Too bad for them, this is not 2005. Big bad Delta is parked firmly in the Seattle backyard. You can't afford to slip up now. Of course, Anglers think that once again they can fight off another threat.

Anyway, I'm rambling nonsensically.

Yes, CrewAccess blows. I'm sure it was super cheap because we were the launch customer.

Justin Case

Hard to believe its been 10 years since I was posting similar comments/problems. While sometimes genuine and sometimes cynical, it seems not much has changed in the comments/problems. I look at the other air line threads and we all have complaints. But as of late, CrewAccess and the lack of profit-sharing has opened lots of new employees eyes. I wish I had the guts to leave back when I was looking. Undoubtedly it would have provided a better quality of life for my family. Everyone must do what is best for them, but if either of my 2 boys become pilots I would sure try to motivate them to look somewhere else first.