Alaska

[hyeflyin]

Looking for some info from any Alaska pilots. Just got a short notice call for a interview for next week in L.A. Does anyone have any info what the interview entails. I thought that all interviews were done at Seattle? Also can anyone provide some insight on the LAX base. How long before you can hold a line, reserve call-out time, lenght of trips, and overall quality of life. Furthermore, are you guys going to gain ground on pay? Living in L.A., pay is the main concern. In addition, I am a little worried about not being prepared in such a short amount of time. I am also trying to weight out my options, since I got a Southwest interview next month. I know its alot of questions, but I would appreciate any help. Thanks!

 

[livethedream]

good luck
when did you apply? I heard 7 months with inside help

if you have two, go with the money, long term money and QOL

 

[Timber]

I'm in the same boat as HYEFLYIN.
In addition to his questions..... What's the upgrade time look like? Would it be bad to try and push the interview back to get better prepared? Any advice you Alaska guys could offer sure would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[starshipdrvr]

Hyeflyin,

In answer to your questions:

1. LAX--How long to hold a line?
Who knows for sure, right now, there are pilots with a year seniority on reserve. Last year, there were pilots with 3 months seniority holding lines. My guess is that it is slowing down in LAX as most new hires appear to be heading up to Seattle or Anchorage.

2. Reserve Call-out time:
Plan on it being two hours. Currently, lines are built with a mix of 2 hour and 4 hour call out times however, the company has the right to convert the call-out times to 2 hour call-outs and do so on a daily basis. Having spent over a year on reserve, I can count on one hand the number of times I have sat a 4-hour call out.

3. Length of trips:
The usual, a mix of 2-day, 3-day, and 4-days intermixed with turns. As a junior lineholder, plan on flying mostly all-nighters. You've gotta love those Mexico City and Guadalajara layovers. . .

4. Quality of Life:
Not very good--to be brutally honest. Plan on spending lots of time on reserve, lots of time away from home, and lots of all-nighters. At least 8-9 years as an FO to hold 15 days off a month.

5. Pay:
Plan on about $35,000 first year, $56,000 second year and it goes up from there. Credit times are a minimum of 75 per month and a maximum of 85. On reserve, credit is 76 hours up to a maximum of 90 (pretty rare as an FO). On reserve, you're not allowed to fly on your days off to pick up extra time.

6. Southwest vs. Alaska:
Go to Southwest, even if it means staying at SkyWest for another year or two, you'll make more over the next two years at SkyWest (I'm assuming SkyWest here--Emb 120/cl-65) than you would at Alaska and you'll have a better quality of life. The only plus I can see for Alaska in this equation is if you're from the northwest or Anchorage and you really want to be based there. If not, there are a lot of other jobs out there that will be a better financial return and better quality of life.

Are we going to gain ground on pay?
Yes we are--eventually. It will probably be a long drawn-out process, but we will get a raise eventually, its just about how long you're willing to wait.

Timber:
Upgrade time--currently the most junior captain has about 8 years seniority. That will probably not change too much over the next couple of years as we're not growing the number of airframes until the Md's are retired. At that point, who's to say. We have some orders for -800's and some options through 2012 but I don't think anybody is sure about whether we will get those airplanes or not. With our current retirement plan, age 65 will probably play very little effect immediately on pushing back our upgrade times.

Best way to prepare for the interview:
Be yourself, be friendly and professional. I believe that the interview board is mostly looking for people that will be easy to get along with. Don't seem militant about anything and try to be as honest as possible.

Good luck to you both on the interview and with your careers and I hope this helps.

 

[ferlo]

The only way get thru the interview is to convince them that they're the only airline in the world. They have extremely narrow world view and any indication that you're not fully on board with that idea will send them into some kind of narcissistic rage. Lie, Lie, Lie. Also, keep that SWA stuff current. You'll need an exit plan if you get hired here.

 

[hyeflyin]

Thanks guys for the info. I stand corrected on the interview location. It is not in LA but in SEA. One other thing, if you make through the first interview how long after can you expect the second one and how soon do they send you to class. Also is LAX going junior? With the SWA interview next month, I wont know anything till August. Would like to have some options. Also for those trying to get on with Alaska, my quals are 6000TT, and 2600 PIC almost all t-prop with no internal recs. Online app since Feb'05. I think the LAX AirInc got me noticed.

 

[Timber]

Thanks StarShipDrvr. Great info and I really appreciate your candor.
Good luck Hyeflyin.

 

[Ih8AFYesmen]

Interview with Alaska and if hired, go to Alaska. Definitely go to the SWA interview and if hired there, most definitely go to SWA. Don't feel bad about leaving AS in the middle of class. There's is no more loyalty in this business, anymore. Many of us FOs would leave this place if something better came our way.

 

[Z_Pilot]

The only way get thru the interview is to convince them that they're the only airline in the world. They have extremely narrow world view and any indication that you're not fully on board with that idea will send them into some kind of narcissistic rage. Lie, Lie, Lie. Also, keep that SWA stuff current. You'll need an exit plan if you get hired here.

I hate to say it, but: "ditto" (for the second interview at HQ, first interview at the training center is "fair" IMO) ZP

 

[wscrj]

Alaska info

PM me your email, I got some info for you.