Good luck Alaska Air Group.

[Baze]

tico is right. This company is a sinking ship, especially with more regional flying coming to the Air Group in the near future. Actually, this whole country is being flushed down the toilet. My wife and I are planning on selling everything and moving to Fiji. I'm walking away from aviation altogether. We're going to open a health spa over there and I'm also going to be a dive instructor on the weekends. Might as well wave the white flag with this airline pilot business now and not waste the next 20 years of my life in the right seat. I've realized I'll never upgrade at ALK. Maybe those of you who got hired in your early to mid 20's still have a chance. All hope is lost for those of us who got hired in our mid 30's or later.

 

[Old School 737]

WTF over ?? It's not that bad yet !! And good luck over there!!!

 

[Baze]

It's not that bad now. But, it's going to get worse. It starts with 5 CRJs flown by SkyWest. Soon, it's going to be a bunch of EMB-195s flown by some other "regional" outfit. We have around 1400 pilots now. It will most likely stay that way, or shrink down to the 1200 neighborhood, due to retirements, before we bring on any new-hires. Say hello to forever reserve for us junior guys.

 

[CGHercster]

Yep, it goes like this... QX gets AS routes, then XYZ gets the QX routes previously at AS. There's a hole in the bucket dear Lila...

 

[Chief Pilot]

Baze,

I am both stunned and impressed if that is what you are truly planning. I wish you the very best of luck. This place will shine a little less brightly without you here.

I believe this pilot group is in for the fight of their lives with scope and unfortunately it may be too late. I can't count how many senior-ish captains I've talked to that just don't get it, don't care, or take what the company tells them at face value. It's really pathetic. I'm putting together my own 2015 plan for an alternate career plan based on the direction the company takes over the next few years and how negotiations go. I may be a bit naive, but I still think this could be a great airline. The problem is how to navigate around the colossal demographic spread at this company and get everyone pulling in the same direction. In my humble opinion, I'd say the top 20% couldn't care less if the company outsourced the bottom half of the seniority list. I guess we'll find out soon enough whether we have the right people in our MEC during this challenging time. I think we might, but time will certainly tell.

 

[tico]

So, Tico, where have you applied? I mean, you're obviously unhappy here. What are your top airlines to work for?

Expand your horizons a little bit......There is no such thing as a top airline any longer....There is , however, a whole big world out there...

 

[Mookie]

tico is right. This company is a sinking ship, especially with more regional flying coming to the Air Group in the near future. Actually, this whole country is being flushed down the toilet. My wife and I are planning on selling everything and moving to Fiji. I'm walking away from aviation altogether. We're going to open a health spa over there and I'm also going to be a dive instructor on the weekends. Might as well wave the white flag with this airline pilot business now and not waste the next 20 years of my life in the right seat. I've realized I'll never upgrade at ALK. Maybe those of you who got hired in your early to mid 20's still have a chance. All hope is lost for those of us who got hired in our mid 30's or later.

Oh, ok chicken little. ;-)

Got ahead and quit, I'm going to stay and fight. I'm not giving up on this place and hope the rest of the guys who stay do the same. Our generation has a responsibility to not repeat the same mistakes of the recent past, and if you're not up for it, then I guess I have a place to crash when I come visit in Fiji. Good luck...

Mookie

 

[Baze]

Mookie,

I'm glad there are fine people like yourself who are willing to fight the good fight. Good luck improving things for the ALK pilot group.

I may be a chicken little, but maybe this job is no longer all that great for some of us. Maybe it's my midlife crisis talking, but there are way more important things in life than flying around in a 737 (or posting on FI.com).

Anyway, everyone save every penny, nickel, & dime you can for your strike fund if you haven't been doing this already.

Good luck to us all.

Over and out,

Baze

 

[ImbracableCrunk]

Maybe it's my midlife crisis talking, but there are way more important things in life than flying around in a 737 (or posting on FI.com).

I understand about the flying but not posting on FI?!?

Fiji, huh? Get a job at KAL, be based out of FIJI and have 12 days off at home. Or more if you don't mind the paycut. Biz class or better commute to work. Scuba on the off days. Problem solved.

 

[tico]

Oh, ok chicken little. ;-)

Got ahead and quit, I'm going to stay and fight. I'm not giving up on this place and hope the rest of the guys who stay do the same. Our generation has a responsibility to not repeat the same mistakes of the recent past, and if you're not up for it, then I guess I have a place to crash when I come visit in Fiji. Good luck...

Mookie

You failed to fight when everything was going your way.....that train will not ever run here again.....you will not ever have the chance to improve the dismal, seattle, grey, "slash your wrists", gig harbor-i've got mine outlook again dude...... bill,brad and ben will see to it that your place of work will be depressing and suck until you leave at age 65........