Alaska Pilots to resume negotiations.

[SeaSlam]

Hopefully some progress will be made and we'll get out of the pool soon!

http://www.alaskasworld.com/NEWS/2004/01/29_ALPA_pressrelease.asp

 

[FL510GV]

the list...

SeaSlam,

I got unsolicited, independent confirmation of a list in the Ops Building/Training Dept this past weekend.... I won't bore you with the story about my cousin's wife's brother's optomologist's aunt... but there is a list with our names on it, though it looks like it is a "poolie" list and not a March class date...

 

[lumax]

Just flew with a captain that had also heard the March rumor.
I hope this rumor becomes a reality soon!

good luck

 

[SeaSlam]

Thanks for the news. A March class still appears to make the most sense if they're going to have coverage for the summer flying schedule. My Reservist buddies who are still activated in the Pacific NW are scheduled to be released in August. Once they're released, many will have approximately 45 days of paid military leave that was accrued during their activation which means they won't be useable to a crew scheduler until mid to late Sept at the earliest. Hopefully we'll hear something soon! ~SeaSlam

 

['72Gremlin]

SeaSlam,
As a reservist (not that I am) deactivated in August, wouldn't the tendency be to get back flying with Alaska than burn 45 days of leave? I would think most of our Reserve bretheren would prefer to get back flying with the airline as soon as possible... I don't know... just thinking out loud(??)
Gremlin

 

[SeaSlam]

I would think most of our Reserve bretheren would prefer to get back flying with the airline as soon as possible... I don't know... just thinking out loud(??)
Gremlin

I suppose a few might want to get right back to work, but I doubt it. Think about it...

- You've been away from your family for the past year and 1/2.
- It's summer vacation and your kids are out of school.
- You have anywhere from 20 to 45 days of leave accrued.
- Whether you go back to the airline immediately or not, you still receive your full military pay with all incentives (provided you take terminal leave and don't sell it back).
- It'll take at least 2 weeks to tan the rest of your body to match your Iraqi farmer tan.

No doubt some guys may go right back to work for extra $ but I don't know of any in my unit. It would be nice to be in a position to have that choice though wouldn't it?

~SeaSlam

 

[ACAFool]

I hear a new bid is out with no new hiring on it.

 

['72Gremlin]

SeaSlam,
All good points. Nothing like getting paid while sitting around, watching cartoons in your pajamas eating fruitloops. Is that too much to ask? It seems you have the pulse of the Reserve guys and gals in the Pac NW... Do you know how many Alaska pilots were activated in the reserves? Also, typically there's a big exodus out of the Reserves when a unit gets deactivated, especially when they have (higher paying) jobs waiting for them on the outside. Do you have a feel for the general consensus on whether to stay or dump the Reserves after August? It seems to me, in this uncertain time, people would be more reluctant to do that, especially when the risk of getting activated would be much less for those units.
Thanks, in advance, for your insights...
Grem

 

[SneakyJake]

Having a class make sense, but the airlines don't always follow that logic. I think if they went back to negotiations early that it could only be that the company wants to get a minimum bid from the pilot group so that they can move forward with some new aircraft. I have faith, I need it.

 

[flx757]

What they're plans are, I don't know. That's way above my pay grade. What I do know is that there have been no new hire classes placed on the schedule in the training dept, as of today, and I have seen the schedule through the month of March.

Should this change, I will post it here. Good luck to all those waiting. It WILL happen. It's only a question of when.

 

[AK737FO]

New Bid

The new bid is for a reduction of 10 Captains and 9 F/O's on the 200 in ANC for "staffing". This is needed because we gave away our DUT flying to PenAir and we are selling / beer canning three of our nine 200's this year.
The bid also contains a new ANC 4/7/9 base (someday 300's as well?) initially set up with 10 captains, 2 senior quals and 7 F/O's. They plan to have these guys fly the ANC - ORD and ANC - PDX.
As you can see, no growth for new hires - only shuffling some ANC guys around.
AK737FO

 

[~~~^~~~]

What is the story with Horizon and the flow through?

 

[DHPFLYN]

I have heard AS is planning on SFO-ORD - SEA-ORD - LAX-ORD

 

[FL510GV]

Activated Reservists

I don't get the sense from talking to the activated Alaska guys that I regularly fly with, that many of them will wait until their terminal leave is exhausted to start back at AS. Most of them can't wait to get back and plan on requal training as soon as they don't have any more commitments with the AF... plus the double pay is always a nice thing. A few of them are still on probation and want to get that clock rolling again quickly as well. I don't know how long the training will take, but I would count on quite a few being ready for training sometime around July, even with an August deactivation date. Still, those guys/gals will not available to fly the line until August sometime.

I've seen the flow-through proposal. It doesn't address how it might work going backwards, only from Horizon to Alaska. It looks like a reasonable plan and I am sure that it will be talked about during the course of the contract talks.

 

[mach none]

Chicago is our kind of town
Seattle to O'Hare service made possible
by aircraft time freed up by TANGO
Posted February 5, 2004

Alaska Airlines will add another feather in its well-decorated cap of cross-country markets this spring with the start of service between Seattle and Chicago on April 26. Boeing 737 aircraft will be used on the route.
In sharing the news with management and union leaders at Alaska’s annual Strategic Summitt, CEO Bill Ayer noted that the new Chicago flights are possible largely because of TANGO, the "turn aircraft ‘n go" initiative that trims turn times on select flights, generating more than 25 hours of additional flight time per day. That’s the equivalent of three additional aircraft.

Flights to The Windy City will be twice daily. Flight 20 will depart Seattle at 8:45 a.m. and arrive at Chicago O’Hare International Airport at 2:38 p.m. Flight 22 will depart Seattle

Seattle-Chicago service begins April 26.

at 4:00 p.m. arriving at 9:42 p.m. Returning flights from Chicago will depart at 8:15 a.m. and 3:50 p.m. arriving in Seattle at 10:46 a.m. and 6:26 p.m. respectively.


The flights are timed for easy connections from Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air points throughout the Pacific Northwest, Canada and Alaska. Additionally, travelers will have access to 68 cities beyond Chicago thru Alaska’s codeshare partnership with American Airlines.

"We are pleased to offer our loyal customers another new market that fits well into our expanding east-west route structure," said Gregg Saretsky, Alaska’s executive vice president of marketing and planning. "Chicago is the third largest Lower 48 market from Seattle and the only one in the top 10 markets that does not currently benefit from nonstop service by Alaska."

Alaska is no stranger to Chicago, having launched its move East in 2000 with one flight daily to and from Anchorage.

A business powerhouse and one of the busiest air travel markets in the world, Chicago also is home to Wrigley Field, the Sears Tower and the Museum of Science & Industry.

 

[Rhino]

Chicago flyin'

"...the new Chicago flights are possible largely because of TANGO, the "turn aircraft ‘n go" initiative that trims turn times on select flights, generating more than 25 hours of additional flight time per day. That’s the equivalent of three additional aircraft."



It seems to me, if the equivalent of three additional aircraft are "created", then wouldn't it stand to reason that they might need a few more pilots to fly those legs? Or perhaps just use a few more guys sitting reserve.

I agree with FL510GV. Reservists will likely want to be earning "terminal leave" pay while getting back to flying with the company. Double-dipping.

 

[FL510GV]

the Gulf...

Welcom back Rhino... a little bleary-eyed? Did you get the ice-cream at AVITAT?

 

[thebluto]

PAJAMAS...FRUIT LOOPS..CARTOONS?

PAJAMAS...FRUIT LOOPS..CARTOONS?

'72 Gremlin: I've always preferred Boxers...Life Cereal...Gilligan's Island reruns.

By the way, my dad was sort of a geek- He bought my older sister a Blue '74 Gremlin, my mom a White '75 Gremlin, and my middle sister a Red '76 Gremlin (with Starsky and Hutch Hockey stick white stripe). Red, white and blue Gremlins - we were the talk of the neighborhood in Bicentennial 1976 Sioux City, IA. Those cars were all brand new at their times and all Pieces of $H1t (and I had to drive the Starsky and Hutch car in college when my Firebird went T!t$ up) .

(God rest Dad's soul, he flew Buffs in 'nam and died in a car accident (not a Gremlin - he bought himself a Toyota truck) years later).

I've got two guys who've tried to help me out with Alaska - they both told me that they brought my resume into the Chief pilot in Seattle and he opened a three foot long FULL drawer and said he'd slide mine in with the rest of the resumes.

 

[md83driver]

Was just checking company email and saw a post inquiring if there would be any hiring this year and if so, what was the proper way to go about recommending somone. I guess the chief pilot is to busy to respond, so his secretary did. Her reply was one to be expected which was "no plans to hire this year". We all know this is always subject to change. As mentioned before there is a bid out. It is basically a reduction of the 200 ANC base and the opening of a 4/7/9 ANC base. The flying to be done in the 4/7/9 ANC base (for now) is planned to be the ANC-ORD and the ANC-PDX all nighter. We will see how junior this bid goes for cpts. Some of the great guys that lost their seat on the MD in LAX may be able to get it back. But then again, it means commuting and flying all night. Hopefully we will hire soon. We have less pilots on property now than we did this time last year. We all hope there will be good news to come.

 

[EstuaryVictim]

Being one of the activated reservists that are being mentioned above, I can say that I personally will not be in a dead sprint to get back to the normal job. My plan, as seems to be the norm with most of the ALK pilots I have spoken with, is to take a month off and enjoy not being "owned" by anyone. I have no interest in double-tapping pay - I have an interest in spending a month with my kids at the end of the summer (something I would never get a chance to do working for ALK or Uncle Sam). As far as the previous post stating that some folks will be ready for requal by July - not too likely while they're activated. Every day of training would have to be individually cleared with the respective squadron commander. I am curious as to how the company plans to requal all the 737 F/Os that are coming back. Anyone from training heard any rumors?