Alaska returns to Bellingham

[chperplt]

Wouldn't you make more on unemployment anyway?

No... I think if I add up the six figures + I made last year to the zero nights I spent in hotels, and then add all the time I didn't have to spend in a hotel shuttle van or commuting to work and I think I came out ahead.

It's funny how you AK guys had no problems taking our support on this board when you were getting furloughed and getting the shaft from your management, but now that you're going to try and compete with us, we're non union dog sh!t.... I guess short memory for small minds.

 

[gt1900]

Sorry guys. But ALK still has huge support from people of the PNW. Allegiant can kiss that route goodbye. Nobody in the NW has ever heard of Allegiant, but they have heard of a little company called Alaska. Allegiatnt cant compete with ALK. Heck, SWA has had a hell of a time competing with Alaska...... And trust me, Allegiant would get KILLED if they tried to go to ANC. Just like everyone else thats tried to compete up there. Just ask Herb.

BTW... chp.. When your company doesn't make profit off pilot wages then feel free to talk smak. Unitl that time. Just keep quiet. ALK will kill you in Bellingham and you guys aren't going to fight that fight. No more layovers at the Holliday Inn Express...

 

[fifinella]

Uh, What? How is that so?
You obviously do not understand ALK's fuel situation.

"Alaska Air Group bought “call options” giving it the opportunity to buy fuel at a set price. While these require higher upfront payments, they didn’t obligate the airline to buy the fuel at the hedged prices.
Other airlines, including United and Southwest, have used another form of hedging called “swaps” or “collars,” that commits them to buy fuel at certain rates. "

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2009/01/26/story10.html

Interesting article, thanks. I retract the "sucking chest wound" statement.

 

[landlover]

give me a break! I don't have a dog in this fight, but no one is going to pay more just to fly on alaska. cheapest ticket always wins, who ever it may be.

Sorry guys. But ALK still has huge support from people of the PNW. Allegiant can kiss that route goodbye. Nobody in the NW has ever heard of Allegiant, but they have heard of a little company called Alaska. Allegiatnt cant compete with ALK. Heck, SWA has had a hell of a time competing with Alaska...... And trust me, Allegiant would get KILLED if they tried to go to ANC. Just like everyone else thats tried to compete up there. Just ask Herb.

BTW... chp.. When your company doesn't make profit off pilot wages then feel free to talk smak. Unitl that time. Just keep quiet. ALK will kill you in Bellingham and you guys aren't going to fight that fight. No more layovers at the Holliday Inn Express...

 

[BEECH-SLAPPED]

Sorry guys. But ALK still has huge support from people of the PNW. Allegiant can kiss that route goodbye. Nobody in the NW has ever heard of Allegiant, but they have heard of a little company called Alaska. Allegiatnt cant compete with ALK. Heck, SWA has had a hell of a time competing with Alaska...... And trust me, Allegiant would get KILLED if they tried to go to ANC. Just like everyone else thats tried to compete up there. Just ask Herb.

BTW... chp.. When your company doesn't make profit off pilot wages then feel free to talk smak. Unitl that time. Just keep quiet. ALK will kill you in Bellingham and you guys aren't going to fight that fight. No more layovers at the Holliday Inn Express...

Let's see if I can wade through two paragraphs full of B.S. and grammatical errors in order to respond. Well, I'll give it a shot:

If the people in the Pacific Northwest were so "loyal" to Alaska, they would have been flying them already. There is not one airport we serve in the NW that is not already served by Alaska or Horizon. Even the people in Vancouver drive over an hour across the border to fly on us. Why would they do that? Because the fares out of YVR are outrageous, that's why.

As far as your incoherent drivel about our pay being the reason we're making money, well I'm not even going to bother since that "theory" has been disproven time after time.

 

[crxpilot]

Uh, What? How is that so?
You obviously do not understand ALK's fuel situation.

"Alaska Air Group bought “call options” giving it the opportunity to buy fuel at a set price. While these require higher upfront payments, they didn’t obligate the airline to buy the fuel at the hedged prices.
Other airlines, including United and Southwest, have used another form of hedging called “swaps” or “collars,” that commits them to buy fuel at certain rates. "

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2009/01/26/story10.html

According to Forbes Alaska is paying for higher fuel prices:
"
Alaska and Horizon combined have agreements in place to buy half of their fuel supply this year at an average price equal to $76 per gallon of crude oil. The benchmark price for crude was around $51 Wednesday.
Alaska locked in the prices when oil was much more costly"
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/04/08/ap6271015.html

 

[Fubijaakr]

there's a lot of great guys at AAY that are ex TWA/AA/USAir.

No there aren't. Any former Union pilot who would take a job at a non-Union carrier that undercuts Union contracts by $50 an hour is a pilot who would cross a picket line because, "I had to feed my family."

And as far as those of you "preaching" that people won't pay more to fly Alaska, check the loads in markets like GEG-SEA, PDX-SEA, BOI-SEA vs the "people's choice" SWA.

Our flights are full and they're running half empty. Why? The mileage plan. People in the Pacific NW are heavily invested in the ALK mileage plan.

AGT will be out of BLI in six months.

 

[chperplt]

Sorry guys. But ALK still has huge support from people of the PNW. Allegiant can kiss that route goodbye. Nobody in the NW has ever heard of Allegiant, but they have heard of a little company called Alaska. Allegiatnt cant compete with ALK. Heck, SWA has had a hell of a time competing with Alaska...... And trust me, Allegiant would get KILLED if they tried to go to ANC. Just like everyone else thats tried to compete up there. Just ask Herb.

BTW... chp.. When your company doesn't make profit off pilot wages then feel free to talk smak. Unitl that time. Just keep quiet. ALK will kill you in Bellingham and you guys aren't going to fight that fight. No more layovers at the Holliday Inn Express...

I think you've been flying your MS Flight Sim SR71 without oxygen for too long...

 

[chperplt]

No there aren't. Any former Union pilot who would take a job at a non-Union carrier that undercuts Union contracts by $50 an hour is a pilot who would cross a picket line because, "I had to feed my family."

And as far as those of you "preaching" that people won't pay more to fly Alaska, check the loads in markets like GEG-SEA, PDX-SEA, BOI-SEA vs the "people's choice" SWA.

Our flights are full and they're running half empty. Why? The mileage plan. People in the Pacific NW are heavily invested in the ALK mileage plan.

AGT will be out of BLI in six months.

You're an angry little man...

As I said before, I wish you guys plenty of luck in BLI and throughout your entire system. I don't think you'll make any noticable impact in our BLI operations. NWA tried to get us to run away, and their loyal customers continued to fly on us.

Time will tell... Keep slinging the non union garbage and I'll coninue to enjoy my life of day trips, time with family, and going through life with a smile on my face.

 

[BEECH-SLAPPED]

No there aren't. Any former Union pilot who would take a job at a non-Union carrier that undercuts Union contracts by $50 an hour is a pilot who would cross a picket line because, "I had to feed my family."

And as far as those of you "preaching" that people won't pay more to fly Alaska, check the loads in markets like GEG-SEA, PDX-SEA, BOI-SEA vs the "people's choice" SWA.

Our flights are full and they're running half empty. Why? The mileage plan. People in the Pacific NW are heavily invested in the ALK mileage plan.

AGT will be out of BLI in six months.

You still haven't addressed by original question. If everyone in the NW loves your "milage plan", why do we have any passengers at all out of BLI,PSC,MFR,EUG,IDA and RDM? You would think that all of those people would relish the thought of flying 200 miles in the wrong direction on a turboprop so they could gain more "miles".

I'm sure that your 60 furloughed pilots love the idea of the company purposely losing money (and delaying their recall) just to try to drive out a little competition. Very Mesa-esque! And guess what? Even if we do cut and run (which I highly doubt), we'll just deploy the aircraft to another one of the hundred cities that lobby for our service. See, when you have management that is actually interested in turning a profit, you focus on increasing YOUR revenue, not wasting capacity trying to stop OTHERS from making money. But go ahead, give it a shot.