HA vs. AS

[Dan Roman]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/hawaiian-says-gday-brisbane-adding-190000982.html

 

[Mamma]

Now that is a strong testament! F/O at HAL vs #1 at any other airline!

Your right though if you have to live in Hawaii, there is no other option. The reason many had a Hawaii base and closed it (besides the expense) is because technology and equipment have made it obsolete.
My dad was a controller in HNL during the late 60's and 70's, and for awhile, HNL was among the busiest 24 hour airports in the world. Until the whale became the norm in the pacific, everyone had to stop in Hawaii on the way to the far east.

Bottom line in my opinion is the pain that will be felt going to Hawaii on a Guppy vs a widebody, which is quickly becoming the standard and will only be exasperated by the addition of SWA to Hawaii someday, will probably make commuting to/from the islands almost unbearable. Thank GOD HAL has maintained or appears to plan to maintain widebody service to the islands.
LUV

I've traveled on the 737-800 to Kauai and Oahu and it has been fine. Alaska has good pitch so I was not crammed in. I'm just saying I don't see where you are getting this "pain" and unbearable hardship flying a 73 to Hawaii.

 

[Old School 737]

I've traveled on the 737-800 to Kauai and Oahu and it has been fine. Alaska has good pitch so I was not crammed in. I'm just saying I don't see where you are getting this "pain" and unbearable hardship flying a 73 to Hawaii.

I think our new airplanes have some new Racarro seats and you end up with 1in more legroom than we have now.....

 

[Full of LUV]

I've traveled on the 737-800 to Kauai and Oahu and it has been fine. Alaska has good pitch so I was not crammed in. I'm just saying I don't see where you are getting this "pain" and unbearable hardship flying a 73 to Hawaii.

Jumpseat 737 vs Jumpseat 757/767 or A330.

There is a considerable difference, and you cant count on a seat in back to/from Hawaii all that often.

 

[Boxboy]

Fortunately for us, our excellent service makes up for the lack of a wide body jet. I agree though... as a passenger, given a choice between a wide body and a narrow body, I'd choose the biggin' for sure!

 

[CesnaCaptn]

I think our new airplanes have some new Racarro seats and you end up with 1in more legroom than we have now.....

Pax will see the narrow seats and perceive that they are less comfortable. Then they'll have something else to complain about.

People keep piling on about how an AS Hawaii base is inevitable. If that's true, I think igneousy2 wins either way.

I don't think a HI base is as much of a no brainer as people make it out to be. True, a cancellation costs $30K+, but do you know how much it costs to staff reserves? I recently flew with a pilot on the NC and we talked about putting an all-night zone in LAX to staff the Mexico turns. We talked about mitigating fatigue by keeping pilots flying on the same side of the clock. He said staffing that zone was going to cost $1M+. He didn't give me a time frame. I'm guessing over a year? If the stat is true that one zone costs $100K/month, then now we know how many cancellations we need each month in the islands to justify a reserve base out there. Are we there yet?

We do hnl and ogg out of BLI, Sea, pdx, smf, oak, sjc, and SAN now. Not saying its a great idea, but an islands base looks like a potential.

Mookie

To clarify, we fly to HNL or OGG out of each of those cities. We don't do HNL out of SMF and we don't do OGG out of BLI (yet, hopefully).

If we put a base in the Bay (maybe include SMF?) and SAN, then we have a crew base on each end of the HI flights except BLI and maybe SMF. I think a bigger factor than hotel costs is soft time. I'd like to know how much soft time is affected by putting bases in the Bay and SAN. I've heard from multiple sources that a base could be financially justified in the Bay, SAN and HNL, but I wonder how the cost justification changes as you open up each of those bases.

As for cancellations in the islands go, has anyone seen first hand what happens if someone calls in sick out there? I'm guessing it's rare. Do they start rolling crews? Are we really able to deadhead a pilot out to fly back in the same duty day? I know our contract allows for us to fly up to 16 hours transoceanic, but has anyone seen someone scheduled to that?

Jumpseat 737 vs Jumpseat 757/767 or A330.

There is a considerable difference, and you cant count on a seat in back to/from Hawaii all that often.

Remember when UA ran rope start 747s back in the late 90s and early 00s. That was the way to go. You would get your own crew rest area and lav in the flight deck.

I'll pass on the 757 jumpseat. That's just as bad as the 737 unless you make the "lounge."

 

[cougarblue]

back to the OP- does anyone know if Hawaiian or Alaskan have buddy passes? what are the average days off at each?

Thanks in advance!

 

[becket]

back to the OP- does anyone know if Hawaiian or Alaskan have buddy passes? what are the average days off at each?

Thanks in advance!

If Alaska ever finds out you referred to them as "Alaskan" it's a moot point for you. They wouldn't touch you with a ten foot pole after that. Big No-No.

 

[Mookie]

Alaskan brews a mean ipa...

 

[igneousy2]

back to the OP- does anyone know if Hawaiian or Alaskan have buddy passes? what are the average days off at each?

Thanks in advance!

Yes, they both do, I don't know how many HA gets but you get 24 one ways on AS.

...seriouslly...get "Alaskan" out of your vocabulary if you're going to interview here...there are some stories...not sure if it would sink you anymore...but why take the chance.

An "average" line holder at AS gets from 14-16 days off per month. It can be as low as 10 and as high as 20.

Reserve has 12 days off per month consisting of a 5 day block and a 3 day block which are "untouchable" and two 2-day blocks...of which they can only encroach into one.

Line holders and long-call reserves get 75 hours min/month and reserves get 79.

Good luck.