Midwest and Alaska?

[Lear70]

Yea, you have slots in the NE which we need.

That is almost a direct quote from a recent pilot recurrent / initial class by senior management.

The MKE hub is not a huge attractor, although it would help somewhat for a Midwest expansion, it's location simply makes it difficult to connect to anywhere except the Pacific Northwest with the 717. Everywhere else you can go easily within a 2 hour stage length of MKE we already do with the 717 (MKE-MSP, EWR, BOS, etc).

The big draw is your aircraft (same fleet type) and the gates you have in places such as JFK and other difficult hubs to break into.

Not my opinion, just a restatement of what our illustrious leaders have already said privately. I think it's a pretty hefty price to pay for that, but SWA evidently thought the same thing about ATA's gates in ORD, so what do I know.

 

[mach none]

This was posted on one of the company Pravda sites. I highly doubt that we will remain independent for long, especially if everyone starts getting married. There is simply no room for a small carrier with only 114 jets.


Hostile takeover
Q. With the news of US Airways' bid for Delta, it makes me wonder if Alaska Airlines is a potential target for a hostile takeover?
A. We think the best thing for our employees, our customers and our shareholders is for AAG to stay independent. That said, there is certainly nothing to block another airline or company from acquiring us. The best thing we can do to avoid that is to deliver on our operating and business plan every day, so the marketplace views us as a winner. That means having a cost structure that enables us to consistently increase our profitability. When our profits are increasing each year — rather than falling or even staying flat — our shareholders experience a growing return on their investment. A merger proposal would ultimately be decided by a vote of our shareholders, and if they are convinced they stand to benefit more from an independent Alaska Air Group, they will be more likely to vote in favor of keeping our company independent rather than approving a merger. (November 22, 2006)

 

[FlyWolf]

Thanks mach none, I was hoping for inputs from Alaska guys

 

[fletch717]

Be careful what you wish for. I remember how the ATA pilots on this board reacted on the SWA/AirTran Midway ATA bid. SWA was their white knight. I have flown with more ATA guys in the last 6 months than SWA hired.

 

[mnboyev]

I understand that some of the Mid Ex MEC will be attending the NPA BOD meeting in ATL... I say welcome !.. lets start a good dialogue with positive vibes.. This will be good for both work groups.. hopefully securing our combined future. I guess we'll will have to take a wait and see ..

 

[Ty Webb]

As far as pay, I believe both Midex and Airtran have the same pay rate or within a dollar of each other.

What are you smoking? The Captain rates at AirTran are, in most cases, $10. to $20. per hour higher, not to mention that it takes 6 years less seniority to hold CAPT at AirTran. . . . Think about it- 6 years at Captain pay, no, wait, 6 years at a much higher Captain rate. That represents an incredible windfall for basically every pilot at Midex.

Dead fleet type? the B717 is a brand new aircraft and it does exactly what we need it for, and we can keep flying it for a long time.

Dead fleet type- you betcha. . . . no US operator but AirTran would want that orphaned aircraft type, and Boeing doesn't want to support such a small fleet . . . . They will likely be making an offer to us to trade them out for 737 deliveries.