I spoke to a Southwest pilot today and he said he was going to be done at 8:30 in the morning. While I shared my enthusiasm for trips that end early, he shared the possibility that he would be tagged by scheduling to continue the trip with additional flying! Holy crud! I had no idea that SW pilots could be extended against their will. This is just plain unacceptable! I no longer thing the SW contract has anything on the Alaska contract.

If you are ASKED to extend you trip with additional flying, in your base, (at Alaska) you can choose to accept it but will get paired 1.5 times for THE ENTIRE TRIP. Not just the additional flying like at SW. If you want to go home, nobody can compel you to fly. That's a good deal. If they tag you mid trip, they can extend you a maximum of 5 hours but you still get 1.5 times for the WHOLE trip.

Scheduling integrity is the second most important part of a contract behind pay, IMHO.

Next time someone poo poos the Alaska contract, keep this in mind.

The end.