It greatly depends on where you live. If your base has only one or two airlines serving it, its pretty easy to build status. If you live in a huge metro area where you can be put on anyone, then no its not easy.

In the CA Bay Area, I was OAK based but I could be flown out of OAK, SFO, SJC so I could literally be flown on anyone, and the same goes for coming home.

You do have the ability to dummy ticket and book your own ticket on the airline of your choice so you can build status, but you only get reimbursed 80% of the original ticket price, and NJA pays absolutely stupid low ticket prices so if building status is worth potentially several hundred or thousand dollars, you have the ability to do it.

Most pilots are able to build status on one airline, I got A list on SWA but everyone else I had nothing.