My career was pretty close to tailstand, so I won't bore you with the details.

The irony is after graduating college way back in the pre internet type out a letter to apply days, the first letter I sent was to Alaska. Had no clue or care about the company, it started with the letter "A". As my letter traveled by pony express all the way from Florida I am sure the recruiter of the day got a chuckle as he/she round filed it. Never heard back from them and never applied again.

Now I will be retiring from Alaska in a year, having snuck in the side door via Virgin. I'll do my job with a smile, I do think Alaska runs a reliable safe operation, but if I were a young pup at the bottom of the list with a competitive resume I sure would be banging on the doors of the big 3. One would be foolish to not look further. It is better than a regional but to truly be up with the big boys the work rules need to come way up, much more than the slight pay discount.