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Given that most airlines - from Legacies, to Mainlines, to even Regionals - now tend to have pretty decent Scheduling provisions, can someone on the AS side give me some insights on how/why it has gotten so bad? What is it about AS that makes things slide backwards, when the industry as a whole is moving forwards?



I was pretty shocked by the lines when I first came here. The strange thing is, not many people I fly with (Captains who have been here much longer than I) complain about it. Most guys seem more into pay so accept less days off I suppose. Those that do go for QOL find ways to adjust their schedule during the step trading process, dropping, or advertising a trip or a portion of a trip for another guy who wants the $$ to pick up. It seems to work for most guys.

So to answer the question (my opinion/observation): I believe since historically at Alaska most pilots live in base (been here 5 years and only flew with a commuter once) the days off aren't as valuable as the pay to most since one who lives in base will benefit from more time at home than one who commutes.

This dynamic is changing within our group though. The younger pilots seem to value their time more and many of our recent hires commute. Also, because Seattle like SFO, is so expensive, I imagine we will see more commuters because you can't live in Seattle on a pilot's wage.

I hope we can really work together to demand some significant scheduling flexibility in 2020 and perhaps lose our jack ass line bidding and step trading nonsense. We don't have to do everything here like they did in the DC-6 back in 1963. Perhaps its high time to consider some changes.