Originally Posted by Baradium

I will be honest and say this is a discussion I avoid unless specifically asked, but you are trying to use other airlines' schedules against your own coworkers so it needs to be said.

Seattle based Delta 737 pilot here. Our pairings are nothing like ones I've seen of yours and definitely don't pay the same. Days off are not similar for most of the seniority list and schedule quality is not similar. Reserve rules are good enough that even on the 737 the bottom pilots can't always hold reserve if they want it (the plug this month has a line).

I don't want to belittle Alaska pilots. Generally every one of you is great when I commute, but please don't put down those wanting improvements by saying that our schedules are the same as yours and act like our work rules are as well. You should be looking to make it so it IS the same. You DO deserve to be under the same rules. You DO deserve to have pairings (and schedules) that look "a lot like ours." The thing is, they don't. There are a lot of areas that can be improved upon. There are a lot of pilots working schedules that remind me of my regional days. I don't even know why you want to die on this hill. You'd assuredly make more money under our rules.

I'll add that the 5 day trips are great. Some in base guys prefer 1 or 2 days, but commuters love 5 days. They tend to be high credit, they are commutable on both ends, generally starting with a red-eye so the footprint is similar to a 4 day trip. Credit is a minimum of 26:15 but they can end up higher and they tend to have 1-2 leg days with long layovers (most of our 737 trips are 1-2 leg days).