Originally Posted by uavking

The Alaska window is indeed open, but it's worth looking deeper than that first year payrate. The really short version is that Alaska is not the career destination that it might have once been. There are a number of FOs leaving with 2-3 years of seniority for Delta, United, and American having figured that it simply isn't worth staying (someone I know well ran the numbers and calculated that staying meant leaving at least $1 million on the table over 25 years; she left Alaska on third year pay, broke even second year at the Widget, and is now well ahead on pay and retirement vs if she had stayed). It's not just cash either, but going into contract time, it's things such as lack of scope, lack of trip trades, poor reserve rules, antagonistic management, etc.

So, if you're West Coast and need SEA/SFO/LAX, fine, but treat the Eskimo like the stepping stone that it is and keep pursuing the big leagues. Including the carrier that you just gave up flow to.

Here's the job post from Alaska Pilot Recruitment: "We're excited to announce that we'll be accepting pilot applications three times in the next few months so you’ll have more opportunities to apply this year. It will also help us to manage the high volume of applications we receive. Here’s the deal: the same job will post at the beginning of July, August, and October -- so if you’re not ready until fall, you’ll still have an opportunity to submit an application. And since this will be the same job posting, you’ll only need to submit your application once. It also means that you won’t be able to update it, so if you’re still building hours, waiting until October may be a great option.

The dates when you may submit your application at https://alaskaair.jobs are:
• July 1–8, 2019
• July 29–August 5, 2019
• October 1–8, 2019

It's important to remember that you can only apply once during these dates, and you won't be able to update your application once submitted."