Actually, back in my day it was. The Majors had weird restrictions. Delta required 20/20 vision. United was compensating for an EEOC problem. American had a "Nazi superman" medical.

Then the Majors unilaterally cancelled their A plans. Alaska Captain pay was comparable. 92% across the fleets. That made them slightly higher on the 737-200 but slightly lower on the MD and 727.

Alaska had never furloughed in recent history. It attracted a lot of Eastern, Braniff and PeoplExpress pilots when those airlines went Tango Uniform. Alaska had nowhere near the issues that were prevalent at USAir/Piedmont/America West.

Good medical insurance coverage.

At the time we had pretty good contract language...trips touching training/vacation dropped and credited, 400 hours of Union work paid by the Company that allowed refund of the SMRF and liberal policy about dropping and trading trips. Unfortunately, that's all gone.

Talking to the guys on the property now, especially those with 5 years or less seniority, I can see why they're unhappy. The whole "We Are Family" B.S. Angle Lake spouts is a bad joke.

Alaska has devolved into the West Coast regional (flying 737s and Buses) it has always really been. People are just starting to recognize it. That's the only difference.