There are two ways to view Alaska's current management: either they're deep in secret merger negotiations or they are totally incompetent.
Evidence of merger or stupidity, take your pick:
1) Since Ben has taken over, he's been the invisible CEO. No vision, no goals, no leadership during crisis. Where is this guy? He has no shortage of charisma and ego. I thought Ben would be out front from day one, you could see him drooling for this job. Instead, he's off in a bunker somewhere.
2) The current pilot staffing shortage was avoidable. They saw the numbers, they set the schedules. Why would they get themselves into such a predicament while in contract negotiations? Last weekend, they gave away all negotiating leverage and are continuing to trash the Alaska brand as the staffing crisis shows no signs of abating. This was an unforced error. Why? To what gain? The only explanations are they're trying to keep their numbers tight for a merger or they don't know what they're doing.
3) No real dealing with the pilot contract... It's obvious to everyone that Alaska needs modern pilot contract to entice folks to apply here. The pilots aren't even asking for the moon, just industry standard work rules and payrates set to keep up with our peers. With PBS on the table there are plenty of moving parts and lots of room to horse trade. I don't understand why Alaska doesn't get creative and hammer out a deal that makes this place an excellent place to work. Instead, middle managers beat on the pilots with decades old negotiating strategies and send out infuriating emails on a weekly basis. All of it just further unifies the pilots while making a mockery of Alaska's so called culture of caring. It's absolutely toxic.
4) The pandemic recovery was supposed to be Alaska's time to shine. Alaska has the strongest balance sheet, the best aircraft order book in history, the lowest cost per seat mile, etc. We were supposed to ride this thing to the moon, or at least get something approaching double digit growth rates. Instead, here we sit, dead in the water, Max's replacing busses. There's no marketing, it's dead quiet. We're behaving more like a regional bank brand than a dynamic travel company. It's one thing to be safe and conservative, but Alaska has crossed the line and become gutless and floundering.
It's my hope that Jetblue made the Spirit offer because they know SWA is about to buy Alaska. A Spirit-Jetblue merger makes zero sense other than as a desperate move to stay relevant and large enough to be a player. Or maybe, JetBlue just has balls and chooses to write their own future because they don't have the option of retreating to Seattle.