Originally Posted by
ShyGuy
I didn't take you to be a koolaid drinker, but here is the famous aviation C word. Culture? I signed up for a cool culture airline with no ties. Oh wait, that's gone. But, culture!
AA, DL, UA. More or less, you'd fit in just fine. Since you sound serious, specifically what culture do you find at AS that is more attractive than the big 3? And please don't say "friendly crews and a family atmosphere."
With the exception of inter-Alaska state routes, literally anything in the 48 states that AS does is easily replicated at the big 4.
Same 737s flying the same routes at the big 4. "Type of flying" is actually an argument against AS.
How? How substantially different is AS 737 SEA vs DL 737 SEA? Or UAL SFO 737 vs AS SFO 737? You're acting as if AS has a unicorn airplane found at no other airline flying to cities that no one else goes to.
And your point actually brings up an excellent counterpoint. The reason upgrade time is still long here (compared to the big 3) is because we ONLY have one fleet. When you want to be CA there is no other choice.
You say "type of flying." Well guess what, if domestic 737 is literally all the flying you want, then going to the big 3 and doing 737 or A320 flying is going to give you an enormous seniority boost. The ultra senior competition is on the widebodies. If you are willing to fly domestic routes you'll be king in seniority on narrowbody CA at the big 3 long term. Whereas here at AS, you have 30 yr guys flying the same plane as you - because they have no other higher paying equipment to go to. So this is actually yet another reason to go to the big 3, regardless of what pay is. You automatically get a seniority boost if you are willing to slug it out on domestic narrowbody at the big 3 for a career.
It's understandable that you'd summarily dismiss all that I've mentioned, as they do not compute for you. But yes, culture. It might not be as cool as Virgin, but the echoes of that airline remain. I'm still able to get entire crews out for dinner from time to time. I hear that's not an option at the big 3.
Yes, the 737 has the same routes at the big 4. But those routes are divided over many different bases at the big 4. At Alaska, the 737 goes everywhere from everywhere. You can fly to all points in the lower 49 + Latin America from all of our bases. 50+ from SEA or ANC. You will not see that sort of destination diversity from a single base and a single fleet anywhere else.
And the variety in type of flying on a singular fleet is unparalleled. You want 6 hours 1 and done? We've got it. You want short hops and 1 time zone? We've got it. The big 3 offer very specialized route structures based on the equipment. Here, you can pick and choose.
So yes, Alaska has lots of things going for it that could attract newbies. The only thing that is missing to make this place a forever home is the paycheck.