So I live in base for both AK and SWA. I've got multiple friends at both shops who are genuinely happy there. My SWA friends are always talking about their schedule flexibility (and looking at their monthly bids vs. what they end up flying, it's impossible to ignore that SWA seems pretty awesome if your goal is to get max days off and max flexibility. (My friends are all 5 years or less on property, with most of them 2 years or less.) I know everyone on the interwebz is saying SWA is a dumpster fire, but is it really? They're saying the contract will happen and the rates will be on par with DL 737-9 and/or DL 75 rates, which is pretty solid.

All in all, for someone who lives in base and wants max days off with good schedule flexibility... If you assume that SWA will get their new contract soon, I'm struggling to understand why SWA wouldn't be attractive.

That said, I really, really, really get good vibes from Alaska and only hear happy things from my friends there. People seem happy and the work rules, routes, pay, and company culture are really attractive to me. I'm just curious why you feel SWA is so unattractive...