Originally Posted by AKCattleCarrier

Divestiture? So now not only is Alaska buying an overstaffed unprofitable flailing operation with outdated assets we have to give up our profitable routes and gates to get it? Wow, merger math really is backwards. On top of that you are going to get a bunch of pilots from an unprofitable operation inserted next to you on OUR seniority list, a bunch stateside pilots that COMMITTED to a career of commuting half way across the Pacific are now going to get stuck right in there next to YOU in our west coast bases, actually probably in front of you because….you know….widebody career expectations. I CANNOT BELIEVE any Alaska pilot is excited about this. It might be good for BM and ST, it might be good for passengers with the AS “gold standard” credit card. It is probably good for HA pilots due to the financial condition of their airline. It IS NOT good for the Alaska pilot group. This seems obviously undebatable.

A secret I learned while flying in the military……the key to your happiness isn’t hardware. A 787 (if you ever touch one) will get old boring and uninteresting real fast, just like flying anything else. The airplane I flew in the military is “sexier” flying than anything a civilian trained pilot will ever touch……after a few years….old boring and a job just like every other airplane.

The only thing unique HA has to offer Alaska is hardware and unprofitable seasonal pacific routes that likely won’t exist once ST gets a look at their financial reality. HA lost $140m in Q1.

HA has 65 airplanes, 4 types, 1100 pilots (WTF?), and a little route structure geared almost entirely around vacation travel (i.e. economically sensitive AF). They have a bottom of the barrel cargo contract with Amazon that has them playing in the same whipsaw sandbox as Mesa. 330’s that don’t go far enough, 717s with less than 5 years left on them, 321s with bum engines that Alaska likely doesn’t want, and are STILL HIRING PILOTS TODAY to cover contract cargo flying ON a B SCALE! Not hard to imagine our union forced to cough up concessions from our hard earned contract in an effort to keep those fine folks newly hired at HA from getting furloughed.

I would not consider myself ideologically aligned with the current administration….but GO LINA KHAN GO!!!!! Please spare us from ourselves. I was going to vote for RFK as a protest vote against the two bumbling turd wagons on the primary tickets but I might be changing my mind.

IF (I said IF) we are headed towards an economic slowdown this is the absolute last thing you want your employer to be embroiled in with faltering demand. Forced to unload an entire airline of unprofitable outdated assets and scrambling to figure out what to do with 1100 extra pilots. Buh Bye leverage good luck in the JCBA.

We should be getting lean, mean, profitable, and focused on smart deliberate organic growth where it makes sense and makes money. I know its not sexy to fly stateside in a 737 but who cares? If your pilot ego is still driving your life priorities at this point in your career you need to grow up.

I understand this is all out of our control. But I hope that as the costs/sacrifices required to push this disaster across the finish line inevitably mount that pilots would be hitting up their Reps daily. The union should be seriously questioning the wisdom of BMs ego project and making it known to management that the Alaska pilots are not on board. The Alaska pilot group has the most to lose in this transaction.