Originally Posted by
MinRest
This just is what it is.
OAK and BWI are junior for SWA. SFO and EWR are junior for UAL. SFO is junior for AS. I can go on and on but every airline has trouble staffing these bases. Pilots getting based in SFO with AS then suddenly leaving for UAL isn't because they were SFO based. They were going to leave no matter what. Alaska needs to get ahead of hiring and be in front of the CJO pipeline. I know several pilots who wanted to go to AS that were SFO based and AS never called. UAL did so off they went. Those who wanted to go to UAL but AS hired them, were going to leave no matter what. There is also an entitlement with younger pilots that if they aren't getting hired and automatically getting upgraded, holding a line and/or flying a widebody, they leave because the "grass is greener". We have moved on from SJS to shiny company syndrome, yet none of these young pilots remember how these big companies operate when crap hits the fan.
Junior bases can be junior bases for a whole host of reasons and every airline has trouble keeping them properly staffed. Alaska is not unique to that.
Spot on here, couldn't have said it better myself. The same can be said about Seattle with Delta out of there too, but Alaska has figured that out with the CJO pipeline. The HAL acquisition is another spot where AS can slow attrition with the addition of WBs. All in all, I still think SFO will shrink or close in the coming years. SAN, LAX, PDX for 737s and SEA + HNL for 737s and 787s. Just my thought. If we can somehow figure out SeaTac giving us gates for WBs then this can look bright for us. The issue is, stuff like this takes 5-7 years to figure out and operate, and that point AS has to figure out hiring and sim instructors.