Originally Posted by
AKCattleCarrier
Simple reality is Alaska was fine the way it was making tons of money until a proper buyer showed up in a downturn when the stock was cheap. Then for once the AS pilots could have been the ones P*ssin in another pilot groups Cheerios. Instead this group ends up on the sh$t end of the stick anytime BT or the Cooch make some idiotic business decision. We’ve seen this playbook play out already.
I hear your points about HA’s model being outdated and Alaska buying at the right moment, but if the international authorities, slots, and brand really weren’t worth acquiring, what would you recommend Alaska should have done instead? Simply staying “fine the way it was” doesn’t create new growth opportunities, and those assets aren’t something you can just buy when convenient. Even if HA had operational problems, the underlying value of what they controlled still existed — so what alternative path would’ve realistically produced a better long-term outcome for AS?
And on the labor side, if the merger is as lopsided or misguided as you suggest, what do you think can actually be accomplished by opposing the integration path we’re on now? We still need a unified pilot group and predictable costs for any plan — good or bad — to function. So what’s the practical strategy that gets pilots to a better place from here, rather than just pointing out why the current direction is flawed?