Originally Posted by
rickair7777
It's possible.
As long as the man tossed it out there, I'll speculate about operational reliability, specifically commuters showing up for LC assignments...
One one hand I'm skeptical that commuter reliability is really the tipping point as to whether a hub succeeds. Obviously a lot more goes into that.
But OTH I guess I could see a situation where management has committed very significant resources (planes, gates, staff) and then finds the whole thing is a chit show because pilots don't show up... maybe good load factors but flights canx for crew?
Especially if the reliability is perhaps in stark contrast to other bases? I admit I'd be curious as to the demographics involved... east coast/midwest commuters tend to be older VX people, since few people intentionally sign up at AS with an intent to commute that far. Or is it younger, junior folks, with shorter commutes?
When the benchmark is SEA, and management has spent decades watching pilots sit in the parking lot just waiting for assignments and gobbling up everything, to only say "thank you, sir, may I have another," it has set a false economy of expectations on how a base should operate. Reserves get used and abused, yet fatigue calls are probably not commensurate with that abuse. The rest of the airline industry gets it; Alaska simply still does not. I thought they were evolving, I thought they were going to come around, as it is 2025, and there were several things DM and management did that showed they had some finger on the pulse of the industry. But nope, bases just have 100% local residents, no commuters, no sick calls, no fatigue calls, just unwavering dedication to the supreme leader in SEA. They close a base and just assume everyone will uproot their families to Gig Harbor. The global airline mentality that is needed, is farther away than I thought it was.