Originally Posted by Saltlife85 (Post 2392673)

I think it'll happen in the next year or two.

Originally Posted by hilltopflyer (Post 2394213)

So smart. After making Alaska pay more than 1 billion more for virgin to merge a few years later...

Originally Posted by GuppyPuppy (Post 2394366)

As much as I'd like to see a merger, that is a good point. Run up the debt for your competition, then incur said debt. Meanwhile, VA shareholders make out like bandits.

Should have been a three-way from the start.

Gup

Originally Posted by RJs2majors (Post 2391403)

No PBS yet, just line bidding for now. PBS in the hands of this management group could further corrode the QOL of this pilot group but I digress already.
Lines range anywhere from 18-13(?) days off. If you are in the middle of the pack, plan on around 15 days off with about 83 hours of credit on an average. There are 1 to 4 day trips. Lines can range any where from 75 to 93(?) hours of credit depending on if it's a flex up month. Per the contract, there can only be so many flex up months. The efficient 4 day trips can pay upwards of 25 hours and the crappy ones just shy of 20 hours. The pairings and lines are nothing to write home about. Most of them are mediocre at best. Then there are 3 days trips that pay just over 11 hours and they are usually commutable on both ends. The efficient 25+ hour 4 days, which goes pretty senior, start early and end late meaning that if you are a commuter, it can easily turn into be a 6 day trip unless you enjoy sleeping in the pilot ghetto lounge. Most lines are a hodge podge of turd, just like open flying lines. The optimizer builds lines like how an inexperience PBS bidder would bid. They are all over the map. With the exception of few very senior lines, a typical line consists of both early and late checkins, hardly any pure weekend off lines.....basically, no consistency whatsoever. Also, be prepared to fly your share of allnighters and redeyes. There's quite of few of those.
Trip trading is pretty much nonexistent due to a multitude of MOUs and lack of reserve coverage. The company took a MOU (+/- 4 hour rule) that was intended to free up trip trading and made it into a rule thereby giving crew scheduling more power to deny trip trades. Crew scheduling in turn blame Crew Access and claim no fault. Sorry, I digress once again. Anyway, expect to fly your line if you are junior and even lucky enough to hold a line. Get ready to immerse yourself in Crew Access, world's crappiest scheduling tool. Think caveman era! If you are on reserve, plan on flying on most of the days you are on call if you are based in SEA. Advice: Never do crew scheduling a favor because they will never repay you. Also, know the contract, especially section 25 so that you won't get screwed. They do mess with new hires by lying to you to move airplanes. I can't emphasize enough how important knowing the contract is! My friends at LAX are not abused as much, so I've been told. Summer and holiday seasons are obviously the worst times to be on reserve. You get 12 days off guaranteed on reserve, 79 hours pay guarantee (short call) and 75 (long call). Crew scheduling may sound nice over the phone but they will violate the contract to move airplanes. Prepare to "fly 'n grieve". You've been warned.
You can drop trips, contractually, to the monthly minimum for that month. Again, due to a plethora of convoluted MOUs and lack of reserve coverage, you'll most likely not be able to drop any of your trips, especially on weekends. I've been here almost 2 years and I haven't been able to drop a single trip. You can drop trips below the monthly minimum by giving away your trips to another pilot. That's about the only way to drop trips around here.
I believe more people commute than live in base, at least that's what I've been told. I've commuted all my life when I was at the regionals. I can't blame people for commuting to work since we have one of the highest cost of living here on the west coast. Being junior with crappy schedules, plan on being gone away from a home quite a bit. I hear LAX is a great base with a great group of pilots and reserves don't fly as much as SEA. Either way, it sucks to commute especially on reserve. Perhaps Alaska is a place that you can enjoy and plant your roots. I'll be departing here soon and you'll move up a number which is always a good thing. Good luck and have fun with a great pilot group!

Originally Posted by BusCapt (Post 2403984)

How easy/likely reliable is this? If you are about mid/range in seniority could you reliably count on being able to drop 1 or 2 trips per month? At VX we have a "tradeboard" where we can post trips for others to pick up, but it is relatively rare (as far as I know) for others to pick up

Originally Posted by BusCapt (Post 2403984)

How easy/likely reliable is this? If you are about mid/range in seniority could you reliably count on being able to drop 1 or 2 trips per month? At VX we have a "tradeboard" where we can post trips for others to pick up, but it is relatively rare (as far as I know) for others to pick up

Originally Posted by TurnNBurn (Post 2407582)

Two questions:

1) How quickly can a new hire get SEA?
2) Will Alaska raise their (relatively) terrible pay soon? If so, can/will they match SWA? Big 3?