Dude I literally took first upgrade and the music has stopped over at Daddy D with me actually going a bit backwards. Again not every shop is the same but I literally see the same 3-4 Alaska posters professing that it is when they have no clue. It’s a weird take to have but I guess it’s just them justifying their decisions. It’s fine to be happy and it’s fine to be not I just don’t understand why you guys always hammer him for pointing out the reality of junior life. This rings even more true because movement there is slower than at other airlines and coupled with the merger it’s truly unknown.

 

Totally nothing to do with the BILLION dollars of stock buy-backs they are doing instead.. nope. This canard is so hollow and I hope everyone reminds them any time the tiny violin comes out.

 

OK, wouldn't want anyone getting triggered.

At least parole is an option, if you're young enough.

 

I've been here for a few years now. First one was reserve under the old rules and was much better than reserve at the regional. I drive to work in SEA.

Once we switched to PBS I became a line holder and have been one for the last couple years. Generally got the days off and types of trips I wanted to fly. Over the last 12 months my in-base seniority here has been very stagnant and maybe even a slightly backward creep. Some QOL hit because of that but nothing I'm getting spun up about.

I worked most of the holidays last year, but got them all off this year with the exception of NYE. I was not able to hold a line this December but got a good reserve schedule with Christmas Eve and Christmas off.

I usually get most of the weekend off. Head to work Sunday night type of thing.

Day to day life is good when I'm at work. I like our pace of flying, I like our hotels, the pay is good, the benefits are good, I like the airplane, and I spend a lot of time with my family. There are some contract areas I'd like to see improvement but this is still BY FAR the best job I've ever had.

Would Delta be better? Maybe? I didn't apply to them and I don't really know. I'm very happy here.

 

It's not that he points out the reality of junior life. It's that he does it ad infinitum with some major plot holes and absolutely refuses to do anything about it.

 

I can’t quite wrap my mind around how anybody, at any airline, can be okay with such awful QOL for junior guys…we are all just one black swan event away from being very junior for a very long time.

 

oh no, not the black swan event right around the corner.

 

Yep, it’s never happened before. Don’t worry about it…

 

Philosophically I'm OK with contractually mitigating the severity of juniority.

But it's a bit of an uphill slog...

1. People who paid their dues don't typically want to make others suffer because they did, but they probably don't want to trade a lot of negotiating capital either.

2. Some flight operations are just going to suck, you are not going to have much luck contractually banning redeyes.

The only realistic way to mitigate that is with pilot scheduling, either micro, macro, or both.

Macro: Guarantee more days off.

Micro: Reduce duty day length, circadian swaps, limit daily legs to three, etc, etc

Any of that requires that more pilots be employed.

Another micro option would be significant overrides for redeyes or other circadian disruption. That way fewer folks would be forced to fly them, kind of like what we have with holiday pay. WB flying already has this via higher pay scales but that's industry standard anyway.

It all circles back around to cost, which has to come out of somewhere else. What are you going to sacrifice? Hourly rate?

Actually I do kind of like the idea of yearly variable guarantee... mid-year everybody opts for a guarantee range for next year, which they are then locked into. Could be anywhere from 50 - 90 hours +/- 10 for seasonal variability. Something along those lines. That way the company could plan their staffing far enough in advance to hire as needed. If you're junior and don't like your crap trips, you can trade away money for more time off. Kind of like IL's and VRBO, you just commit to it in advance rather than spend your whole month on the trade boards.

 

"We all paid our dues" means something. We have all sat at the bottom of seniority lists at some point in our career. I can't even hold summer vacations with my seniority and I'm not bottom 2% on my seniority list. We've all had to fly the redeyes instead of the Hawaii flying, and we've all had to work holidays and weekends. Some of us have had to do it for a few months, some for a few years. Some of us survived with food stamps at the regionals, and made $10k/yr flight instructing and having to live with roommates or parents to get by. Then again, I knew what I signed up for, and didn't come to 121 from a 135 gig.

The junior guys at the big 3 on the wide body get last pick for when they get their crew rest. They also have redeyes and 3am body clock departures. The junior guys can't hold all holidays off or weekends. The only place I know of who does anything different is in the Middle East or Asia, where they do rotations for bidding for schedules.

Alaska will have movement, but it won't be like the big 3 who are having mass retirements. There will be upward movement, but don't expect 1 year upgrades like the others did the past few years.