Originally Posted by ShyGuy

Don't understand how the real world works? And comments on management. Typically, that kind of statement is usually someone who has only done flying as a career. Reality is, it’s even worse in corporate America. At least I’m just a number here and despite the occasional grievance, get paid per the contract. “Toxic stew?” Hardly. And if it really is toxic stew, make your life better and leave. Plenty of DEC spots at the legacies these days.

Originally Posted by ShyGuy

Southwest pilot taking potshots at another major? That’s rich

Originally Posted by flyguy81

Coming from guys who squandered a strike vote to sign an inflationary lagging contract and have sold out mainline jobs for RJ’s…..that’s rich. You can shove it in our face if we screw the pooch….all I know is your rates won’t pass here.

Originally Posted by Turbosina

Thought I'd quit clogging up the "Alaska Hiring" thread so that the discussion could focus on hiring. Anyhow, I am fortunate enough to have CJOs at both shops, and will have to choose a class date soon. I am utterly torn between AS and SWA and thought I'd seek advice.

AS's culture / vibe have always really appealed to me, and your new TA is a huge benefit. That speaks to the (positive) state of the management/ employee relationship at AS.

I'm looking for a place to hang my hat for the final 15 years of my career; I have zero desire to go fly widebodies. All of the good things I'd heard about AS are what compelled me to apply, and I loved what I heard on interview day. However, this decision ain't easy.

I live in the junior base for both carriers (SWA/OAK and AS/SFO.) My #1 priority, by far, is scheduling flexibility. Upgrade time is also somewhat important, as I only have 15 yrs left in the game. Time to hold a line is also important, because reserve is a special kind of torture at my current shop.

So my questions are:

• What does scheduling flexibility look like at AS? That is my #1 priority, by far. My buddies at SWA (mostly junior FOs) universally love SWA because they started with 15 days off on reserve (that's significantly better than the 12 days off at AS), and now that they hold lines, I've seen in detail how their bidding/ trading works. The ELITT system they have is kind of amazing, in that it's very easy to move stuff around. Or you can bid a couple days of vacation, and if that vacation day touches an assigned trip, that trip is dropped. I can't tell you how incredible that is, considering the scheduling policies at my current shop.

What I've read on this forum, though, is that scheduling flexibility at AS is far less than what SWA has. I get that PBS is coming at AS, but we have PBS at my current shop and there is zero flexibility to move anything because everyone is max'ed out and we're permanently below min reserve staffing. I'm like the informal PBS help guy for my base and while I know the system inside out, I can't even get a single turn (!) picked up on our scheduling board because everyone is working to 117 duty limits and min days off. So the whole point of my post is to understand how much flexibility your junior peeps have.

• How long for a new hire to hold a line in SFO?

• Are SFO lines packed with lots of redeyes?

• There's a lot of talk about SFO growth, but from the investor presentation, AS is planning low single digit fleet growth for the next year. So where is that SFO growth gonna come from?

This is hopefully the final career decision I'll ever make, and I really want to make it an informed one. Thank you all!

Originally Posted by Jet J

explain how that relates to a pilot groups safety culture? You can’t possibly be that stupid right?[/QUOT

I don’t know anyone here who doesn’t operate safely. With 4k flights a day and 800 planes….stuff’s gonna happen. Nobody is going out of their way to cut corners.

We’re in contract negotiations…I’m not in a hurry to do anything. Things happen…like shoving landing gear through the wing in SNA…nobody I’ve seen is blaming that pilot for the incident. Having someone in your training dept lose it in the jumpseat while under the influence isn’t a good look.

Originally Posted by ShyGuy

That’s a hard flex just to defend a corndog.

Originally Posted by 9mikemike

Great advice….SWA or Alaska are places to hang your hat for sure. And both have opted to go the distance with the 737. SWA is truly a major in that if or when life skids off the road and you have to move far from where you planned to be SWA has a base not far away. Alaska is kind of a major regional in that the entire company is based in essentially the same time zone and half of the company is in one base. Commuting is an awkward concept at Alaska as it is not understood by or supported by 3/4 of the seniority list and 100% of the flight operations management group and by default the corporate leadership. Certainly doable but funky…Super long red-eyes are the growth focus for Alaska. ANC-JFK…long time to be in that 2hr cockpit….UAL is a great choice for just the choice. Not trapped in a 2hr airframe doing 6-7 hr red-eyes. If you end up at Alaska and can’t get any further you will definitely have a good flying job.

Originally Posted by GoodJet

You sure about that? I believe the better flexibility for sure but better pay? Considering snap up you guys are singlehandedly dragging the industry down on pay. We had to completely throw away SWA out of our snap calculation to keep our pay competitive with our peers.

Originally Posted by rickair7777

That's wrong, I'm looking right at the numbers.

If you had said "Pilot", singular without the "s" on the end you'd be correct. Presumably a non-west coaster who lives in a SW base, and you can't blame him/her for that.