Could be. They're on track at the moment.

They don't want the overhead and liability for razor thin margins on 10 planes. That's obvious.

Maybe if AZ decides they want a stable core air operation, AS would be willing to fill that niche.

But it looks like a no-go as it stands today. Especially if the MEC holds firm on eliminating the B-scale.

They would make the payrates the same and eliminate something in the freight work rules that is more valuable than $15 an hour. Company wins by saving money, mec wins by eliminating “b scale”

AS doesn't even like leased airplanes; they for sure hate the Amazon stuff. Amazon basically dictates AS revenue, and we have to provide pilots. There is no way that is sticking around.

I don’t get this place. They say they want to grow but are limited based off of lack of aircraft (max10). By the time those P.O.S s are hitting the line we could have had additional 320/321s thus justifying keeping the fleet, heck spirit just denied a bunch of them. If they truly wanted to grow and be a real airline they could.

Sick of the excuses and lies from this management. Every other major has airbus and doesn’t put all there eggs in one basket, yet these guys are so deep in bed with Boeing they won’t even consider it. Absolutely wild

Not uh.. I heard Jeff and Ben are BFFs

So voting on the contract in May of next year.

Just to add to what Rick was saying. Doesn't the Max 10 have less performance and range than the 8 and 9?

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The fate of Hawaiian’s A321s

At the Goldman Sachs conference, Tackett also shed light on Alaska’s thinking about its aircraft fleet, which now includes a mix of planes from Boeing and its European competitor Airbus.

The last time Alaska had a mixed fleet — when it acquired Virgin America in 2016 — it shed the inherited Airbus planes because it was cheaper and more efficient to operate aircraft from just one manufacturer.

Tackett said the airline has that same thinking today about its narrowbody fleet, which includes Boeing’s 737 MAX and Hawaiian’s fleet of 17 in-service Airbus A321s. But Alaska hasn’t yet decided what it will do.

“There really isn’t a reason in our mind to have two pieces of equipment that do the same thing; if you can get one, it has much better economics,” Tackett said. “The number of A321s we have is too few — you need double that number or zero.”
On the widebody front, Alaska plans to keep operating both manufacturers “as far as we can see into the future,” Tackett said. Alaska doesn’t have the same cost concerns as it would with its narrowbodies because it will operate the widebody A330s out of Hawaiian’s Honolulu headquarters, where the airline already has the right equipment for service and maintenance, and pilots and flight crews are already trained on operating that model.

Alaska is “extending leases and buying out of leases” for the A330, Tackett continued, and has the option to buy five more Boeing 787 widebody planes.

With Hawaiian’s Airbus fleet now in its fold, Alaska also has to deal with any Airbus challenges. On Thursday, Tackett acknowledged that the airline may “have to go down a couple lines of flying” due to an issue with the Pratt and Whitney engine on the A321.

Hawaiian’s operations were not affected by a recent software issue on Airbus’ A320 family, the airline said last week.

They already said no further Airbus orders. It’s probably a safe bet that the long term fleet is going to be 737 for NB and 787 for WB. Not immediately. It took almost 7 years to park all VX Airbuses. As the leases come up, or as they find buyers.

There were a lot of Virgin Airbuses, there are not a lot of Hawaiian 321NEOs, and next year it sounds like they're having engine issues creep back in. If Boeing can actually deliver 737 MAX 10's at some point I would not be surprised to see the 321s get phased out over 2 years. The 717 is a harder aircraft to displace, but it's also more pressing given its age, so they will find a work around for that. The A330's are probably here to stay medium term, Alaska just can't replace that lift with anything in a reasonable time range. 10+ years though I think you're right, 737/787 only airline.