they basically turned around what Southwest was and what made them fundamentally different and unique into just every other airline. Now they have a way to generate extra revenue, but now nothing really separates them from any other generic airline. Basically just Alaska without a first first class or meals.

 

Yes. I'd say something if I saw something, but I haven't.

People who get fired seem to try pretty hard. Don't do blatantly stooopid stuff, and if you get called on it don't double down (or lie about it FFS).

The wifi incidents I'm aware of were frequent flyer problem kids, who really kept pushing it. Wifi was probably just the final straw (or the excuse they needed).

Don't access company systems via airplane wifi while flying. Personally I just don't use wifi/internet at all during block time. I have enough IT savvy to know how easy it is for them to see that, you're just handing them all the rope they need, for whenever they decide to use it.

 

Newsflash, I know a lot of Pilots don’t want to hear it but, if the SAN “takes off (aka: is successful)”, the SFO base will surely close!
The reason very simple: COST!

There is zero chance that DM keeps talking about “savings, savings, savings” and yet turns around by opening a base which requires a lounge, a Chief Pilot, an Admin etc., etc., hence increased cost. It just doesn’t make sense and it’s not how AS operates!

 

Let’s just base everyone in Seattle. It will save money! That’s how Alaska operates. We make money by saving money.

 

This ^.. I wouldn’t be surprised if Alaskan is getting rid of the widebodies ( aircraft ) . They just can’t compete. Did not secure slots in London 🤣. Stock price down 30-% YTD. 5 aircraft type. One fleet is so small, might as well get rid of it .
Telling pilots to save more gas and to think twice when to de-ice.. what’s this ..“ getting back to business „ nonsense . What you think the pilots have been doing . Maybe shake up in the C suite is necessary

 

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?

 

What about having reserves to cover flights when people miss their 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.

 

Is there a time in history, at a major, where pilots absenteeism caused a base closure. That feels like fiction. People commute to Hawaii for heaven sakes and it’s never an issue.

 

The pain, according to flight ops management, wasn't just reserves struggling with their commute.

It was a significant trend of LC reserves who would get a call out, then wait a few hours and call in sick. That's technically legal since you could *hypothetically* get food poisoning or whatever within that 14 hour window. But then it was too late to get another LC there in time.

Again, according to management, FWIW.