SAN Base opening, finally…
12-02-2025 | 07:47 AM
#61
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Joined: Mar 2022
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Almost every position bid since Covid has had junior captains who can’t hold captain anywhere else upgrade in SFO. 80-100 FO vacancies in LAX and SFO who try to get out soon as they can. Clearly, nobody wants SFO/LAX as a new hire because if they did they’d go to Delta or United.
Alaska finally reached the mythical threshold they’ve placed for the past 25 years to open a pilot San Diego base that the flight attendants have had for 20 years and everyone here is mad as hell. I’d assume at least 4% of a west coast airline pilot group live south of LAX and would bid San Diego, causing minimal need for displacement. Half of LAX pilots live in Temecula/Murrieta and do SNA trips already.
12-02-2025 | 07:50 AM
#62
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Joined: Mar 2022
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Its APC. The only thing to be here is mad about everything.
Almost every position bid since Covid has had junior captains who can’t hold captain anywhere else upgrade in SFO. 80-100 FO vacancies in LAX and SFO who try to get out soon as they can. Clearly, nobody wants SFO/LAX as a new hire because if they did they’d go to Delta or United.
Alaska finally reached the mythical threshold they’ve placed for the past 25 years to open a pilot San Diego base that the flight attendants have had for 20 years and everyone here is mad as hell. I’d assume at least 4% of a west coast airline pilot group live south of LAX and would bid San Diego, causing minimal need for displacement. Half of LAX pilots live in Temecula/Murrieta and do SNA trips already.
Almost every position bid since Covid has had junior captains who can’t hold captain anywhere else upgrade in SFO. 80-100 FO vacancies in LAX and SFO who try to get out soon as they can. Clearly, nobody wants SFO/LAX as a new hire because if they did they’d go to Delta or United.
Alaska finally reached the mythical threshold they’ve placed for the past 25 years to open a pilot San Diego base that the flight attendants have had for 20 years and everyone here is mad as hell. I’d assume at least 4% of a west coast airline pilot group live south of LAX and would bid San Diego, causing minimal need for displacement. Half of LAX pilots live in Temecula/Murrieta and do SNA trips already.
We did get a free lecture about not screwing it all up for the company so there is that. The fantastic leadership trickles down around here.
12-02-2025 | 08:25 AM
#63
Prime Minister/Moderator
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 44,882
Likes: 678
From: Engines Turn or People Swim
no, if a captain is displaced out of base X and a FO, who is senior to Captain in bass X, they will get the captain slot over the current captain and be awarded upgrade, and the captain in basics could potentially be downgraded to FO because they can no longer hold captain because a bunch of senior FO’s decide to take the vacancies
Why not extend that to domicile as well, since it's reasonably more disruptive to one's life if you have to move the whole family to another city... as opposed to taking a paycut that drops you from the top 5% of earners down to top 10%.
You could argue the case, and the company might even prefer it since it would turn two training events into zero training events and keep the guy higher on the longevity scale in the right seat.
But fundamentally that's not the precedent for how seniority works in our era. Aside from special cases in a merger like the Red Circle thing (I'm not even sure that was ever even triggered?).
I think most would be opposed.
12-02-2025 | 08:27 AM
#64
Mmmm wine
Joined: Feb 2020
Posts: 1,791
Likes: 351
From: The Jet
Its APC. The only thing to be here is mad about everything.
Almost every position bid since Covid has had junior captains who can’t hold captain anywhere else upgrade in SFO. 80-100 FO vacancies in LAX and SFO who try to get out soon as they can. Clearly, nobody wants SFO/LAX as a new hire because if they did they’d go to Delta or United.
Alaska finally reached the mythical threshold they’ve placed for the past 25 years to open a pilot San Diego base that the flight attendants have had for 20 years and everyone here is mad as hell. I’d assume at least 4% of a west coast airline pilot group live south of LAX and would bid San Diego, causing minimal need for displacement. Half of LAX pilots live in Temecula/Murrieta and do SNA trips already.
Almost every position bid since Covid has had junior captains who can’t hold captain anywhere else upgrade in SFO. 80-100 FO vacancies in LAX and SFO who try to get out soon as they can. Clearly, nobody wants SFO/LAX as a new hire because if they did they’d go to Delta or United.
Alaska finally reached the mythical threshold they’ve placed for the past 25 years to open a pilot San Diego base that the flight attendants have had for 20 years and everyone here is mad as hell. I’d assume at least 4% of a west coast airline pilot group live south of LAX and would bid San Diego, causing minimal need for displacement. Half of LAX pilots live in Temecula/Murrieta and do SNA trips already.
If anyone is pretending that SAN won't be another junior, understaffed, and problematic base on the FO side, they are insane...
12-02-2025 | 08:33 AM
#65
Prime Minister/Moderator
Joined: Jan 2006
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From: Engines Turn or People Swim
The company hates training cycles and pilots not flying the line. The timing of SAN opening is a bit strange to me as there are many variables over the next year that could bring massive training events. I'm sure they had multiple people run financial scenarios about opening the SAN base now vs later along with displacements, upgrades, but the biggest variable to me is what does basing and flying look like when the SLI is completed but obviously, thats a ways off.
If they intended big disruptions on the HAL side post SLI (ex canx AZ, park 321's), you'd think they want to open the SAN base after SLI. Otherwise they'd get one round of training events before SLI and another big one after, involving multiple fleets, when displaced HA pilots come in.
If they do not intend HA side disruptions, then they're better off doing it now, when it will be mostly base transfers with a handful of guppy upgrades and downgrades.
So this might be a good sign, timing wise.
12-02-2025 | 08:38 AM
#66
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Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 672
Likes: 223
Well, welcome to junior basing. OAK, BWI are junior for SWA, the New York 3 are junior for almost everyone who has bases there. UAL, DAL, and AAL run vacancies in almost every base, in multiple fleets, almost perpetually. That's how the airlines work. Junior things are junior because reasons. I am not sympathetic to the company AT ALL for having bases that are junior. They need to staff them right and grow them right. Alaska handles staffing, basing, and position bids unlike anyone else, and we seem to be the only ones with problems like this. Gee, I wonder why.
If anyone is pretending that SAN won't be another junior, understaffed, and problematic base on the FO side, they are insane...
If anyone is pretending that SAN won't be another junior, understaffed, and problematic base on the FO side, they are insane...
12-02-2025 | 08:45 AM
#67
Prime Minister/Moderator
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 44,882
Likes: 678
From: Engines Turn or People Swim
12-02-2025 | 08:48 AM
#68
Mmmm wine
Joined: Feb 2020
Posts: 1,791
Likes: 351
From: The Jet
Cruz can say for sure, but most airlines run monthly or at least semi-regular position bids and adjust vacancies for a given bid. To my knowledge, vacancies are bid first almost everywhere. Opening a SAN base? Post a vacancy, THEN see how that leaves other bases, and post vacancies or deductions accordingly.
12-02-2025 | 08:50 AM
#69
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 44,882
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From: Engines Turn or People Swim
12-02-2025 | 08:52 AM
#70
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Joined: Apr 2022
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Likes: 110
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