Looking forward to the call to come and interview with Alaska soon..please call me !!!! Hey, are the trips down to Mexico quick turns, or do you guys/gals overnight there as well? I'm thinking with these new Mexico routes from SEA/SFO/LAX, there will be more types of trips, but just wanting to know what you guys do now?:p

Most of the Mex trips are overnights. Most are about 24 hours. The MD does not fly to Mex anymore so if you want to go there you need to fly the 737. I have only been to PV, cabo and Mazatlan. I really only like PV.

Sounds fun....Which hotel in PV??? Is that more of an LAX based type service?
Also...as far as ALPA on the property, how does the pilot group feel about the representation? Good thing? Bad thing? Stupid question??? Your thoughts....

FOUL, Over the line....

In PV we stay at the Marriott Casa Magna. It's pretty nice. It is near the marina so we mostly go to dinner there. Occasionally, if you are with some party minded FAs we will take the $6 cab downtown. We can stay out to all hours because you don't have to be downstairs for the van until around 3pm. (can't drink past midnight though, co. rule) Most of the crews are kind of burned out on partying downtown because they are senior and have "been there, done that." Sometimes a very good time can be had though.

Not even close. First of all Alaska is not in the same league as Southwest and Fedex. Second, CAL, Airtran, JetBlue, to name a few are also hiring in massive numbers...particualrly CAL.

Ask around about the Alaska Captain who "partied" a bit too much and fell off of the bridge that spans the river in PV and had to have his foot amputated. I guess he suffered a compund fracture aggrevated by sewage in the water.

Happened several years ago and I think the guy still flys with a prostetic foot, ouch !!

Really old thread, but it sheds light on the fact that the management bubble was/is real!

Now, pretty soon, all you'll need is a pulse to get hired, as these days, most pilots believe they can do better getting hired elsewhere.

My, how times have changed...

Not sure I see the point of this post. The letter from the original post clearly states:

" Just wanted to give our Pilot Group an update on the hiring practices, as a few things have changed in the past couple of months. Alaska is in the driver’s seat in regards to hiring right now. Even though many of the carriers are starting to call back furloughed pilots, it is apparent that many will remain off those carriers’ active rolls for a while. Until they have had a chance to recall these pilots, we, along with FedEx and Southwest seem to be the major players in the hiring game right now. This gives us the ability to actively search out the best, most qualified, and interested pilots who show the desire to make Alaska Airlines their future. We, along with the other carriers, have all raised the standards by which a candidate is considered. "



Those are just facts. It was an entirely different landscape back then versus today. Why is this relevant today? Everyone knows it isn't 2006.

Oh, so now I understand where VX "won the lottery" comes from ;)

"The strength of our pilot group is that we have a healthy mix of pilots from all sectors of aviation: civilian, military, commuter, corporate, those with Alaska experience, those without, some with prior jet time, others who have slogged their way through the aviation trenches, some with ties to the company, some who just won the lottery."