Originally Posted by Steve400

This is from a few of my military friends who said when they went to a job fairs that Horizon and Skywest were the only ones that would talk to them. They said the rest of the regionals told them they were 'over qualified'.

Originally Posted by MiLtoMajor123

Sooooooo what does this merger between Alaska and Virgin do to my aspirations of flying for Alaska? Will this Kill new hiring for awhile, until they figure out what they want to do? So many question marks now.....

Originally Posted by 2loud

Hiring will continue, IMO. How many and how often, can't really say.
If I were looking for a job today, I would not apply to Alaskan Air especially with the seniority integration that's coming up in a year or two. I think the smart thing for the company to do is to either get a new & improved contract with this pilot group or throw money at us to establish some sort of stability ASAP. With the SLI coming up and further delays to upgrade, it gives even more incentive for new hires/junior folks at both companies to leave for greener pastures given the low pay and mediocre retirement under our current contract. So yes, hiring will continue IMHO.

Originally Posted by pete2800

So in your opinion, someone who is in the pool will probably still have their shot at a class date?

Originally Posted by AKpilot

On Oct 29. 4 males 2 females, started class. From USAF, Skywest, Horizon and Allegiant. + 3 returning from LOA. AS seems to hire a good mix of folks. Slow hiring should continue. I would not expect more than 50-80 next year. And that would be a lot.

AS is small, fiscally conservative. Hiring is slow, growth is slow. They just posted the best quarterly earnings ever in the history of the company. Upgrades are about 12 years. We have a fairly young pilot group. Not a lot of retirements. If you want to work here living in the west at an online station would be best. In a base even better. Schedules for commuting are not that great.

I was at several airlines in the 80's, living in the east and was glad to be hired here. I was unemployed and sleeping in my car. There were times I thought about leaving but glad I didn't. Overall it's a pretty good place to work. But If I lived east of DEN and did not want to move.... Other airlines are starting to hire and you would probably be happier somewhere else. Commuting sucks. I know I do it.

IMO in the next 5 years AS will probably be bought by someone bigger (DL would be my first choice) or will buy someone else.

They are very picky right now on who they hire because they can be. Lots of super qualified people. but it should loosen up in the next year or so.

Good luck.

Originally Posted by MST3k

For what it's worth, Smart Recruiters are still making phone calls. I filled out their ap in January, then redid it again a little over a week ago. I got a phone call today. Same questions that have been mentioned before. The 2 oddball ones being, "have you flown 50 hours in the last 30 days?" And, "what was your ATP written score, if you can remember?" Surprisingly enough, I did remember that.