ahem, you mean Columbia.

 

I think he mean anywhere east of the Pacific Ocean

 

I call shenanigans! Many of the ex and current mil guys at Alaska are working their tails off for the pilot group. Don’t throw stones at these guys.

 

Not bad mouthing the ex military, I am one, but they come out of an environment where they are forbidden by law to form a union and retirees have both a CPI adjusted pension and Tricare coverage. Their experience and needs are often a little different than those who have come up through most regionals.

 

Excargodog made my point but, just to double down on what he said…. Yes… I’m very familiar with the ex mil guys doin yeomans work for our contract, AND, also, not even throwing stones at the ones that aren’t… I was simply saying that when/if you already have some of the provisions one might seek in a contract provided by other means (mil retirement, lack of need to commute because you retired in the area etc, extra income from guard duty, etc) you might not feel the need to fight for things that other carriers already had in the past. There are some things missing in our contract that we’re fighting for, that I actually defend the lack of in the past. For instance, if most of the pilots are from/live in base, all of a sudden using negotiating capital to hammer out better reserve rules or commuter policy might seem crazy. Bottom line, on the “ex mil pilot” point, in particular, I was just listing what I thought was another possible answer to why our contract is so far behind…. Not so much laying blame.

Blame doesn’t matter anyway. Here we are. Times have changed. Time for our contract to evolve as well.

 

They also learn fast, and most of us don't like being taken advantage of. AAA personalities.

 

I’m not here to turn this into a civ vs. mil ****ing contest so don’t get your panties in a wad. As a veteran myself, you have to admit that there are more than enough Uncle Sam’s yes men. Majority of those who elect to climb the corporate ladder tend to be spineless and lack integrity. Just look at the previous and current CPs, VPs, and Directors. When I was hired here, there were a lot more of them here in middle management and at the bowling alley. GT was a rare one and look where he ended up. It’s a given that veterans/mil retirees who receive government bennies have different needs than someone who doesn’t. FYI, veterans/mil retirees have earned every penny of those benefits. At the end of the day, each pilot will vote with their pockets. This mentality can perhaps change with union’s leadership. I’m cautiously optimistic.

 

Mil, civilian, who cares - what matters is perspective. If Alaska is your first airline after leaving the military (or 135 or whatever), then there's a good chance you have a lot to learn about the industry. There's also a good chance that through no particular fault of your own you don't even know what kinds of work rules you are missing by working here, whereas the guys coming from previous airline jobs, or multiple previous airline jobs, know exactly what they're missing here. And that knowledge of the industry that extends outside of one's own airline is what gets us a contract that holds its own against the rest, and that effects all of us.

 

That's natural, many of those people have the skillset to slide right into management, and in fact that's what most of us do later in our mil careers. Some actually like it... those are predictable.

 

What should one expect on the phone interview??