pilot207

Hey fellow VX and Alaska Pilots. Just wondering if anyone has the latest on fleet plans following our meger process. I fly for VX currently and am near the bottom of the list before the buyout announcement. Just wondering if anyone knows what they really plan on doing with our fleet. We've been told they want to have in the range of 250+ planes in a few years. Any ideas of keeping the Airbus or moving to an all 737 fleet. Also to stay competitive and expand more are they ever thinking about getting wide bodies and perhaps expanding more internationally to compete with the big three?

mike734

250 planes sounds so optimistic. I'm not sure it's even possible to have enough planes delivered. As for wide bodies, there are no spots available for the 787 in the near future. I don't know about the A350 but I doubt it. About the only wide body aircraft I can think of are the retiring 767 out there. I'm sure someone will chime in with real numbers but I would not bet my career on flying wide bodies at Alaska.

OCCP

Does that 250 include Horizon airplanes?

Shrek

Is the Kool-Aid good ?

FlytoSurf

That's a lot of questions that no one would have the answers to. Good luck with your search.

4andCounting

Yeah, I wouldn't get to far ahead of this situation yet. We don't even have DOJ approval yet. Alaska doesn't know much about how to deploy the airbus, or even if they will like it or not. And although as a combined carrier we would be big enough to suppport a fleet of wide bodies, i think its too soon to be speculating on that as well. A lot goes into deploying a fleet of that size. Training, parts, market research, etc... its not an easy switch to flip. Give it some time before asking the hard questions. Anyone offering answers at this point has no idea about what they are talking about.

If you are junior on either side of the list, there is two ways to look at this merger. It might be the push you need to go looking for a gig at a larger, better paying legacy. Or a gamble that may pay off with a company with a strong, conservative growth plan, that may achieve a solid contract with a decent amount of retirments coming up that you can retire from.

Good luck to us all. And let's get that JCBA DONE ASAP!

Mea25000

Right now VX has 63 aircraft and AS has 149. VX has orders and options that would take its fleet to 103 in 2022. AS has options and orders to take it to 235 in 2021. The largest number I have heard is a 300 #, but 103+235 is 338 so that is the largest # you could see in the next 7 years. Subtract the 319s from the equation and 328 is the largest # and I am almost positive they are gone. 149 +63 = 212 so AS really has enough (235) deliveries and options to transition back to a single fleet and grow about 10% total during the next 7 years. Most people around here (AS) would not only say that this is possible, they would say it's likely the plan. Most of the pounding from the top I have heard of late is 300 jets in 2021. I think wide bodies for AS exist only in a mythical world where unicorns and lepricons live.
If you are at the bottom of the list at AS or VX you would be foolish not to apply elsewhere. You are not going to get hired and have to leave for 8-18 months best case... In that time the picture of your potential career at AS should get a lot clearer.

Klsytakesit

We are also reporting fleet size that includes CPA fleet numbers, so Skywest/ Horizon numbers are in most reports....Growth and departures include Skywest/ Horizon as well...case in point the big anouncement of hitting 1000 daily Departures....the breakdown showed 520ish Alaska Airlines flts and 480ish Skywest/Horizon flts...in early 2001(?) we hit 500 departures at Alaska Airlines....Horizon flts were counted as Horizon back then....so in 15 years we have grown by 30ish departures.....growth comes very slowly if at all around here

Packrat

My money is on returning the Airbus leases as the Boeing orders come on line.

And what's the number Angle Lake like to throw around the most? 10-11%. 10% growth, 11% ROIC. Its their mantra.

And the fevered imagination of new hires.

I believe you are correct, Sir. The problem for junior VX pilots is that until the SLI is accomplished as the Airbus leases expire its VX pilots that will get furloughed.

squall line

So the 321neo supposedly has a 500nm greater range than the max. Could this be a game changer for Alaska? I would think 500 miles is a lot when considering growth outside of where we already are. Or provide greater reliability on ETOPS flights when the headwinds are crazy. While I do think AS would prefer a single type, and the 737 seems to make the most sense, it would be foolish to count out the Airbus if it truly has better numbers than the Boeing.