Pretty sad. Looks like we get to subsidize the cost of the merger. Management has the JV team in there playing dumb, pretending to be unable to understand. Union wants everyone to send polite notes to management. Summer of 2018
SWA pilots will be making $266hr their profit sharing is better... so with our current profit sharing we would need to make about $14 hour more then their rates or $280hr in 2018.
If we can't get the same compensation package as a SWA pilot then I would say our union isn't doing its job!

 

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Don't rock the boat that laid the golden egg! Slow and steady, that's our style. We need to leverage our core metrics and keep competitive by reducing our CASMs and maximizing ROI!

Sure, all the other pilot groups will be laughing at us and complaining that we dragged the industry down, but we'll be the true winners when it comes to getting along well with our management and union.

/s

 

We will be...by any measure....Our problem is how we view ourselves and how we believe they need to view us....We need to stop viewing ourselves as somehow adding value/leading/necessary/ important and just view ourselves as employees who can and should extract substantial wage and benefit gains from our employer...Our only "value" is that we cannot all be replaced at once. We should have been beating that drum loudy the day after Kasher released us from indebted servitude.....There is no "B" team in management as one uninformed poster mentioned.....Facts are this...They know that for 50.1% of the pilot group it is more important to be an "Alaska" pilot than it is to be a pilot with great benefits/ work rules/wages....They know that most Alaska pilots believe to be a cut above orher pilots and are willing to trade contract gains for perceived status....They also know that there is a steady supply of talented pilots that dont have all the bs window dressing like college degrees/community service/internal recommendations/ irrational cravings that the current crowd have.....They can fill a class a month for the rest of time without another interview......Thats the story period

 

There is most definitely a "B" team in management. The B team does not control the purse of the company. They work for the A team but really don't have the final say on anything. Our company tends to use the B team as the bad cop in negotiations. When moral of the common worker.. i.e. the pilot, finally deteriorates to a significant level, the B team negotiators make way for an A team negotiator to ride in on a white horse and settle up the contract.

 

Not to be a dbag, but this makes me laugh! What kind of status is that? It's not like it's Delta! But judging from my interactions with Alaska pilots since I came to the airlines over a decade ago, I believe your statement is 100% accurate.

 

Your 50.1% will be skewed by over 700 pilots at VX that have no such preconceived ideas about Alaska. Alaska will be airline number 8 for me. I can say with certainty that some are definitely better than others. BUT NONE ARE WORTH TAKING LESS THAN YOU DESERVE!

 

I have been at AS more then 15 years and I have never noticed that mentality. I have noticed a little of the "we can't make too much or we will kill the golden goose" crowd....but most of them are older and in the minority now. I honestly think we have some of the nicest, most humble pilots in the industry. That may be our problem, we are just too nice and way too accommodating. There is an industry bar and I want to be above it. I know this is the majority thought at AS now.
The above attitude usually stems from having wanted a job here and not getting it or not even getting the interview. I am confident if that was the case that you did deserve a job offer at AS... its a funny industry

 

Yeah I haven't seen anyone exhibit that mentality. Most pilots agree, pay is status.

 

A few years ago there were a lot more pro-company VX pilots too. That mostly ended about 2 years ago. From my first day in the airlines I've always been told to never trust mgmt and pilots need to look after ourselves. I have no loyalty to AS management. Show me scope, money and career advancement.

 

^^^This!^^^