***......I'm guessing your an Alaskan pilot flying 208's out of BFE. You already gave the flying away so there is no one to blame but your own pilot group. I would think the Alaska pilots would want to keep all flying under the Air group umbrella but I'm guessing there are too many " I want mine" at the top of the list at AK.

Now this is a new perspective - outsource future Alaska jet flying instead of operate it by the wholly-owned subsidiary because that will help unify the Alaska pilot group and solidify scope in a future contract. Don't get me wrong, I want to see the regional business model wither and die just as much as the next guy, but I'm not sure how crushing Horizon in favor of Skywest would help attain that goal.

Fact is, Alaska should feel nervous about the fact 30 airplanes set to fly routes twice your average stage length is up for vote and AAG never called to see if you were interested. Why? Scope. You guys missed the boat on this one and scope should be a focal point in your next contract regardless of the outcome of this race to the bottom between Horizon and Skywest, but good luck with having any leverage with that with 50 E175's on the property or on order to be flown by OO or QX.

What would be so beneficial about Skywest getting these airplanes instead of Horizon exactly? Easier to rally the troops by demonizing Skywest? Comforting to hear an Alaska guy that would like to see Horizon burn because they weren't paying attention.

Ya now that you put it that way I agree with what you are saying... they wouldn't hesitate one second to furlough someone at earliest convenience f it helped the company.

Ask Delta, United and American about keeping the flying in the holding company......

Alright, I'll pen a letter to each of their CEO's.

In the meantime, care to be more specific? I get why you would want to see that flying at mainline Alaska, but what's worse about the flying being at a WO carrier instead of a FFP carrier?

Anyone else updating their resumes?

I was keeping my resume up-to-date before this whole debacle and I'll keep doing it after we finish negotiations and AAG announces that Horizon will be getting 30 shiny new E175's.

Now in the 1% chance they burn us and give Skywest the flying, I will likely substantially widen the range of companies I apply to...

But fact is, whether you are a junior FO or a line holding CA with weekends off and 10+ years to retirement, you ought to be looking to get out of any regional. If an opportunity for new flying comes along and the company tells you they will set you on fire if you don't take concessions, that is a good reminder that the regionals are no safe place to stay.

1% chance huh? That got optimistic in a hurry.

They're giving us far too much information that would be damning if we didn't get this flying. If this were a straight bottom-dollar bid, they wouldn't have made it sound so cataclysmic if we didn't cave and give concessions. That's my opinion anyway, which is not shared by all and why it is not out of the question that this pilot group might actually allow the company to whipsaw them into concessions.

45 E175's at Skywest doesn't give AAG leverage. 15 there and 30 at Horizon makes all the marionette strings just the right length.

Leverage isn't what Air Group is interested in. They like dollars and stock price gains. Besides, they already have all of the leverage over us that they could possibly want. We're wholly-owned, with no chance of any other flying, we're the most expensive option, and our airplane is not a long-term solution. We're the person with their neck under the guillotine. We have no cards to play.

If leverage over Skywest is what they want, then all they need to do is go find the next cheapest regional.