Leaving United for Alaska… Change my mind…
11-22-2022, 11:54 PM
#41
New Hire
Joined APC: Nov 2022
Position: Cat Bird Seat
Posts: 6
Originally Posted by 9mikemike
There is no “new Alaska”. We got a pay raise. That is about it. We still do not have a contract that comes close to that of a “major airline”…And what we did get is still being administered by the same bunch of pilot-hating bureaucrats that make it their life's work to drill holes in and undermine the contract we do have. No doubt that you wont have to air commute. I did drive commute the I-5 corridor to both SEA and PDX for 5 years. I will never do that again. Like cheap beer and hookers, Alaska will always be here and there is no advantage gained by being in a hurry.
Alaska has not and will not change until there is a complete house cleaning in management. I don’t see that happening any time in my future at Alaska. You will be very sorry coming from United to Alaska.
11-23-2022, 05:45 AM
#42
Line Holder
Joined APC: Oct 2017
Posts: 50
I left alaska for united in 2018, best decision I’ve ever made. Alaska was undeniably the worst place I’ve ever worked, worse than the regional I’d previously worked for. I don’t know how the new contract will improve working there, time will tell, hopefully it is significantly better.
I can with certainty tell you that Alaska will drag their heels in implementing the new CBA. They will make excuses and delay and delay and delay. The union will file grievances that will never be rectified.
Driving to work is great, it may be enough to stomach the Air Group ways. That said, there is a reason that hundreds have left AS in the past few years to come to United (and many other places).
as someone else mentioned, better choice would be to go to delta and bid Seattle when you can hold it.
good luck with whichever way you choose to go!
I can with certainty tell you that Alaska will drag their heels in implementing the new CBA. They will make excuses and delay and delay and delay. The union will file grievances that will never be rectified.
Driving to work is great, it may be enough to stomach the Air Group ways. That said, there is a reason that hundreds have left AS in the past few years to come to United (and many other places).
as someone else mentioned, better choice would be to go to delta and bid Seattle when you can hold it.
good luck with whichever way you choose to go!
11-23-2022, 07:07 AM
#43
Orbis Non Sufficit
Joined APC: Oct 2015
Posts: 730
One thing you need to research, and there are plenty of guys on these forums who could help you with it, is how much BS do you have to deal with at AS on a day-to-day basis. Chaos in the daily operation, regional airline mentality, missing DH reservations, missing hotel reservations, etc. I don’t know enough about AS to comment, but here you pretty much show up to work on time and you generally have a pretty smooth trip, barring major WX or mechanical mayhem. For example, if I changed airlines the first time I showed up to a hotel after a redeye and found I didn’t have a reservation or the room wasn’t ready I’d be already questioning my decision……that type of thing is exceedingly rare here.
11-23-2022, 07:28 AM
#44
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Mar 2022
Posts: 184
People saying it’s worth it to sit in the jumpseat of a 737 to get to fly a widebody are the epitome of schadenfreude. No matter how you slice it, commuting sucks. The people who say Alaska is awful probably commute, and right now, there’s no airline that doesn’t “suck.”
Sit down with your partner and discuss where you want to settle down. Choose a base that gives you time home with your family, or be real with yourself and decide if your career aspirations are to sit in the right seat of a widebody and then upgrade to a narrowbody hopefully reaching 50% on a narrowbody the rest of your career, or living in base on a narrowbody.
Sit down with your partner and discuss where you want to settle down. Choose a base that gives you time home with your family, or be real with yourself and decide if your career aspirations are to sit in the right seat of a widebody and then upgrade to a narrowbody hopefully reaching 50% on a narrowbody the rest of your career, or living in base on a narrowbody.
11-23-2022, 07:35 AM
#45
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Mar 2022
Posts: 523
A friend of mine is an FA who left AS for UA and he was letting me know how much better management treats employees, how much better things are on a day to day basis with the operation, hotels etc... He commutes from Seattle. The new pilot contract at AS will not fix any of these issues. I wish I had gotten a call from UA. At 45+ with over 5 years of seniority at AS I am not going to leave but I sincerely do wish I had had an opportunity to do so when I was in my first or second year here.
To the OP I would be very careful with the decision you are about to make. You don't want to find yourself in my shoes 3-4 years from now. Trust me.
To the OP I would be very careful with the decision you are about to make. You don't want to find yourself in my shoes 3-4 years from now. Trust me.
11-23-2022, 08:37 AM
#46
Layover Master
Joined APC: Jan 2013
Position: Seated
Posts: 4,311
Well it should be pretty clear from this thread that there is no straight answer and you have to decide what best suits you and your family. You'll have extreme answers on both sides all day long. "Commuting is the worst!" "You're giving up way too much to leave UAL!" etc etc...
Exhausting.
You applied to AS while already employed at UAL. So, you aren't in love with UAL to the point you don't care about the commute. Have you been using AS for commuting? Have you been interacting with their crews?
I have about six friends at AS. All with over seven years on property. All live in the PNW. All of them work at AS only because they live in the PNW. That's it. None of them think it's a particularly great place to work. Another friend just got hired at UAL and lives in PDX. He's ecstatic.
A lot of it boils down to your personality. Will you always resent the commute like some people? And constantly complain it for half of four day? Or are you the type of person that doesn't mind it and likes the time to watch TV shows on your iPad in the back?
I've done many commutes, 45 minute flights, transons, 3.5 hour drives, six minute drives, to my current two hour drive. I prefer driving, even if 3.5 hours. I hate commuting, not because of "wasted time" (it's only wasted if you waste it, there's plenty you can do on a commute), but mostly because it's just really annoying and occupies too much space in my brain. I have limited space, and enough stuff already annoys me. I don't want to talk to more gate agents and FAs and pilots than I have to. I don't want to look up loads. I don't want to have plan a, b, and c. And I don't want to care about the weather. Some commuters don't care about any of that and are great about just showing up and taking it however it is. I'm not. I love getting in my car, even at 11:54pm, and driving two hours home through NYC.
UAL is without a doubt a better pilot job. If you can accept the commute and not be bitter about it, stay. SFO has tons of great flying and you'll have a career full of opportunities. You're opportunities at AS will be much smaller. Choose what's most important to you.
Exhausting.
You applied to AS while already employed at UAL. So, you aren't in love with UAL to the point you don't care about the commute. Have you been using AS for commuting? Have you been interacting with their crews?
I have about six friends at AS. All with over seven years on property. All live in the PNW. All of them work at AS only because they live in the PNW. That's it. None of them think it's a particularly great place to work. Another friend just got hired at UAL and lives in PDX. He's ecstatic.
A lot of it boils down to your personality. Will you always resent the commute like some people? And constantly complain it for half of four day? Or are you the type of person that doesn't mind it and likes the time to watch TV shows on your iPad in the back?
I've done many commutes, 45 minute flights, transons, 3.5 hour drives, six minute drives, to my current two hour drive. I prefer driving, even if 3.5 hours. I hate commuting, not because of "wasted time" (it's only wasted if you waste it, there's plenty you can do on a commute), but mostly because it's just really annoying and occupies too much space in my brain. I have limited space, and enough stuff already annoys me. I don't want to talk to more gate agents and FAs and pilots than I have to. I don't want to look up loads. I don't want to have plan a, b, and c. And I don't want to care about the weather. Some commuters don't care about any of that and are great about just showing up and taking it however it is. I'm not. I love getting in my car, even at 11:54pm, and driving two hours home through NYC.
UAL is without a doubt a better pilot job. If you can accept the commute and not be bitter about it, stay. SFO has tons of great flying and you'll have a career full of opportunities. You're opportunities at AS will be much smaller. Choose what's most important to you.
11-23-2022, 09:49 AM
#47
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Sep 2016
Posts: 6,716
Originally Posted by webecheck
I know a dual pilot couple, both FOs, that just left CA for a tax free state, and save 50k annually between them. Let’s just say you only save 20k though, and commute once a month to a 1 work block schedule as a WB FO at SFO. Your flight from Seattle (presuming this is where the OP commutes from) is 2hrs block time, and you do this 10x a year (2 months removed because of annual sick and vacation time). Your pay rate on those 20 commutes is $500/hr, but your straight time pay is only 250. Hmmm, so now which time is it you want back? Granted, there is the time spent by having 2 contractually legit options, and maybe sometimes missed commutes. (I’ve only had 1 MT in 7 years). Additionally, in between trips you have to buy a hotel, so subtract that cost from your $500 pay rate, let’s say it’s $200/night. You need 3 trips for an award, so 2 hotels. 1 round trip commute saves $2k minus $400 hotels. Net 1600/4hrs = $400 hourly rate. Anyone can tweak this math for a variety of reasons, but the bottom line is there can be a financial savings commensurate with the compensation you receive during actual work so the decision is not so easy. And let’s say the OP lives in tri cities area or somewhere else in eastern WA, he would make 1 drive per month instead of 3 or 4. That’s worth another couple hundred in fuel plus no less than 10+ hours of additional driving just to live “in base”.
Many people choose to do this for exactly the above reasons, so not so black and white.
Many people choose to do this for exactly the above reasons, so not so black and white.
11-23-2022, 01:17 PM
#49
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Sep 2017
Posts: 833
Originally Posted by goinaround
A combined income of $440,000 at the CA state income tax rate of 11.3% would be about $50K.
11-23-2022, 01:43 PM
#50
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jun 2018
Posts: 446
Originally Posted by KelvinHelmholtz;[url=tel:3536694
3536694[/url]]Do you not understand the difference between marginal and effective tax rates? At 440k in CA you’re paying closer to 35k a year in state income tax.
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