I think Alaska puts ALOT of weight on internal recs. It's their right and I don't begrudge that. I know some great guys there. I can't say that's why they were hired but they did have a friend or two there. Still, great pilots and would let my family fly with them anytime!
My suspicion on the importance of the recs come from the recent CVR transcript where one of the pilots wanted to only work for Alaska. The pilot was not in a hurry to upgrade for PIC time building because the pilot knew someone and wouldn't need the normal 1000 PIC, 'just some'.
I'm not trying to debate the CVR, incident, etc,. Just pointing to a recent source of internal rec, implied, importance. I concede the fact that the pilot was not under oath, the truth in the statement is based on the pilots point of view, etc. I'm just saying it has been said.