Not sure what this pilot shortage talk is all about, it will never pertain to Alaska in it's current form.
1) There will always be 10 to 20 guys/girls every other month that will come here from a worse job.
2) There are almost no plans for growth in the short term, and probably not enough to ever make them have to worry about the pipeline of pilots.
3)The retirements aren't there vs. the legacies, so the demand will never be outrageous.
SkyWest still hires 100 a month with less pay, no flow agreement, and not near as good of bonuses as some of the other regionals. If a regional can do it offering less, so can Alaska.
I'm not trying to be defeatist, but our contract improvements aren't coming from a pilot shortage. I can guarantee you that. They are going to come from us standing shoulder to shoulder and saying no to whatever s&*t they stay they can only afford.