Flightpath:
We are going to grow California by being awesome and giving our guests our secret sauce.

V1:
Brad doesn't understand why we need Scope, says the 86,000# or 76 seat limitation is an arbitrary number and he doesn't understand why it matters, also does not know what other airlines scope clause entails, says the new E175 E2 is a great plane and is 99,000# and he would like to get 82 seats in it.

Brad says we now have ~100 regional turboprops/jets flying for us, but do not worry about scope because no Alaska pilot has lost any flying due to a regional.

Brad says we should be glad we're not the highest paid pilots because companies with the highest paid pilots go bankrupt.

Sounds like time well spent....He is either a boy scout liar or a boy scout dunce.....by the amount of Boeing open time and premium time being picked up we are happy having a lying dunce chart the course for us...Yay team

Why did you have to bring up that dreadful required koolaid bonging session. Triggered me into flashbacks of projectile vomiting and explosive diarrhea.

Sounds like you got way more out of it than I did.

I don't know why management would stand up there and say these kinds of things. I want to believe these are smart guys, they should know they aren't going to convince Alaska pilots that it's cool to let other airlines fly our passengers on almost as capable aircraft with no concerns for our livelihood.

FWIW Ben said that he knows scope is coming when Brad wasn't there. My only concern is that this pilot group gets so wrapped up over a tiny scope win ( which is desperately needed to build on, if anything) and some pay rate of 263 ( marginal increase ) that we miss all the of real issues like schedule, work rules, vacation, legacy reserve rules, etc.

There's some wise pilot out there that once said, "Money is made in the work rules."

Doesn't Skywest have some MRJ on order that will exceed most airlines scope limitations?

They do however no one expects them to take delivery. If they are in the fleet regardless of who they are flown for they violate Delta’s scope.

At least the food and free booze was pretty good!


I, too, heard straight from Ben's mouth when I was there that "you guys are getting scope. It's inevitable." Of course, he's a politician, so it ain't true till it's in the contract.


First day is just a jerk off fest. The wifi sucked and I was bored out of my mind. V1 was a good way to express to the Bobs how we feel. They don't care of course.

I'm willing to bet he even believes himself when he says we'll have "scope" and he's probably telling the truth in his own way. Unfortunately, his definition of "scope" and ours are probably two very different things.

The fact is, getting scope that includes limits on seat count, MGTOW, and number of regional airplanes, will be like putting toothpaste back in the tube after AS already gave it away. Ben might be talking about agreeing to keep things status quo without adding RJ's with any more SEATS than they have now, but I guarantee he isn't talking about limiting the size of the fleet, let alone shrinking it, and we're still a year or more's worth of RJ growth/orders away from even negotiating.

He may indeed be willing to give us scope. Industry standard scope... Is another story.

Flight path served me well and one fact remained.

I need to leave this airline as quickly as possible.

Locking in status quo is the best you're going to get, no way is any toothpaste going back in the tube. Probably better not drag the contract out too long, or those 190's might show up at QX.

For contrast, 50% of UAL departures are UAX...