Originally Posted by
AllTheNamesWhereTaken
To the OP:
I don't know if you are a resident of Alaska, frequent visitor or first time visitor. But here's some advice about the great state. You will have to realize that more often than not, especially in winter, things are not going to run on schedule. There will be bad weather. And there is nothing anyone can do about it. Things get delayed. Why, just last week I was stuck in my house the entire week because of weather. Did I complain? No. What's the point. Won't change anything. Just have to learn to take it all in stride.
If you are a seasoned traveler then you would also know that one delay/cancellation at ANC, FAI or JNU usually ripples out to a lot of other intra-Alaska flights. Especially between JNU and SEA.
Let's see here: I grew up in Anchorage (age 6 to 18) went to college out-of-state, came back after grad school and lived and worked there for 10 more years. I flew to remote locations all over the state in mostly small planes and helicopters and have worked and lived in the field in all weather conditions. I moved to Spokane about 6 years ago. So, yes, I think I pass your Cheechako test.
I am in Fairbanks right now where it's -47 degrees and I'm not whining about it - that's just the way it is. Anyway, don't give me that crap about needing to be tough and suck it up when it comes to an airlines inefficiency. They need to learn from their mistakes and make adjustments. Having to deal with weather and cancellations is a semi-predictable (in that you can predict that it WILL happen several times a year) occurrence that can be better handled during those times. THAT's where operations can learn a lesson or two about how to improve things.