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Seattle Times: To survive the pandemic, AS prepares to shrink and shed 1000s of jobs
https://www.seattletimes.com/busines...sands-of-jobs/
"Alaska Airlines projects a slow recovery from the rapid decline in air travel due to the coronavirus pandemic, and it’s preparing to shed as many as 3,000 jobs next year from its 23,000-strong work force.... "Alaska’s determination that it must shrink and cut jobs is in contrast to a buoyant optimism at rival carrier Southwest Airlines. "In an interview published Wednesday on Forbes, Southwest CEO Gary Kelly outlined a boldly optimistic recovery plan, foreseeing a return to a full flying schedule by year end and an aggressive expansion — offering fare sales, opening new routes and adding 737 MAXs to the fleet — aiming to take market share away from the big three U.S. airlines." |
beat me by ~10 min ... I was digesting the story before posting
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Originally Posted by jrl767
(Post 32446332)
beat me by ~10 min ... I was digesting the story before posting
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The new COVID screening questions during checkin via the app is interesting.
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Originally Posted by williwaw
(Post 32446458)
The new COVID screening questions during checkin via the app is interesting.
Are they just asking the typical 'Have you been near anyone with symptoms lately?', 'Have you had symptoms lately?', and 'Have you traveled to a hotspot lately?' questions. |
Originally Posted by TheStrangerIn29K
(Post 32446526)
Interesting.
Are they just asking the typical 'Have you been near anyone with symptoms lately?', 'Have you had symptoms lately?', and 'Have you traveled to a hotspot lately?' questions. |
Starting June 30, flyers will be required to complete a health agreement during check-in and verify that they haven't exhibited COVID-19 symptoms in the past 72 hours, come into contact with someone who is symptomatic and agree to bring and wear a face mask or covering.
Interesting that they are waiting that long to implement this. |
Originally Posted by RAD_PDX
(Post 32448411)
Starting June 30, flyers will be required to complete a health agreement during check-in and verify that they haven't exhibited COVID-19 symptoms in the past 72 hours, come into contact with someone who is symptomatic and agree to bring and wear a face mask or covering.
Interesting that they are waiting that long to implement this. |
Originally Posted by williwaw
(Post 32448445)
Its a tough situation to be in. A private business refusing customers based on symptoms could run afoul of ADA protections. And because asymptomatic rates are high, one can claim the self reported symptoms are not effective. There is evolving guidance on this. (More here: https://www.natlawreview.com/article...s-during-covid)
These are strange times when it comes to dealing with the privacy of health information, among a litany of other things. |
about covid19 screening question;
Not sure if this is a good idea knowing frequent flyer, most 75K, would likely have higher chance to be near contact with potential asymptomatic covid19 just because they traveled and have gone through airports in cities hit hard by the virus. As for downsizing, this is sadly a reality. I do think recovery to 100% is inevitable but knowing the pace for vaccine research and distribution, this decision had to be made. Downsizing, however, I think will be short term, as I believe Alaska Is much healthier than its competitors. Can’t wait for return to 100%. Jiburi |
Originally Posted by RAD_PDX
(Post 32448467)
For sure. Like many, I'm still curious about what happens when you enter the "wrong answer" to these questions. Is your trip immediately canceled?
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Originally Posted by jiburi
(Post 32448519)
about covid19 screening question;
Not sure if this is a good idea knowing frequent flyer, most 75K, would likely have higher chance to be near contact with potential asymptomatic covid19 just because they traveled and have gone through airports in cities hit hard by the virus. As for downsizing, this is sadly a reality. I do think recovery to 100% is inevitable but knowing the pace for vaccine research and distribution, this decision had to be made. Downsizing, however, I think will be short term, as I believe Alaska Is much healthier than its competitors. Can’t wait for return to 100%. Jiburi |
Originally Posted by Raymoland
(Post 32448828)
You may have to wait. My wife works for a major Seattle area employer who are likely one of AS' top 5 customers. She has been in budget meetings the past couple of days. Their travel budget for 2021 is 90% lower than it was for 2020.
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Originally Posted by williwaw
(Post 32448850)
I've heard more and more companies sharing that online meeting platforms are better than they expected, and thus anticipate using face-to-face less. It will be interesting to see if thats a durable trend (either from online meeting burnout, or just a need to use travel as a competitive perk.)
They anticipate business travel to be a driving factor in the recovery, but not itinially. It definitely will be interesting to see how much lasting impact the alternatives will have on face-to-face interaction. AS has limited international exposure so a combination of leisure and domestic business travel may ultimately benefit them in the near to mid-term. Although Hawaii, Alaska & a cancelled Alaska Cruise season are an immediate hindrance with significant impact. James |
Originally Posted by TheStrangerIn29K
(Post 32446313)
"In an interview published Wednesday on Forbes, Southwest CEO Gary Kelly outlined a boldly optimistic recovery plan, foreseeing a return to a full flying schedule by year end and an aggressive expansion — offering fare sales, opening new routes and adding 737 MAXs to the fleet — aiming to take market share away from the big three U.S. airlines."
"...“Even with these offerings, we can’t guarantee that we won’t have to lay off or furlough employees in the future,” the Southwest document said. “We are offering this program to take voluntary steps first...” Trying to understand how WN expects to "return to full schedule & route expansion" when it is encouraging pilots, other employees to retire early. GK won the fuel hedge lottery during the last recession, windfall fueled aggressive tactics to buy several markets, including intra-California. Appears to be more of a WN marketing ploy, encouraging people to buy tickets than an expectation demand will be back to pre-Pandemic levels in January 2021. |
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