sfozrhfco

Exactly this. AS should be in the best position of any US based carrier now. They had sound finances, they didn't have a huge international network that was severely impacted by COVID closings, they had a strong base of support in SEA. All they had to do was negotiate fairly with their employees and then give a clear vision for the future. People are not going to be excited by getting rid of fleet types and losing service with no hope of getting it back. Why invest in a "relationship" with AS if you have no idea what routes they will be flying outside of its SEA base? What are the plans for product improvements? Even Southwest is adding power and improving their Wifi experience and most carriers are moving towards providing it for free. The management team has been floundering since 2017 in everything but cutting costs and reducing debt. This can only take them so far in this current environment. Once they lose the fan club in AK and SEA, they are toast as they have nothing left.

Take the lead, settle with the pilots, and come up with a plan as to what to do with the new planes. Endless chaos is not what any company wants to put out there as the vision for the present and future.

StevenSeagalFan

I hope I'm wrong, but I think they will go on strike. I've never seen sentiment amongst their pilot group this bad. There is a LOT of resentment towards the company and pilots like a lot of other workers in this day and age have a lot of options if they want to leave so they know they have leverage. Alaska refuses to acknowledge what is going on. The public isn't stupid. I think what will harm Alaska even more is that the customers who have saved up and been locked in their houses for 2 years during Covid and are looking forward to their big trip will not forgive and forget when Alaska cancels it. I'm on the ground in aviation here in Seattle and I'm hearing it. I've had people who had Mileage Plan's their whole life from the day they were born, come to me and say look I'm done with Alaska after the holiday meltdown/picket meltdown, etc. There are just too many other viable and more importantly, reliable options now. It's sad. I really hope AS can get it together but it starts with admitting the problem.

fly18725

While this negotiation may be complicated by the operational failures, ability of pilots to easily leave and aggressive social media campaign, it’s not the worst AS negotiation or in the top 20 worst airline labor negotiations.

Some people take their business elsewhere and don’t come back. But, most customers have very short memories and will buy an AS ticket in the future if it provides the best value. The fact that everyone other airline has had labor action and/or operational meltdowns (or worse performance on a regular basis) yet continues to exist says something about consumers.

StevenSeagalFan

I think the customer base in the Pacific Northwest is a little different. They're known to speak with their wallet, not minding paying a little more to go with their preferred product, in fact, Alaska used to point that out. They're very loyal here until they're not.

GumboCook

Just give us more aircraft liveries. Who cares about operational performance. I just want pretty planes.

fly18725

AS has had extended periods of less than stellar operations in the past. What changed with their customers?

StevenSeagalFan

It's become more frequent, the recovery has been slower and the trips have meant more to their customers recently. Also, the options have increased from SEA. I've had people running up to me in tears saying how they've been a 75k for decades and are done. I've never seen the resentment towards Alaska I'm seeing now in 10 years of airport leadership at Seatac.

Buster

I'd also argue that there's been such a watering down of the service that it's not really distinguishable from any other airline anymore. We've had some truly terrible service lately in F (waiting until toward the end of a flight to ask for a drink and food order, then bringing everything out on one tray, and rushing everyone to finish so they could clean up before the flight landed, etc.). People used to put up with some pockets of irrops knowing that the service was going to be good, and that it was going to right itself shortly. I think people are now feeling like there's no clear path to fixing this, and the service is poor.

We've just had a whopper of a time change - our morning PDX-BUR at the end of the month just became an evening flight. That's fine for this trip, as it's a leisure trip, but again reinforces that you can't book AS for work travel because it's too unreliable.

williwaw

This last point is key. For my work trips the margins on time are just too tight and AS has so few back up options.

be_rettSEA

I also think the elimination of change fees has made even years-long elites (Gold, 75K) more open to acting as free agents. That was my top reason for stretching to get Gold most years - knowing I could book whatever I wanted speculatively, and save myself the $150 if I chose to refund to my wallet. Sure, upgrades, chocolate bars and being addressed by your name are nice, but most can now get the basics they need (bag fees waived, slightly earlier boarding) through credit cards and more consumer-friendly airline policies vs BIS miles.

northwesterner

I had an end of month BUR-SEA-BUR affected by a schedule change. I was looking at co-terminal options and the schedule SEA/PDX-LAX/ONT/BUR is just decimated.

Typically AS ramps up those flights for the summer - cruise passengers, Disneyland family trips.

fly18725

The last 10 years have been pretty good and disappointment is warranted. There were periods >10 years ago that were less than stellar.

As a UA elite during many down years, I’ve heard lots of threats and complaints from people that didn’t leave, or left and came back.

Air travel is a commodity. For AS, that means they can’t depend on repeat business because of past success: they need to deliver consistently. However, the missteps, if corrected, are not a death sentence.

Eastbay1K

Exactly. "We're" all guilty of short attention span, some worse than others. This is why I've never had the "I'm never flying XYZ again" tantrum. Because you never know. And then there's, for instance, a relative who had a UA horror story years ago and ended up on CO (who treated them well) for the same trip, and still won't "ever fly UA again" even though current UA is CO with UA lipstick.

For a $49 west coast or a $99 transcon in the "we missed you" promo, most people's cancellations of auld lang syne are not going into the calculation of which airline to fly.

StevenSeagalFan

I know how it works, I'm just saying, and I hope I'm wrong, but this is different. People are angry and not forgetting. Time will tell I guess.

fly18725

My point was we always say this is different and that people won’t forget. Yet, they always have. AS’ current issues are minor compared the the 💩 other airlines put passengers through.