Alaska Airlines ongoing problems

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Alaska Airlines ongoing problems

Posted: 2/15/2006 10:09:14 PM EDT

Everytime I watch the local news they seem to have one problem after another one, all either happening more often or garnering more attention than ever before.

I took them to SHOT, dirt cheap airfare with miles, for the mostpart uneventful, but it did seemed like when we got back it took them forever to get us our luggage. There were 4 flights stacked at one carosel at 0100!

Damn I used to really like flying them, but it sems like they have gone out of their way to go from first to worst.

Posted: 2/15/2006 10:22:44 PM EDT

[#1]

flying them home...we'll see.

Posted: 2/16/2006 6:22:21 AM EDT

[#2]

Took me 90 minutes to check in coming back from shot. Flight was waaay overbooked, begging for bumps, but the next two flights were full also.The actual flight was uneventful though, and my baggage was not a problem that night.

I still have around 50K miles to use up before I make any decisions on future flights.

Posted: 2/16/2006 9:38:19 AM EDT

[#3]

I have never had a problem with them. Except that one time, with the air marshall thing but the courts will resolve that.................

Posted: 2/16/2006 10:14:58 AM EDT

[#4]

Quoted:
I have never had a problem with them. Except that one time, with the air marshall thing but the courts will resolve that.................

OK now you have my curiousity, what Air Marshal thing is that?

Posted: 2/16/2006 10:30:21 AM EDT

[#5]

Quoted:
Quoted:
I have never had a problem with them. Except that one time, with the air marshall thing but the courts will resolve that.................

OK now you have my curiousity, what Air Marshal thing is that?

He is full of shit....like he is every day...24 hrs a day...7 days aweek...365 days a year....

And if he is not This time...

I hope it gets over with faster than the time he got gonorrhea from that Saigon Whore.

Posted: 2/16/2006 10:35:49 AM EDT

[#6]

Quoted:
I have never had a problem with them. Except that one time, with the air marshall thing but the courts will resolve that.................

Shh....you're not supposed to talk about that!

Posted: 2/16/2006 10:46:56 AM EDT

[#7]

The one thing I really appreciate about Alaska is that they treat "ammo" like luggage.....50lbs per bag. Many of the other airlines have a 11# limit on ammo. 11lbs doesn't get you much 45ACP

Posted: 2/16/2006 9:02:53 PM EDT

[#8]

I fly quite a lot and Alaska is only surpassed (in the worst's worst list) by Southwest.

I cannot remember a flight that left on time and landed on time. After those "self-destruction" incidents I only flew it once in an American Airlines shared thing... only way to get home fast ... still bad...

Posted: 2/16/2006 11:01:57 PM EDT

[#9]

I fly Alaska/Horizon a lot, and they do have their problems. Horizon less so than Alaska. But I've also flown NWA, Delta and American in the past year, and they all suck shit too. The only airline I've flown in the last year that was decent was Virgin Atlantic. Mostly because the flight attendants were ALL hot and no older than 25, and each seat had it's own entertainment system. The downside was that each seat in "cattle car coach" was built for little tiny people.

I made MVP with Alaska for the last two years (25,000+) and it does help. Check in faster, I can usually always get an exit row seat at booking, and first class upgrades when available. I liked watching all the faces on the flight back from SHOT walk past and tell me to "fuck off" basically.

CavVet was one of them!

Right now I've got about 275,000 miles in the bank for Alaska. I'm saving to 300,000 for two first class round trip tickets to Australia on Qantas.

Posted: 2/17/2006 1:16:09 PM EDT

[#10]

I would be more worried about the gang signs in the cargo hold....

Posted: 2/17/2006 8:30:42 PM EDT

[#11]

Apparenly they had another one today. Something about fuel leaking from the wing???

Now... I'm not fond of Alaska but it seems there's more going on here. How come so many problems, suddenly, in a single airline???

Posted: 2/17/2006 8:39:43 PM EDT

[#12]

Quoted:
Now... I'm not fond of Alaska but it seems there's more going on here. How come so many problems, suddenly, in a single airline???

Google up Alaska Airlines- News......

Im telling you they have major issues, I dont think I will be flying them aytime in the near future.

Posted: 2/27/2006 12:13:50 PM EDT

[#13]

Part of the reason they are in the news so much is that ever since that first depressurization King 5 "Investigators" have an ambulance chaser dude sitting at the airport listening with a scanner to every maintenance call that comes over the radio, thus you hear a report of a "fuel leak" on "Breaking News Coverage" before they take the time to find out it was just fuel misting out of a fuel vent in the wingtip like it's supposed to.

If they focused on every other airline you'd get the same problems and incidents at every airline I would think.

Speaking of gang signs, I saw some Southwest "gangsta" baggage handlers down in LAX with "WARRIORS" in felt pen inked across the back of their orange vests. Nice dress code enforcement.

Posted: 2/27/2006 3:48:56 PM EDT

[#14]

Just took an Alaska flight from Denver last Friday....2hr Delay...I wasn't exactly looking to spend my Friday night in an airport...so I make it thru the security line (30 min wait) when the person tells me I have to go back to Check-in b/c my boarding pass is invalid. I fly almost every week and Alaska has really fallen down in the last 6 months....

On the other hand...Frontier is pretty nice....Direct TV for every seat.

Posted: 2/27/2006 4:55:33 PM EDT

[#15]

It isn't that Alaska went from having no problems to many problems, it's just they are reported to the news media now. Ever since they outsourced some of the in-house job functions, many ex-employee's and union supporters are back dooring information to reporters. Not all is true. (Tell me you haven't heard the same BS when it comes to guns and the media gets a hold of it?)
Alaska has problems just like every other airline. You just hear more about Alaska because they are local and because of the "ambulance chasers".

I fly Alaska a lot, probably has to do with I work for them. If I thought they were an unsafe airline, I wouldn't step foot on their planes. I don't believe they are unsafe for one minute. I've been on over a dozen flights this year, and I'm going on another this week.

Posted: 2/27/2006 6:30:47 PM EDT

[#16]

OK, I'll say it:
Didn't most of the problems begin when they quit using 'UNION' Members?

Posted: 2/27/2006 6:33:30 PM EDT

[#17]

Quoted:
OK, I'll say it:
Didn't most of the problems begin when they quit using 'UNION' Members?

Most of the problems begn when they starting using contract workers.

I dont need to be on the next one of theirs that falls from the sky, AFAIK Im done with them. I will use my miles elsewhere. Too much shit going on with them, I dont care why.

Posted: 2/27/2006 7:57:40 PM EDT

[#18]

Quoted:
OK, I'll say it:
Didn't most of the problems begin when they quit using 'UNION' Members?

Absolutely not. You're only hearing one side of the story, and that's what they report to the media. One fact is true however, their on-time performance went down.

Posted: 2/27/2006 8:05:13 PM EDT

[#19]

Quoted:
Quoted:
OK, I'll say it:
Didn't most of the problems begin when they quit using 'UNION' Members?

Most of the problems begn when they starting using contract workers.

I dont need to be on the next one of theirs that falls from the sky, AFAIK Im done with them. I will use my miles elsewhere. Too much shit going on with them, I dont care why.

There are lots of people that feel the way you do. Nearly 75 years of a good reputation can be ruined in a years time. However, I have to respect your decision to not fly on Alaska.
These times will pass and Alaska will get back to being what they were in the past, a good airline.

Posted: 2/27/2006 8:53:08 PM EDT

[#20]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
OK, I'll say it:
Didn't most of the problems begin when they quit using 'UNION' Members?

Most of the problems begn when they starting using contract workers.

I dont need to be on the next one of theirs that falls from the sky, AFAIK Im done with them. I will use my miles elsewhere. Too much shit going on with them, I dont care why.

There are lots of people that feel the way you do. Nearly 75 years of a good reputation can be ruined in a years time. However, I have to respect your decision to not fly on Alaska.
These times will pass and Alaska will get back to being what they were in the past, a good airline.

Sorry man. I agree with CavVet. I've been upset with Alaska's low service quality even before all this SHTF about their maintenance and safety started and only flew then when nothing else was available (except Southwest). Now it's two on my list.

Too early for me to

Posted: 2/28/2006 9:51:52 PM EDT

[#21]

Link

Alaska Air Exec Tries To Turn Around Recent Negative Image

February 28, 2006

By Brian Calvert

New VP of Operations spends his first weeks on the job trying to counter recent events, put things in perspective.

SEATAC - Ever since a gash was found in one of their planes in December, Alaska Airlines has been under the microscope. But management is hoping you'll put a string of recent incidents into perspective.

Long before he moved to the corporate office, Kevin Finan served as a pilot for Alaska Airlines. "I don't fly as much as I'd like to, but it's one of my passions," Finan says. He was recently named the company's Executive Vice President of Operations.

"After 37 years as a pilot, I see our commitment as a company to safety every single day," Finan tells KOMO News in an exclusive interview.

In his first weeks on the job, Finan is spending most of his time reacting to and reviewing a string of incidents involving the airline's fleet. It started December 26 when a ramp worker put a gash in an MD-80's fuselage, and it hasn't seemed to stop.

"Every airplane we have has redundant systems, and a protocol of what to do when a pilot suspects there could be a problem," Finan says.

The executive is candid about the December incident, and says it shouldn't have happened. But the next several weeks of air mask deployments, malfunctioning gauges, and diverted flights have been the result of minor issue or safety protocol.

"I can't be more proud of the flight crews," he says.

If a pilot even suspects a problem, he must make a call, and sometimes that means diverting a plane even if once landed, no problem is found.

Finan says everything that's happened since December is "minor," and doesn't raise eyebrows within the industry. "You can't be in this business without having one thing or another malfunction occasionally," Finan says.

A fleet-wide inspection is now underway, but can Alaska's customers feel safe about getting onboard, especially with the busy summer travel season on the horizon?

"Absolutely," Finan says with a smile. "I couldn't have more confidence, and I fly the airplanes."

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Alaska Airlines ongoing problems

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