Fueling the Merger Gossip Fire...

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See, Gary Beck was on the management squad at Delta for a period of time.

They're, uhh, stealthily sending over bits and pieces of the new uhh, management team to Alaska underneath the radar to smoothen out the rough spots in advance before the Delta/Alaska merger...

Heard it here first, folks! ;)

Alaska Air Group Names Gary Beck Alaska Airlines' Vice President of Flight Operations
Thursday January 3, 5:00 pm ET


SEATTLE, Jan. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Alaska Air Group announced the election of Gary Beck to the position of vice president of flight operations for Alaska Airlines effective Jan. 7, replacing Kevin Finan, who retired from the airline last month.
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Beck is a 34-year veteran of the airline industry with over 15,000 flight hours. He comes to Alaska from Delta Air Lines, where he served as senior vice president of flight operations and chief pilot responsible for 2,000 daily departures and 8,500 pilots at six pilot bases. He was also president and CEO of the Delta Connection Academy in Orlando, Fla., one of the largest pilot training facilities in the world.

A captain on the Boeing 727, 757 and 767 aircraft, Beck also served as director of flight operations, general manager of flight operations, general manager of domestic operations and chief pilot of its Los Angeles pilot base during his 20-year tenure with Delta Air Lines.

"Gary brings an extensive background in safety and operations to the role. His leadership and organizational skills combined with his in-depth experience in the industry make him extremely qualified for this position," said Gregg Saretsky, Alaska's executive vice president of flight and marketing. "He'll be a key player as we move the airline forward to become a more efficient operation."

Prior to its merger with Delta, Beck worked for Western Airlines as executive assistant to the director of flight operations, assistant chief pilot, assistant fleet captain and flight engineer. He also flew as a first officer for Ozark Airlines, a pioneering regional carrier based in the Midwest.

Beck holds an executive management certificate from UCLA's Anderson School of Management and studied aerospace engineering at Central Texas College and business administration at Northern Illinois University.

Raised in an airline family, Beck's father, Don Beck, served as president of Continental Airlines-Air Micronesia division, as well as executive vice president of customer service for Western Airlines.

Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air together serve 92 cities through an expansive network throughout Alaska, the Lower 48, Hawaii, Canada and Mexico. For reservations visit alaskaair.com. For more news and information, visit the Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air Newsroom at alaskaair.com/newsroom.
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I think it makes sense.

Delta might buy Alaska to grow internationally out of LAX.

Think about it Doug, a quick hop, skip, and a jump, over to LAX takeoff and 10 hours later arrive in Stockholm!

But yes, all in all mergers do suck.
 
There actually is a new 76ER category that was established in LAX this year, but they primarily do Hawaii after the 767-400's went to Mecca.

There have been rumors floating that they'll do W. Europe but until I see that in the bid package for a few months consistently, I'm not falling for the "We need to staff this category so we'll tell you how good it's going to be.... one day..." switcharoo.

Plane at the gate... Flights in the bid package... printed on the rotation... I don't believe anything until I see it in the airline business.
 
I have been saying for years (dog years) that Alaska is going to be bought, except by Northwest or American. You heard it second here, folks!
 
Well, that would knock my top three airline choices down to two. Not so bad. That and they are both ALPA carriers so the merger would be eas... oh wait... never mind.
 
Seggy said:
Who is going to be senior you or Velo?
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Well, I'd be senior, but I'm fairly certain the Delta pilot group would insist on a fence around widebody flying. If I was at Delta today, I'd hold 767 Captain domestic.

And that's gonna happen when pigs fly.

Of course, we'd insist on equal fences around SEA, ANC and LAX crew bases.

Now, we all know a DoH seniority integration WITHOUT fences around the widebody flying would never go. Because pilots are essentially greedy. The day someone put "career expectations" into the merger/frag policy was the day Pandora's box was opened.

Don't believe me, the next time you see a USAir crew find out if they're East or West. If they're West, say DoH. If they're East, say Ratio. Then stand back and enjoy the fireworks. I saw a crew in the van in DEN one day and just said "Nicolau" and the Captain about stroked out before we got to the airport.

Hell, I'd be happy to finish my days flying a 757 domestic and Doug and the boys can have all that long range widebody flying they can stomach.

To be fair, I've always been a proponent of the National Seniority List.

How would that work? The first ALPA carrier you go to work for, you get a permanent ALPA number. Then, if you elect to change jobs, you go to the bottom of their seniority list, but you keep your ALPA number.

In a merger, the policy should be simply this:

1. No bump and flush.
2. List merges by ALPA number.

In the case of a regional pilot who was ALPA and went to another ALPA carrier, he'd jump over the pilots at his own airline because his ALPA number was lower.

Now, some may say that isn't fair, but what the heck? He's been paying ALPA dues longer than they have, so that should count for something.

Just call me Pollyanna.
 
Damn Velo... You've got to stop EXPLAINING stuff so it makes sense. People might actually start to like you.

:)
 
10681XX here! ;)

(last two digits removed because who knows what you can do with the number...)
 
And what about all these carriers that arent ALPA but Teamsters? I'm curious where they would fit. On the bottom? In the middle?

Question for Velo:
Do you allow the "non-ALPA unionized" people (teamsters,etc....) on your jumpseat too?
Or is it specific to ALPA carriers? Just curious, because from what i understand by your posted-it would lead me to belive ALPA only.
 
Cptnchia said:
The boss man I was flying with just came from recurrent, and the latest rumor around the schoolhouse is that we are either going to buy United's Pacific operation or merge with NWA.
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NWA would be hilarious. Could you imagine their unionized senior mammas versus our ununionized senior mammas!

It'd be like "The Golden Girls: Madge and the girls get testy and have a knife fight"
 
Mergers are the devil.

The only people who benefit are the Wall Street firms who put them together and then get paid again when they break apart the companies.

Any time you hear someone talking about the synergies inherent to a merger between company x and company y, you know it's going to be bad for everyone except the investment bankers.
 
I'd definitely rather not a total merger with UAL...that would be a nightmare, and PeanuckleCRJ here would likely be looking for a CRJ job for a few years waiting out the furlough. NWA, I believe, would cause less of a total screwjob of integration and less overlap... plus the pacific will be a boost.


Overall.. please.. please.. please... no merger!
 
Mergers blow. The only folks that benefit are the lawyers, the upper management folks that get bought off and the kids over at airliners.net that armchair quarterback the scenario.

ATL-DEN 8X!!!

DeLited (Delta + United) launches/announces/other action verb DEN-DEN nonstop on 747-400 with PTV's and VOD!

Sorry, it's the beer.
 
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