Alaska Airlines pilot salaries: What the customer-favorite airline pays its flight crew

Success changed into keep in mind that on the side of the passengers of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 — in spite of the total thing, nobody changed into seated in the component to the aircraft where a bit of Boeing fuselage blew out, but credit should also go to its flight crew for quickly handling the emergency situation and landing with all 171 passengers and 6 crew members unharmed.

Just six minutes into a routine flight from Portland International Airport (PDX) to Southern California’s Ontario International Airport (ONT) on January 5, 2024, Flight 1282 changed into traveling at a speed of 4 hundred mph and ascending to its cruising altitude of 33,000 feet. At sixteen,320 feet, just as the pilot gave the all-clear for passengers to make use of their cellphones, a loud explosion rocked the plane, filling the cabin with cold air and smoke.

Oxygen masks dropped in the quickly depressurizing aircraft; the force of air caused a deafening rush of wind that ripped off headrests and sucked cellphones out of passengers’ hands and into the refrigerator-sized hole.

The explosion also blew open the locked cockpit door, on the opposite hand the pilots remained calm, even if the noise changed into so loud they'll now no longer keep in touch with flight attendants and needed to continuously repeat their messages to air traffic controllers. They skillfully turned the airplane around and executed an emergency landing in less than 20 minutes, even if their eye protection began fogging up on their final approach.

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Pilots said they didn’t know what had occurred to the aircraft on the time of the accident in their testimony to the National Transportation Safety Board, but soon the overall world would. The NTSB’s investigation revealed that a group of bolts on the back of the aircraft’s left wing that secured the fuselage in place had never been installed by Boeing mechanics.

NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said that had Flight 1282 stayed heading in the most effectiv direction and reached its cruising altitude, the final result would have been a lot more tragic.

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At 33,000 feet in a depressurized cabin, the thin air would have caused passengers to lose consciousness within seconds, resulting in brain damage and then death.

“The actions of the flight crew were surely incredible,” Homendy said.

What Is Alaska Airlines?

Now no longer simplest are Alaska Airlines’ pilots exceptionally well trained — the airline recently invested in a $a hundred million training facility in Renton, Wash. — but all of its employees are guided by a shared spirit of integrity, caring, ingenuity, and professionalism that the corporate says stems from its Alaskan roots.

In such Arctic regions, airplanes for the time being are no longer simplest a very important method of transportation but additionally function a significant link between communities, turning in passengers, mail, and supplies to faraway and isolated areas.

Alaska Airlines considers its 23,000 employees to be its greatest asset, which is a sentiment its customers would agree with, as the airline has been consecutively ranked among the pinnacle three airlines for customer service since 2008 by JD Power & Associates.

Alaska Airlines traces its beginnings to 1932, when two airlines, McGee Airways and Star Air Service, began operations in Anchorage. Some years later, McGee change into a portion of Star Air Service; in 1944, the corporate changed its name to Alaska Airlines and expanded service to include West Coast cities like Ketchikan, Alaska, Seattle, Wash.,  and across the Bering Strait to Magadan, Russia.

When the airline industry deregulated in 1979, Alaska Airlines expanded in an identical way, adding routes that encompassed the East Coast of the U. S. and south into Mexico. It also adopted a fresh logo, the smiling visage of a native Alaskan Inuk that embodied the Arctic peoples.

For the time being, Alaska Airlines has 23,000 employees and operates out of 5 West Coast hubs:

• Anchorage
• Los Angeles
• Portland, Ore.
• San Francisco
• Seattle/Tacoma

Its three,000 pilots operate a fleet of 200 aircraft, including Boeing 737 series and Embraer a hundred seventy five aircraft, flying to 100 fifteen destinations across the U. S., Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Belize.

How a lot do Alaska Airlines pilots make?

In 2022, Alaska Airlines changed into the first major airline to conform to salary hikes for its flight crew after the COVID-19 pandemic created massive cockpit shortages that increased the bargaining power of pilot unions.

Alaska Airlines’ pilot union, the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), approved a series of pay increases starting from 15% and 23% for captains (counting on seniority), while first officers received increases between eight% and 23%.

In an identical fashion, a provision in the contract guaranteed future pay increases to remain competitive with other airlines, like United, American, and Southwest. This provision changed into enacted in 2023, giving pilots one more Eleven.2% boost in wages.

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Which implies, in only less than two years, Alaska’s pilots are making as much as 34.2% additional cash, which adds as much as be quite a sum taking into account that even junior-level first officers start out with six-figure salaries.

How a lot do Alaska Airlines first officers make?

Alaska Airlines lists its starting pay for a first officer at a group rate of $a hundred per hour on its Careers page.

Based on Thrust Flight, Alaska’s pilot pay differs from other airlines, like American Airlines and Delta, which compensate pilots based on sort of aircraft flown and hours worked in a bidding period.

Thrust Flight used data from Alaska’s most as much as date pilot contract to bring together its pay ranges, breaking them down into the following:

Alaska Airlines’ first officers receive a lot of the industry’s best possible entry-level wages. Based on Epic Flight Academy, simplest American Airlines ($116,050), Delta Air Lines ($125,520), and Southwest Airlines ($133,000) pay their co-pilots more.

How a lot do Alaska Airlines captains make?

Alaska Airlines’ Careers page states that experienced Captains receive an hourly rate of $340.25.

Here’s how that works out per year:

Based on data from Epic Flight Academy, this makes the salaries for Alaska Airlines’ Captains competitive with those at United Airlines ($352,000) while they lag on the back of larger carriers like American Airlines ($469,550) and Delta Airlines ($447,240).

In an identical fashion, pilots who join Alaska Airlines through its Pathways Program with subsidiary Horizon Air are eligible for $12,five hundred–$25,00 hiring bonuses based on the variety of FAA-approved qualifying hours flown.

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What benefits do Alaska Airlines pilots receive?

Alaska Airlines’ array of benefits goes above and beyond the everyday medical and dental coverage and 401(k) retirement plans. The company offers the airline industry’s simplest goal-based incentive pay plan besides as paid day without work, employee discounts at travel companies and retailers, career-long development programs including educational assistance and mentorship programs, and free travel privileges for employees and their families.

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How do I change into a pilot for Alaska Airlines?

Pilot candidates deserve to be 23 years of age and have a sound U.S. passport and driver’s license. A college degree is most well-liked to work for the airlines, even if now no longer required.

Candidates should demonstrate unheard of judgment, maturity, and leadership skills, and conform to relocate to San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles, Anchorage, Alaska, or  Portland, Ore.

In the case of technical skills, candidates should pass some of essentially the most current ATP written exam, haven't any longer lower than 1,five hundred hours of total document flight time and no longer lower than five hundred hours of fixed-wing turbine time, and have a First Class FAA medical certificate and an FAA Commercial Pilot Certificate (Instrument/Airplane).

For those without flight experience, Alaska Airlines offers a career pathway through its Ascend Pilot Academy, which offers financial aid together with a stipend of as much as $27,000.

Experienced pilots can continue their training at Horizon Air, Alaska’s subsidiary, where they then change into certified first officers. When they've completed 1,000 hours at Horizon, they're eligible to fly for Alaska Airlines.

Alaska Airlines is thought about among some of essentially the most few airlines actively hiring pilots. On its Careers page, open positions are listed for an expert first officers and its Pilot Development Program.

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