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Alaska Airlines has a shortage of pilots, and the head of the company鈥檚 pilot union claims that their position鈥� represented by negotiations that have been ongoing for three years鈥� advocates for industry-standard job security and 鈥渂asic quality of life鈥� benefits, as Capt. Will McQuillen, Alaska Air鈥檚 Master Executive Council chairman, put it to 成人X站 Newsradio.

Alaska Air confirmed the shortage in a recent , saying 鈥渨e recently reduced Q2 scheduled capacity in response to shortfalls in throughput from our pilot training department versus what was originally planned.鈥� That scheduled reduction refers to 3% fewer flights in 2022 compared with 2019 passenger capacity data, as opposed to planned growth by the same figure.

Alaska Airlines to scale back flights amid slew of cancellations as pilot shortage persists

According to McQuillen, the airline is simply having a tough time attracting and retaining new pilots.

鈥淭he major airlines are poised to hire 8,000 to 10,000 pilots this year alone 鈥� [we鈥檙e] competing for a scarce resource,” McQuillen told 成人X站’s Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien. 鈥淩ight now, for about the first time in a very, very long time in this industry, pilots have a choice of investing their career almost anywhere they want to.”

鈥淭hey will gravitate towards an airline that gives them the best opportunity, the best work-life balance, the best job protections for that investment that they’re making,” he continued. “We’re seeing very clearly in exit interviews that, specifically for Alaska, pilots are leaving for quality of life reasons.鈥�

The union鈥檚 contract technically expired in April of 2020, although has been floating as 鈥渁mendable鈥� since that time.

Off-duty Alaska Airlines pilots recently demonstrated at Sea-Tac International Airpot over their bargaining demands. The airline鈥檚 concurrent flight cancellations were unrelated, according to McQuillen.

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News weekday mornings from 5 – 9 a.m. on 成人X站 Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.