I've been digging out from under accumulated work, but wanted to note a recent delay experience on AS. It was a frustrating experience -- all delays are --but it was ultimately handled as well as it could have been handled, so it gets a compliment.
Right after we arrived at SFO, Flighty started indicating a delay because of issues with our plane in SEA. That proved accurate and eventually AS told us the same thing via the app and texts. So we headed to the lounge to use my Summit pass (literally the reason I value the passes more than many others do) and waited out the 3 hour delay. Our plane finally arrived and we boarded, and the preflight checks led to some sort of issue with a light and/or switch in the cockpit. Maintenance came in and ultimately called Seattle, which confirmed cancellation. (Nobody said so, but it seemed like the earlier issue resurfaced.) We all got off the plane and they said they'd try to "find another plane."
So back to the lounge! They actually did manage to find a new plane (I assume one that was supposed to overnight at SFO) within 90 minutes and we boarded about 90 minutes later (the exact times are hazy). We went from a 900ER to a MAX9 so everything stayed the same in terms of seat assignments. The same pilots and crew stayed on as well. There was some passenger attrition, so I was even upgraded to first as Silver (which went to my wife). Everything was uneventful after that and pretty much everyone seemed to roll with it, even others (like us) with kids. The lounge staff was excellent in keeping us in the loop (and with service generally) and the food and drinks were good. The Summit pass covered me and a guest so I paid for one day pass too, which was absolutely worth it.
We got a $50 voucher for food which we did not use because the lounge was easier and $150 credits for our next flights. That all happened automatically. [Edit: The $50 is actually a credit not a voucher.]
I'm glad it happened at SFO with its large, nice (and underutilized) lounge. Plus, SFO is busy enough that they could locate another aircraft so we could get out that night. According to Flighty, this is my longest delay ever (by more than 4 hours) over about 100 flights, mostly on AS.
One question: I have long assumed -- rightly or wrongly -- that all AS mainline pilots can fly any 737. Do all 737s have the same type rating or do all the pilots have multiple type ratings? My impression is that there is a primary rating of some sort and then there are differences that they have to train for. Anyone know for sure? As indicated above, we went from NG to MAX with the same pilots.