It is probably a safe assumption that everyone reading this has heard of Coronavirus at this point. I thought I would take a minute and explain how it is effecting the railroad and me. In short, it is having a negative effect, like on so many other industries.
White Pass & Yukon Route primarily moves tourists through a scenic part of Alaska and Canada. The vast majority of the tourists arrive in Skagway on cruise ships, which are basically not running at this point. Each cruise line has slightly different responses as to how they are responding to the Coronavirus and when they will be operating again. Due to both Canadian and US restrictions, none of them will be operating in Alaska at least until mid-July. Normally, our busy tourism season starts at the end of April, so that is already halfway through the season. Several cruise lines have announced that they have cancelled all their Alaska itineraries for the entire season, and some have announced start dates for much later than July, reducing the season even further. In the very best of circumstances, and assuming nothing else changes, it is looking like it will be a short and small season this year. Of course, all of that is subject to change. For much of April, things were changing on a daily basis. That has slowed down a bit, but I expect that there will continue to be changes to that anticipated schedule.
My employer, White Pass & Yukon Route has responded by cancelling all operations for May and June. They want employees returning from winter furlough to be available for work starting June 29th. This is much later than the original recall date in early March, which was given to us before the Coronavirus became such a big problem in the United States. Because of the reduced number of ships expected, and therefore the reduced passenger counts arriving in Skagway, the railroad has cancelled several services including the Carcross service and the Fraser Meadows Steam Excursions. Other services are expected to be operating on a reduced schedule. I was told that I should expect there to be no work for me this summer, because of where my seniority falls. They are currently expecting to need about eight people to operate trains, and I am currently number twenty-four on the seniority roster. Even if a few people senior to me choose not to return to work for some reason, it is unlikely that it would get to me. Basically, I will not likely be railroading this year, at least not at White Pass.
Right now everyone is hopeful for a better 2021 season. Some people are optimistic that everything will return to normal by then. I think that is unlikely, but hopefully 2021 will look a bit closer to normal than this year has so far!
Since it is unlikely that I will work for White Pass this year, I have been looking for other employment. I have been looking at other railroads, though few are hiring at the moment, and outside the railroad industry. Job searching is not much fun. I am also still waiting to find out whether White Pass will continue to pay for our health benefits. They normally continue to pay those during furlough, but furlough is usually only a few months each winter. With this longer one now, they have been telling us for eight weeks that they will have a decision about our benefits on Friday, and each Friday it gets postponed. The lack of communication has been frustrating, to say the least.
I will retain seniority at White Pass, and theoretically I will be able to return to work there as soon as there is work and it reaches my seniority level. When that will be exactly, no one really knows. I am hoping for 2021, but it really depends on how long it takes the tourism industry to recover from all of this.
