Alaska Airlines' problems with maintenance and timeliness have been widely reported (including here). That's why I want to report my long-weekend experience with them.
The early-evening flight Thursday left Seattle on time and arrived in San Francisco 10 minutes early. Returning on Monday, the 737 both left SFO and arrived at Sea-Tac 15 minutes late. But then we waited 12 minutes on the taxiway because, as the captain put it, there was a "piece of equipment" blocking our way that the ground crew couldn't start or move. (Remember that many of Alaska's recent problems began when it outsourced ground operations in order to save money.) It took another 26 minutes for our bags to start appearing inside the airport while hundreds of passengers from multiple flights waited (there was no instruction about which carousel would carry the bags; the signboard listed incorrect information).
Even assuming that the baggage delays and confusion are Sea-Tac issues (and not Alaska's), my trip showed that the airline still has kinks to work out. The flights were smooth and service in the terminal and onboard was professional. But I'm still not convinced that behind-the-scenes crews are entirely up to the job.