All 4 Uses

alternative
in
Outliers
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It wasn't until the third holding pattern southwest of Kennedy Airport that Klotz told ATC that he didn't think the plane had enough fuel to reach an alternative airport.
Chpt 7 *

alternative = something available as another possibility
The first and second officers may have been waiting for the captain to make decisions, but still may have been unwilling to pose alternatives.
Chpt 7

alternatives = possibilities
Did Klotz mean that 052 no longer had enough fuel to make it to another, alternative airport?†
Chpt 7
The first officers, on the other hand, were talking to their boss, and so they overwhelmingly chose the most mitigated alternative.†
Chpt 7

Definitions:

(1) (alternative as in: an alternative plan)
a different choice or possibility, or describing something that offers a different choice or possibility
(2) (alternative as in: alternative medicine)
non-traditional or non-standard
(3) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)