Originally Posted by
Scoop
This whole commuter vs. non-commuter issue is troubling.
First off - all pilots should realize that the more we support others, the more they will support us. How does the junior pilot who lives in base, and is not willing to support commuters, feel about the senior WB commuting pilot who does not care about scope?
Secondly, the only winner when pilots start pursuing parochial interests is management via decreased pilot clout. Think how much more effective we can be as a pilot group if we would all be willing to sacrifice a little bit of our interests to the greater good of the pilot group as a whole. I think we would all be better off. I think we would find our particular interests that we thought we were compromising on, would actually do quite well.
Before any of the anti-DPA crowd jump in and misinterpret this as a slam on the DPA, that is not what I am talking about. Competition for representation is good, and if anything in response to the DPA, DALPA has recently upped its game. Blind allegiance to anything is probably not good.
Although the fault for this condition, apparent lack of solidarity, lies primarily with all of us as individual Pilots, perhaps DALPA could do a better job explaining why we all need to support each other. Specifically: Senior Pilots should be concerned about Scope, non-commuters should be concerned about commuting policies, young pilots should be concerned about retirement, healthy pilots should be concerned about disability and sick leave policies. Not for altruistic reasons but for our own self interest.
In my opinion we will all fare better in areas that we are intimately concerned with if we would be more willing to support others in areas that may not appear to directly affect us. Think of the whole "synergy" thing.
Scoop
HAAAHHAAAAAHEEEEEE (Think of Tom and Ray (Car Talk) rolling on the floor after a caller asks why you have to put air in your tires) whowhowho hehehe.
On a TOE last year, I got the pleasure of sitting next to the relief pilot who was younger than me but in the upper 10% in Altanta. The 2+ hours were spent on how certain things in our contract affect him. This included being besides himself as to why we give up negotiate a commuter policy (It's a choice don't you know?). He couldn't even stop long enough to ask my career progression in the last ten years.
You know, it wouldn't even had been worth it telling him about the 2 furloughs, the 5 different jobs in various regions of the country, sitting in the jumpseat on a 737 and counting it as rest on a 10 flight hour, 17 hour duty day, watching my "ALPA brothers and sisters" fly 90 hours a month while a bunch of us were on furlough. There is one person who is important in this world, just ask him.
Anyway, I run into these kinds of people all the time. And then I run into the most generous thoughtful people in the world. Sadly, there is more of the former than the latter.
What would Delta Air Lines and ALPA be like if everyone worked towards the good of ALL the individuals in the organization? I know, whacha been smoking Willis?
