Eagle fly... The ual contract blows ours out of the water. with the exception of their reserve rules, their contract is superior to ours in just about every area. Check your facts man!

Check with your ual buds and ask them their insurance premiums.
Ask them about their premium pay (200%)
Ask them about double dipping when displaced for training
Ask them about their hotel language
Etc, etc.

Bottom line... ALPA has done a much better job for ual/dal contractually wise. Good management or not - the bottom line is that the company would much rather face a small independent association with very little political pull. That alone is more than enough reason to give alpa a try. Even fedex recognized that and went back to ALPA after their in house union turned out to be a joke. Same with USAPA... Same with APA. Why do you think AA pilots were only allowed to strike for 30 minutes in 1997 when NWA was allowed to strike an entire month one year later. I guarantee you it wasn't because Clinton was buddy buddy with the NWA pilot group.

In the end, you're right that we don't have the leverage and we get easily neutered. Therefore, what better reason to have strength in numbers and be part of a strong union with a lot of political pull! Instead of a small independent association that management laughs at every instance they can. the proof is in the substandard contracts we've had while dal/ual have blown us away consistently.

A united pilot front... and one powerful union representing all legacy airline pilot groups... is management's WORST nightmare. The more we can stack our cards in that favor, the better off this profession will be.