Originally Posted by disillusioned

No skin in the game anymore but here is my take. You had 3 choices for Pres. but I'll focus on the EB selections.

First you had the current Pres who gave everyone a full list of all his accomplishments. The biggest one being all his work on LOM insurance which most people can't info about and may not get the 25% opt-in to even be implemented. Has been in SAPA since 2008 and EB for the last 4 years. Out of touch with the pilot group (hasn't flown the line and likes to make handshake deals with management), doesn't participate in any "discussions" outside conference calls or 1 on 1 phone calls. I once had to call him for help and he was so condescending and rude that I never bothered looking for help from him again. Openly against un-moderated discussion while hiding behind personal responsibility for slanderous comments on forum (even though it was proven otherwise and other solutions offered)

Second you had the current VP who has shown he was a proponent of open communication and getting feedback from the pilot group. Flies the line once a month to keep in touch with his peers, very active on the forums and his whole election platform was run on holding the company to policies and getting feedback from pilots on new policies. Wanted more formality with SAPA positions and more open communications to the pilot group. Was supported by what seemed like 80% of the SAPA representatives that were tired of how the felt SAPA was being run by the current Pres.

50% of SW pilots decided it wasn't worth their time to even vote and 60% of those that did decided they were okay with moderated communications and a President that likes to get cozy with management. They didn't want someone who would rock the boat or may take a job offer with mainline (Even though that was okay when the former Pres did the same thing just a year ago)

In summary you don't get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate (or vote) for. I was excited for my former co-workers to get a President that was going to fight for them to make things better. Unfortunately, roughly 1,200 pilots decided that they didn't care about communication and a working website that would supply information and tools to help them with their jobs. Apathy has consequences. Instead of asking how SAPA can expect any support if they can't maintain a website, you should be asking how SW pilots can expect any support if 50% can't even take 3 minutes to vote for their representatives. As a side note, the LOM would probably be included with a union and most of the benefits would be included for only 2%. JMO