Originally Posted by
veewan
Fought contract disputes? So have they gotten a real time reserve grid in place? How about long and short overnight hotels per the contract (15 hours or longer)? IOCC? That's hardly keeping the company in check. I'm sure the list is longer than that.
What safety benefits does ALPA provide that SkyWest does not have? They have AQP, ASAP, HIMS, FOQA.
On the subject of KCM, SkyWest gets to participate. More importantly it's paid for by the company. Great Lakes does not participate in KCM or to my knowledge still does not (they definitely did not previously), Air Wisconsin left KCM temporarily when the company told the pilots it was too expensive. Mesa pilots- represented by ALPA, pay for their own KCM as a deduction each pay check.
I think what the other poster was suggesting is, that it's better to work without a union, at a company that actually follows through on what they've agreed to. Instead of at a company where you grieve it and fly and that's considered "fighting" contract disputes.
And yet most at Skywest would happily move onto a major airline with ALPA. I obviously know there are differences between the two, but why not support it throughout your career? To not do so and denounce ALPA seems like double standards to me. ASAP, HIMS, KCM, to name a few are things ALPA has put money into to make things better for this industry. Skywest is not innovative in anything I know of with the exception of being non-union and using methods or programs that others have created. Sometimes at great financial expense to ALPA. Have you heard about NAI? That is a real threat to this industry and it's just one example of what a portion of ALPA dues is used to fight this. It may make a big difference later in your career. So something to think about, what would this industry be like without ALPA, and what would Skywest have without Alpa in the industry?