Ok, Kirby might get it, but he's gonna have to deposit 3 million in everyone's retirement fund then. Otherwise, he aint gonna get it.

He can't buy ALPA for one simple reason. ALPA has found itself in a lose-lose situation. ALPA represents regionals and mainline carriers. ALPA has representational responsibilities to both big and small carriers mainline and regionals...

You have some diamaterically opposed issues and maybe a conflict of interest.....

Regional wants more jobs: ALPA has to say fine, lets do that, but those carriers want to pay less to offer more jobs. ALPA has to say NO to lower wages. Regional pilots make less, therefore ALPA has to uphold the standard for the benefit of the profession.

Mainline carriers want to use more regionals because their labor is cheaper. Again, ALPA has to tread carefully. ALPA knows the long term benefit of the career and progression is to keep the pay up and therefore can't allow mission-creep to continue to expand the regionals role and capacity.

Regional pilots want new contracts just like mainline carriers do. ALPA dues money is insufficient from the regionals, therefore it uses mainline dues to subsidize contract maintenance and negotiations. This is the biggest conflict of interest there is. Mainline pilots can't allow mainline dues money to be used against mainline careers. Therefore to minimize the conflict, gotta keep the regionals in perspective, and that means enhancing scope, not minimizing it. It's in ALPA's short term and long term self (financial) interest to enhance scope. More pilots, making more money means more dues for ALPA.

I used to think it would be wise to spin off the regionals and form a regional pilot association. Not any longer....I think better to have a strong ALPA, with strong leadership pushing the regional airlines and their management teams in the right direction while simultaneously enforcing and increasing scope protections for mainline pilots.