Originally Posted by
Southerner
Personally, I prefer the crossing a few seatbelts to paying money, and here is why. Paying an annual fee gives money directly to the company, and it does nothing to help out any specific person. If I help cross a few seatbelts, it directly makes someone's day easier, and that's more important to me than giving the company money. But that's just my point of view. Some feel the opposite, and both are valid positions. I always found it highly offensive that a regional airline pilot making pennies was forced to PAY for non-rev travel.
But the bigger problem is what they will have you do tomorrow. Sure, today they want you to cross seatbelts, but what is stopping them from asking you to clean the toilets tomorrow? Think about that from a contract or legal perspective. If you have an open-ended contract that doesn't specifically define your scope of labor (or statement of work), then what is stopping them from making you a wheelchair pusher while non-reving? The whole cleaning the airplane is a legal trojan horse, which is why it must be addressed in the contract. Nothing must be done unless it's specifically mentioned in the contract.
This communique is for entertainment purposes only. It does not implicitly or explicitly acknowledge employment with any air carrier nor is any relationship implied. This communique does not represent the opinions or policies of ALPA or JB ALPA and does not represent the collective pilot group, ALPA, nor does it imply collective bargaining, advocacy, or workforce actions intended to disrupt operations.