Originally Posted by full of luv

Castigating ALPA because of one particular MEC (US Airways) is like criticizing Christianity because the church you attended sang too much. ALPA is an association, each MEC is left to navigate the best contract and stewardship of it's pilot's labor in the confines of any one particular management and/or economic cycle. Pilot costs have not made or broke any particular airline, it's other decisions that usually seals the fate.

ALPA national is supposed to provide common services to all MEC's and allow for the easier transfer of information and contract analysis. Also they lobby on behalf of the profession at a national level. Like any bureaucracy though, the further removed from the dues paying pilot you get, the more the bloating/wasteful things can get/appear.

That being said, the more that pilots from this profession work together and pull in a common direction, the better it will be for us all in the long term. The threats are out there, today we resist codeshare, JV's..the logical conclusion industry wide is cabotage and once that nose is under the camels tent, we'll all be flying very domestic routes with declining wages as there suddenly becomes too many pilots for the limited amount of jobs that are left.