Earth to Prater... C34 VC report
COUNCIL 34 VICE CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
F/O Mike Holman, Vice Chairman
March 2008
Pilots of Council 34,
Over the past few months my reports to you have dealt mostly with local council issues, an incompetent and morally bankrupt management, and a kamikaze dog. This month I’d like to discuss a more sensitive issue; the lack of respect and support from ALPA National for the United Pilots.
In October of 2006 I attended my first ALPA National Board of Directors meeting in Las Vegas. While I had been to ALPA headquarters in Herndon, Virginia on several occasions, and met with a number of ALPA National officers, this was my first real working experience with ALPA National. Knowing that the pilots of United are the single largest group within ALPA (as well as the largest source of dues dollars) I walked into day one of the meeting expecting our MEC to be treated with respect. Such was not the case.
During the weeklong meeting the United MEC, and the pilots of United, were treated with disrespect and contempt by the very group we feed. I saw more respect given to groups of pimple faced boys claiming to be the “MEC” from some regional carrier down south than was to our own MEC. I saw great efforts put forth from ALPA National to pacify the pilots of carriers flying nothing larger than a 50 seat RJ, yet when one of the members of our own MEC spoke he was ignored.
About half-way through the week, elections were held for new ALPA National officers. Much has been reported about these elections and I won’t repeat it all here, but I will add this: only 30 minutes before the elections were held our MEC decided, unanimously, to support John Prater in his bid to succeed Duane Woerth as the new president of ALPA National. I had grown tired of the same old rhetoric and inaction from Captain Woerth and believed this decision to support Captain Prater was in the best interests of ALPA, as well as the pilots of United Airlines. Prater’s margin of victory was so slim that if even one member of the United MEC had changed their vote he would have lost. To put it simply, Captain John Prater owed his victory to the pilots of United Airlines.
Earlier in the week I had had several private conversations with Prater and it was my feeling that he was the right man for the job. I told one of our pilots later that we had elected a “pilot warrior” to lead us. I expected that our new leader would realize not just who put him in office, but would finally recognize and respect the pilots of United Airlines. I was to be disappointed.
At the January 2008 meeting of the United MEC Captain Prater was present to address us. He began by saying he had no prepared remarks, and then proceeded to deliver an apparently canned and rehearsed speech; at the conclusion of which I asked him two questions.
My first question began with a reminder that the pilots of United Airlines constitute the largest single member of ALPA, as well as the largest source of dues income. I then asked why it is that in most issues of “Airline Pilot”, the official publication of ALPA, the only mention of United Airlines I can find is to the right of the names of some of our pilots who have recently passed away, while in the same publication there is no sparing of either space or expense in reporting on the proud pilots of the RJ airline de jour. For emphasis I held up the current issue of “Airline Pilot” showing a photo of an RJ on the cover. Before Captain Prater could answer I asked my second question.
Using the RJ on the cover as a backdrop, I said that the magazine proudly reports on the growth of airlines flying RJs and the increasing membership in ALPA this provides. However, this growth in RJ flying comes with a loss of jobs at the major carriers, specifically United, which has lost thousands of pilot jobs to the RJs. I also pointed out to Captain Prater that many of these same RJ pilots have been spotted with stickers on their flight bags that say “GUPPY KILLER” in reference to the fact that their RJs have put our pilots out of work. I asked Captain Prater if he approved of this show of arrogance on the part of these pilots and if this is something that ALPA National encouraged. The silence in the room was deafening and I eagerly awaited Captain Prater’s response. Again, I was disappointed.
Not only did Captain Prater not answer my questions, the response I got seemed to be a rehash of the same rehearsed speech he had just given. I would have thought that such a question, from an elected representative of one of the largest councils of the largest airlines in ALPA, deserved a better response. Unfortunately, it appears that Captain Prater and ALPA National intend to continue to ignore and disrespect the pilots of United Airlines. It also appears that the “pilot warrior” I thought we had elected to lead us is turning out to be nothing more than another politician.
The next ALPA National Board of Directors meeting will be this October. I will be there and look forward to reporting to you about it.
Fraternally,
Mike Holman
Council 34 Vice Chairman