Originally Posted by
Scoop
While the rhetoric regarding ALPA often gets heated on SM and it may seem like everyone hates them you must put this in perspective. The people who strongly dislike APLA are much more likely to be vocal about it. Pilots who are Neutral or even slightly positive probably don’t contribute much to the conversation.
I am not a big fan of ALPA but concede they serve a purpose and would rather have a union than not. I think the bloat at National is excessive and while I want our Reps to be well compensated - I don’t think they should have benefits that line Pilots do not. I would also like to see them flying the line more. For example after a 3 year ALPA gig back to the line for the next three years. Two year gig - back to the line for two years. Some of our Reps seem out of touch with Line Pilots.
The fact that the majority of ALPA folks run for multiple terms leads me to believe their perks are adequate if not on the high side.
Scoop
You do realize that reps are not on full time leave, right?
Last time I talked to my rep, he had just gotten in from a 12 hour day, and had more calls to make that night. I ran into him later, and he told me that ALPA work cost him 15-20 hours every month and no way would he do that again.
When I got hired, you often saw 4-6 people running for each rep position, and the contest was strong.
These days, you’re lucky if you have any choice, because only one person steps up.
That tells me it’s a much better deal to be out on the line. Of course, you’ve got the TA1 crowd complaining, but when they were running things, the contract blew in a lot of ways, so maybe flying the line wasn’t the best deal going at that point. A lot of those people stuck around in ALPA work for a long time.