Originally Posted by
Midsomer
ALPA is no different. How may reps do it for the good of the pilots versus the trip drops and FPL? Take the DCA ALPA council. That whole thing is a clown show and has been for years. Anne seems to have found a way to stay home and get paid while writing unabomber manifestos, the outgoing vice chair created a video that was cringe worthy. Anne wanted power and to put her husband in a nonflying high pay position. I don’t think that move was for the good of the pilots.
I’ve met great pilots that do ALPA work and great management pilots. It’s the person not the position. I think Fabian was a good example of being a stand
up management pilot.
This is classic false equivalency, IMO. Yes, there are occasional stand up management guys(Fabian) and occasional selfish ALPA reps. But the MAJORITY of ALPA volunteers, especially the pilots in the trenches doing the day to day committee work, are indeed there to better the profession. The same philosophy applies to management; most are there to climb the corporate ladder and that requires opposing much of what our union fights for, and a few still remember where they came from and care about the line pilot. It’s not really a secret. ALPA is here to maximize our earnings and quality of life, while being a voice to promote safety issues when the company tries cutting cost corners that could negatively impact it. It stands to reason that when one entity actively tries to improve our work life and pay and the other actively tries to minimize that effort, the people in each organization are going to reflect those values, for the most part. There are no absolutes, but ALPA reps and management pilots are definitely not the same