Unions are a necessary evil in this industry. It would be worse without them. Sure they have their problems and need restructuring but they are needed. I think if we had a shift and made ALPA a union again instead of a union/business it would be alot more helpful. Also this mentality that its all about those at the top needs to be ousted. its shouldnt be u.n.
I.o.n. We have a serious lack of leadership in all aspects of this country and this industry is no different. There are a number of positve things that a union does and there have been a number of positve leadership examples recently. for instance the NWA and DAL mecs are working together now which is a huge step considering the USAIR mess.
By having individual union mecs for everybody that does nothing but pin the MECs against each other when it comes time to actually work together. All regionals should be brought onto the bottom of each respective mainline and it should all be 1 list. At least for the wholly owned. Doing so would effectively get rid of whipsawing the regionals against the majors which keeps pay lower. This would also allow guys getting into the industry to get on at mainline quicker which allows everyone to start accruing longevity at a earlier part of their careers. I think this was prevented in recent past because then guys at mainline couldnt get their military buddies on flying heavies right way but fact of the matter is thee arent that many military pilots getting out these days and the number of military pilots is shrinking every year.
in order to make big changes in this industry we need a leadership that represents all pilots and we all have to stand together or its all pointless. the downfall of the Union isnt completely just the union, we are all partially to blame for not standing together. Read these forums and its easy to see the infighting and bickering and serious lack of unity.
Rant over