Thread: APA BOD Letter
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Old 01-24-2010, 07:42 AM
  #6  
eaglefly
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Joined APC: Jun 2008
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Originally Posted by alfaromeo View Post
I don't think this is a bad signal for the APA. The problem with electing National Officers by popular membership is that the easy message of "vote for me and I will make it all better" is the cheap way to get elected. If running a union and getting contractual improvements were easy, then it would be done by now. It is not a matter of being manly or "growing a pair" or being nasty to management. None of those things matter one whit.

What you have is the Board of Directors, the elected reps that are closest to the line pilots, taking control of the union and changing direction. The last few years have not been a good time for AMR so it is unlikely that any great opportunities have been passed up. What you see is the BOD recognizing that in today's environment adopting the in your face tactics so popular on the web boards is just a ticket to failure. Real adults do not respond to this type of intimidation and more often it results in negative consequences. Does anyone think Arpey read the "blood money" memo and started feeling bad about how he has treated the pilots and decided to change his evil ways?

So it looks like the pilots of the APA, through their elected representatives, are taking control of their futures. That is not a bad thing. A little ugly to watch, but not a bad thing.
Right now, how much control can they take ?

It's just my opinion, but this level of disarray goes a bit beyond what could be considered bumps in the road, differences of stategy or the evolutionary cycle of a specific leadership. In its current state with its current philosophy, disasterous faliure is vitually certain.

Even if they could remove the current leadership, the most difficult hurdle would be a convincing of the membership that ultimately compromise on critical issues will be necessary and that some painful realities will ultimately be faced. That alone could take years as too many will not be satisified with anything less than total capitulation. Emotion is in the drivers seat now and that's ALWAYS a bad thing.
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