Time for Delta to dump ALPA?
Guys,
The Whole Tim Martins episode is symptomatic of what is wrong with ALPA. Instead of truly looking for a great role model, of which I am sure there are thousands, they were apparently trying to “force” someone into that role – but for what purpose? Trying to make the regional airlines look better? Trying to overcome bad publicity following the Colgan accident? Maybe, and if so there is nothing wrong with that, unless of course you pick the wrong poster boy, and never really had any kind of legitimate screening process of potential candidates.
What is wrong however, is using Delta Pilot union dues to directly promote pilot groups that Delta is in competition with to secure flying. I don’t blame the RJ pilots, they are, and should be looking out for themselves. Some will say that the RJ Pilots bemoan the selling of scope as much as the mainline pilots do – maybe some do, and maybe some don’t, but the days of 3 or 4 years at a commuter and then moving on to a major are gone. The commuters are now almost as big as the majors and most guys will not have an opportunity to move on. For better or worse the seniority system seems to give disproportionate clout to the more senior members, members who would logically like to stick around and fly bigger equipment – putting them in direct competition with Delta Pilots.
I am no expert on this issue, but I think the time has come to at least seriously look at Delta leaving ALPA. We have all seen the compensation that the APLA employees are making – it appears to have truly become a bloated bureaucracy more concerned about self preservation, growth, and being all things to all pilots, than improving the lives of main-line pilots. Don’t misunderstand me, the Delta ALPA Pilot volunteers are very smart and dedicated and truly honorable people who are working their butts off for their fellow Delta pilots, but that does not change the fact that it is a bloated bureaucracy. Similarly, just because the federal government has many dedicated and outstanding employees does not make it one bit less a bureaucratic nightmare.
Can the same union serve disparate pilot groups who are in direct competition with each other for the same jobs? 
I don’t know, but UPS, SWA, and AMR seem to be doing fine without APLA. And I know that AMR currently has furloughs, but that is not related to who represents their pilots. Maybe this whole Tim Martins fiasco will be a wake up call for ALPA to truly change, but I fear they are in the damage control mode and are probably already planning on a slick feature in the next Airline Pilot magazine to (in their mind) quickly remedy this mess instead of taking a good look in the mirror and making substantial changes to how they do business.
Does ALPA take mainline support for granted? How long until mainline pilots are a minority at ALPA? Is it time for Delta to leave ALPA? I can’t answer that question, but there is no reason why Delta should not start looking at alternative representation.
Scoop
Last edited by Scoop; 04-01-2010 at 10:30 AM.