Originally Posted by
Sink r8
OK... are you saying you don't think there are capable replacements for Moak in the pipeline? Are you saying our MEC is already so fractured it can't produce an effective candidate or policy?
And what about my other question: can Moak simultaneously hold both positions?
First, I don't know if it is legally possible to hold both positions, probably not, but it would be impossible to do. Each job is a seven day a week job. There would no chance that Lee would run for both, his head would explode just thinking about it.
Second, I don't know about the MEC or who any candidate is, I have my guesses but many times they are wrong. I thought I was sufficiently vague about when the fracture would occur. Certainly you see in some messages coming out of some LEC's the seeds of that fracture, a lot of "us vs. them" language. You throw in some of the bomb throwers who bring up the "woe is me" stuff like operation Visine (that doesn't exist) and these old grievances and you have a volatile situation. Most other MEC Chairman I have seen could not have held this together for that long. Lee has been subject to constant abuse and attacks and he has an unnatural ability to shrug it off and move on.
My best hope is that the average line pilot on either side does not want this, or at least from what I have seen. It is impossible to tell one group from the next, aside from the stupid hat thing. The toughest thing for an LEC rep to do is to file away the constant string of messages from the loudest 2% of their pilots and get down to average Joe and find out what he/she is thinking. They rarely send emails to their reps and certainly not five times a day. If the reps can listen to those pilots and place the opinions of the 2% on equal footing with every other pilot, then I don't think it is imminent.
As for the Chairman, every rep needs to put away politics and simply choose the best person for the job. Who has the most experience? Who has the broadest depth of experience? Who can lead the group as a whole and not attempt to cobble together a "coalition" and pile driver over other councils? Pick that person and you are in much better shape. I hope we can avoid the quota system where pilots are picked based on their pre-merger groups, that time is long past. Get the best guys for the job, whatever their "heritage" is. Contract 2012 is coming and I need more money and more time off.