Scoop,
I have answered what the harm was. It is about unintended consequences going forward in our Global Industry. There is a lot of minimization of these issues and the benefits of our Association and its International Affiliations. That is the value you cannot quantify with ALPA.

As for getting some of the dead wood out of ALPA, well I believe that is well under way. I have been impressed with the dialogue the new reps throughout our system have had in their six months in office. I see this working from the bottom up. The pilots voted for change, and change does not happen over night. It is working from the bottom up as designed. That takes time, effort and patience. If I truly felt that every possible action from within had been exhausted I would probably side with the majority of the posters on this forum. I don't because I beleive there are many options to reform from within. I also beleive that there are many initiatives that are on going and we have not seen their fruits yet. Most importantly I beleive that success for this group comes from unity. There is true value in a association that courts all pilot groups from all types of carriers. It allows a dialogue between groups to occur that would not be as free flowing otherwise.

If this drive gets to the point where DPA comes out with a platform and they are more than just a website, we will have the discussion. We will by default judge the merits of their positions and structure against ALPA. ALPA has morphed many times, and I expect it to once again be successful. If it fails to change with the times, well, we know the outcome.


I am not trying to sell fear as some have indicated. I am just calling it like I see it. I generally look farther in to the future than one contract cycle to see what groundwork we need to lay today for tomorrow. That is the root of my concerns. Some dismiss it, but that does not change the fact that they are there. I like the seat at the table ALPA enjoys. I like the effect 53,000 pilots has no matter if we have not had a perfectly defined direction these last few years.

As I read these posts, pilots have issues with the people within of ALPA. The ones that indicate the structure of ALPA is the issue clearly have not read the by-laws and policy manual. I know the one who wins the perception battle wins the debate, and that is truly where most of this divide lies, in the perception. I also agree that ALPA needs to win that battle and reeducate its pilots on the meaning of unity and what it means to be a trade unionist pilot. We have miserably failed in that over the last few years. The fact is that ALPA is just starting these initiatives that have been around for some time. They have been in the works for years but are finally taking hold. I would like to give these opportunity succeed.


I am not as closed minded as you think. I am just voicing my opinion on the issue as I see it today. In fact last year I though there was a conflict of interest at national. It was suggest to me to dig a little deeper and read the policy manual and the by-laws. I did. I came away with the fact that 1) ALPA could do a better job with the perception battle, and 2) By definition we at DALPA are free to go after anything we want in our PWA because we have exclusivity with DAL . No one else has that with our carrier. For those that would state that National cannot deal with the dues loss, I say, they win if we win.
So in the end, I better educated myself and realized that I was siding with the perception not the reality. As I said perception needs to change.