Why are regionals represented by ALPA? How does a union represent pilots of an industry of lowest bidders that survive on undercutting? Wouldn't it be better for regional pilots to go on their own or not have a union at all?

What benefit is there of waiting 5, 6 years to get a contract? Being owned retro for years and years? If each regional had its own union, or no union at all, they could have had 2 or 3 separate agreements in the decade it would have taken to get 1 contract under ALPA representation. Sure the benefits and pay raises would have been not as good but at least you would have had something. You work for a regional after all, the whole point is to get something comfortable not anything leading the industry.

Under the RLA, the companies get away with not improving things for up to a decade. It's a joke. The only regional that had significant success under ALPA was Comair back in the day, and it turned out to be a disaster in the long run. Other cheaper ALPA regionals began to slowly replace their flying. Seems like dues are taken for ALPA services, but when it comes to regional pilot interests it's just lip service.

Maybe its not ALPA, its just unions that give management an out, because they don't have to negotiate unless a strike is confirmed and that could take years of waiting. I'm not anti union at all, I think unions are definitely needed where appropriate, like mainline because they affect the industry a whole lot more than any other regional. Management there would not doubt like to pay them regional pilot wages and that's unacceptable. But for those of us already at the regionals, maybe we can come to an agreement without waiting for years and years and years based on the RLA.