First and foremost, my intent in posting the opening narrative was not to "stir the hive" against the mentioned CSR. Regardless of the CSR, and Police Officer's "reported" actions, the point is the "Captain's Authority"
appears to be completely disregarded in the case mentioned above. As I mentioned earlier, I was just hoping that
ALL ALPA pilots would/will rally in support of this Captain. By what he did, via the reported narrative, was nothing more than wanting to take care of a fellow pilot who was wanting the professional curious of an off-line jumpseat.
There has been 'word' that this particular Captain was (or is) pushing for an Independent Union outside of ALPA in which to represent the UAL Pilot Group. If those facts are indeed true, that should have
NO bearing on what degree ALPA 'goes to bat' for this Captain in protecting all of his legal rights.....especially such a pilot who is reported to be "in good standing" with his current Union, ALPA.
If this Captain is indeed "thinking outside the box" in trying to explore other options regarding representation for his pilot group, it should
not be considered criminal or unique in today's industry. One needs to look no further than Delta Airlines. There are 'some' within DAL that are already supporting an active push to explore/launch independent representation with the "DPA"
http://www.delta-pilots.org/ Thus this topic is not "foreign", or ground-breaking by any means.
As this industry has evolved over the last 10+ years, the lines by which ALPA has represented 'common' mainline v regional carrier's has become more and more,
"less defined". If holding the line on topics such as SCOPE/JV
mainline flying is something that independent representation will foster/bring to a Pilot Group such as UAL, then I'll be the first to be open minded in exploring other/independant avenues in future Union representation.
If nothing less, let's all keep in mind that we NEED to support this Captain. If we, the pilots don't take care of each other, it's already been proven that no one will.