Originally Posted by
Bucking Bar
Carl,
Care to post some numbers?
Last I checked, the numbers were overwhelmingly mainline, as is our EVP structure.
Also, the two of the largest groups of regional pilots are unrepresented (SkyWest) and represented by Teamsters (Republic). Since 2007 I'd go as far as to say the numbers at the ALPA represented regionals have declined while mainline has grown slightly. Eagle and ASA are probably the two largest ALPA regionals, which together do not have half the seniority list we do here at Delta.
The biggest change in the balance was the defection of US Air.
Scope enforcement or recapture is not a problem caused by a so called "ALPA conflict of interest". The fact that ALPA represents regional carriers has little to do with DALPA's weak enforcement of scope. The problem is one of unity and the perception of regional pilots. ALPA national or its individual chapters can not put scope back on the mainline simply because its members will not allow it.
There is a small minority of pilots who want to risk the side effects of scope recapture and it's probably less than 10% of the pilots at mainline. (Also, most senior regional pilots are opposed to any such action) This is not enough for ALPA or DALPA to take action. We would all love it if mainline management would park the RJ's or start operating them at the mainline, this just simply isn't reality. There is way too much capital tied up into regional carriers to simply start doing this and there is no known legal course to force management to take that route.
So the risk is real that a scope recapture would involve some sort of SLI with regional carriers resulting in regional pilots receiving windfalls at the expense of mainline pilots. In the long run this would benefit all pilots, however, the short term turmoil would be too much for any union to survive unscathed.