tsquare

Well I was referring more to Katy Perry. Too young.. not interested in her or her music.. Either that or I have been to Brazil too many times, and she just ain't all that.

forgot to bid

Katy Perry is probably a lot like Tanya Tucker was when she was new but just totally different.



And the one big exception is that I'd never say this about Katy Perry but it was said about Tanya Tucker: "This album will get your ears hard!"

caddis

The point is this. Anytime there is a critical comment about ALPA reps the immediate defense is how hard they work and the fact that if you do not do ALPA work you have no right to be critical. In this case it was that working for ALPA causes divorces and they do 10x the work an any line pilot does. Just bringing out that most pilots now do more then just fly the line and have stresses as well.

I am not opposed to FPL for reps at all. Even if they get paid a bit of an ALPA bonus is fine with me. We need guys to do the work. The issue I really have is that we are not allowed to be critical of anything that they do.

I have to huge issues with the ALPA currently and those are a lack of communication and a lack of transparency.

What is the problem with having posted flight pay loss amounts for anyone in ALPA receiving it?

Nosmo King

First, its not just the elected reps and MEC officers on FPL. There are lots of committee members getting FPL.

FPL like any other type of "pay" for doing non-flying work, can be underutilized or abused. The only way to find out who is abusing it is by looking at FPL numbers which up to now have not been published in written format.

There are also two forms of FPL, one is paid out of your ALPA dues, the other is paid by the company.

Next you have to define abuse.

Hypotheticals Start Here:====================================

If there is someone collecting 100 (insert your own number here) hours of widebody captain pay as FPL but has a permanent position of (example) narrow body FO/widebody FO/narrowbody CA, is that abusing the system?

If a pilot drops an 80 (insert your own number here) hour trip to attend a 4 day MEC meeting, is that abuse?

What about a pilot that bids something on reserve knowing full well that they will be spending all their time doing ALPA work, will never be on call for one hour and would never bid reserve in a higher paying category if they actually were on the line?

Would it smell funny if someone doing ALPA work were getting paid 150 hours/month of FPL funded by DL instead of DALPA?

Disclaimer: I have no personal knowledge of anyone at DALPA abusing FPL, but I would still like to see the numbers in writing.

End hypotheticals Here ======================================

There are lots of volunteers that lose money by doing ALPA work. My hat is off to them. No one should be doing that, but some people are dedicated or motivated enough to put up with it for awhile.

Like any other situation there are always the 2% or so that stretch the rules. Sometimes more, sometimes less. The best way to minimize that percentage is to put all the numbers out in the open as well as the source of the funding.

At a previous airline, it was interesting to watch the FPL numbers change after the historical ones were published.

Nosmo King

A good first attempt by the MEC at publishing the agenda for the next MEC meeting... but they didn't provide a list of (or text of) the agenda items to be discussed and sent up for approval.

Grade for first attempt: C-

gloopy

That doesn't have anything to do with Katy Perry at all. Not one bit.

Sink r8

Can't it be right to say that we have a right to FPL information and it's true that many reps/volunteers have a case when they say people that do nothing to help don't have the right to criticise them without walking a mile in their shoes?

I think we shouldn't view all ALPA people the same. Many/most are probably in it for the right reasons. I kind of look at ALPA people as 1/3 transients that fight the good fight but are overwhelmed by the impact on the family, 1/3 entrenched and very effective, and 1/3 entrenched and in it for themselves. I have no idea whether my proportions are right or not, but this is a quick guesstimate based on what I've heard my reps say over time. There is usually 1 out of the 3 that can't help but trigger "BS" flags whenever he opens his mouth.

Assuming I'm right, and it's 2/3 good, my question is: will publishing FPL data help identify the dead-weight? Is a high amount of FPL an indication that the person is a pig, or is it an indication that they play a valuable role? I assume all FPL incurred is pre-approved (?). As such, wouldn't there always be a judgment call made that the service in question is required or helpful? I only ever volunteered for the briefest of times in a very (very) minor role, but I did notice that the Secretary-Treasurer was a bit of a tight-wad, so I would imagine that extends into approving FPL (if anyone knows the answer, feel free to step in).

On the flip-side, I did try, in the few days I helped, to drink my dues money back... and I wasn't particularly impressed with our approach to food purchases overall.

Nor was I particularly impressed with the number of people trying to volunteer.

So, in the end, I think we diserve FPL info, but I have to question whether we'll be able to identify who is good for the union, and who isn't, from the data. And if we became very strict with FPL, and caused people to face a choice between making money and helping, what kind of proportion of good people would we be able to retain? How many people do we have that rank political ambitions above financial rewards, and do we want them running the show?

LeineLodge

I agree this information should be made available to the membership.

The problem, which has been alluded to in some of the previous posts, is how this information will be interpreted and used. I can envision without much imagination that a witchhunt may result, and could possibly drive away the "good ones."

For the record, I think most of the guys are "good ones" and are sacrificing much more time than the pay is worth. For the most part, these guys aren't gaining financially by doing ALPA work. They may be getting paid not to fly, but they are doing other work with their time (again for the most part.)

I don't want to end up in a situation where guys are having to justify their motivations/constributions on a regular basis. This will have the effect of driving away the honest guys that are being made to feel that they are doing something wrong.

There's a line between providing full disclosure and justifying their value to the membership on a regular basis. Think the meeting with the Bob's in Office Space - "What would ya say it is you do here?"


**I am not, and never have been on any sort of FPL

scambo1

The bids are up

nwaf16dude

Most of the bids are up... not mine