The difference between at LUV is simple. They know their pilots are the employee group that has the best view of the operation. They know that they are integral to their success, and treat them as such.

They got lucky on a long term fuel hedge, and that allowed them many years of enhanced profit and growth.

The only difference between our managers and theirs is the value they place on their employee groups, pilots in particular, and go out of their way to make you value them as your employer and pay accordingly. Both can be bottom line driven, but them crazy Texans also know that you need to spend money in the correct places to make money.

As for DALPA, the correct spirit is there in many of the reps. They just need to be supported by their pilots. Sitting behind a keyboard is great, but it generally does not provide the level of support that is needed. Showing up and holding people accountable is.

 

You really are saying a lot here by what you are not saying.

 

ALPA's problem created by teaming up with management is that they get a lot of information that can not be disclosed to the general membership. In fact, the Reps are not told until they "need to know." Information is power and the Admin has the power (and often the duty) to with hold information.

Since scope sales and RFP's do have material effects on share prices, as well as employment, there is plenty of justification to keep these things under wraps until the deal is substantially done.

 

I am not sure about the pay them accordingly part. For almost the entire history of SW they have paid them well below the industry average. They have never offered to put them at the top of the industry. They got there buy accident and those very fuel hedges that helped them became a double edge sword on pilot costs. You can't ask for paycuts when your rolling in money. Neither SW management or even their union like their present position in the pilot pay arena. They would much prefer we pass them back up so they can regain their historical cost advantage and start back to their years of 10 percent growth instead of mergers.

 

I guess our mutual respect love fest may be ending.

Please provide a single example of this ever occurring. And remember, a grievance settlement doesn't count, as those have NEVER been sent to MEMRAT.

 

Sorry to disappoint, out of deference to your opinion I've withdrawn the offending allegation.

In our scope history, concessions have always remained one step ahead of what is needed to allow airplanes that have already been ordered. That's an awful lucky coincidence, isn't it?

Follow the history of small jet orders from 1999 to 2010 and place that beside a time line of contract revisions. The correlation is remarkable, but more remarkable when you consider the orders preceded the scope changes.

 

We would do better if we prohibited the union guys from signing those confidentiality agreements.
Management invites them to their parties and makes them feel like they are part of some "inner circle" of illuminati and many of them end up thinking they are junior executives and forget who they really work for.
Management uses the selective distribution of "privileged information" to control our union.
Same with the pilot seat on the BOD. Its something ALPA National wants as part of their political agenda so they can feel like they are taking part in "corporate governance". In reality, its used by management to draw the union into their schemes to lower the cost of labor.

We're dreaming if we think management is ever going to provide the union guys with some confidential report saying we could afford to give the pilots a 50% raise. There will however be plenty of secret data showing how critical it is to control our labor costs because fuel hedging is so difficult to master.

 

Good point

 

Yeah, like pilot costs are the determining factor for success and growth.

 

ACL,

I don't often get to say this anymore... but great post!

I only take exception with the last paragraph. I agree with you in theory on that one. But I have found the reality to be that reps are not really that open to input... i.e. they do a lot more talking and a lot less listening. I know guys are saying that is changing now. Hopefully it is at other bases.