It was meant in jest guys. I could not edit to show that since I was pulled away to take a phone call.

That's actually a good analogy. Perhaps a stratedgy adjustment is in order, whereby pilots tell professional negotiators what we want and THEY do the heavy hitting with the company and report back for MEC TA assuming a subsequent MEMRAT. I kind of like that method actually.

You know, I think this post sums up this entire mess as good as any post on here. No cliches... just pure truth.

FTB for DPA chair!

I may have missed it, but will DPA be like the ALPA was at DAL prior to the Pan Am merger, eg that its choice to be a member or not? If the choice is not to belong, than you would not have to pay dues? Thx

Come on, buddy just told me maybe Monday for the AE results? Thought this was a small one?

Actually, you have a choice now.

You can either pay 1.95% and get a vote or 1.95% and not get a vote. My understanding is because ALPA oversees the contract, they get a management fee. I joined because it didn't cost anything more and I wanted a vote - not that it seems to matter.

As I understand it, prior to the PAA merger with DL, you could choose to not belong to ALPA and you did not have to pay dues. After the PAA merger it became a closed agency; your choice was as you stated.

Carl, once again you are just wrong on the facts. A small negotiating session will have at least one professional negotiator along with the committee. The team rapidly expands as the issues get more complicated. When we get into large negotiations you will have:

A professional ALPA lawyer negotiator
One or two professional outside lawyer negotiator(s)
An investment banker
1-3 professional actuaries who are experts on R+I
1-3 professional economists who do contract costing and analysis of the company's financial condition

I am sure I left something out. But your contention that negotiations are attended only by pilots who went to a seminar is grossly inaccurate. There is a large team of professionals that have years of experience. The pilot negotiators help manage the team and always make sure that the focus doesn't leave pilot issues.

By the way, face to face negotiations mean almost nothing. 99% of the work is put in developing the term sheet which is passed across the table. The image of 10 guys sitting in a room yelling at each other and the guy who yells the loudest wins is an image for the movies only.

Alfa lets not forget what the cost of this team is as well. It is not cheap but with the multiple airlines paying for their full time services we can split the costs.