acl65pilot

SWA the airline has been successful because they marketed themselves as the underdog trying hard for a fair fight. Poor babies, but the poly worked for the last 15 years. SWAPA on the other hand not so much, and the distinction needs to be pointed out.

Going forward the love fest for SWA, the airline is waning. The papers and most pundits, except Clark Howard, are realizing that they have been suckered by perception of how cheap SWA. The WSJ and even the USA today have begun to take note of it. As a good airline CEO does, he has tried to get out in front of this issue. We saw that with the letter to their employees, but the real intended recipient was the people who have been enamored with a great marketing campaign who just had its curtains opened.

The whole "SWA effect" is a great case study though. It is a good one for ALPA and other airlines to employ. It does not have to be "true" in the purest sense of the word, it just has to be believed.

Oh and btw, we have something they want besides money, we have the ability to offer support for their candidacy when the run for reelection. That is huge and the WH is looking for that support next fall. 45,000 pilots strong is a huge voice and a huge backing to get. We did not support anyone last time, the President of ALPA did, but not ALPA, and the WH and the other elected officials are keenly aware of that fact.

tsquare

Now THAT's gonna be interesting. I wouldn't vote for the current jackass if he was running against Kim Il un... Is ALPA gonna support someone this time?

acl65pilot

No idea. Really I do not know, but I do know that the WH wants and needs support. So do a lot of incumbents that are up for reelection.

gloopy

Or if you have something completely fake and nonexistant anymore, like the long gone "Southwest Effect" and "low fare leader" and "Boy, when SWA comes to town all the fares plummet to 59 bucks to everywhere! Weeeeeeee!"

But perception alone can be the oil that greases the gears of politics and right now that appears to be why the politicos are still so madly in love with SWA. That and the evil bag fees, which some in DC think the Constitution gives them the right to try and eliminate. Blah blah blah commerce clause, yadda yadda yadda general welfare clause, etc.

So everyone falsely thinks SWA is still the market stimulating low fare dominating scrappy "people's" airline and they apparently still get a lot of leverage from that myth. Maybe we should start calling it the "Clark Howard Effect".

And they very clearly get massive preference from ATC at all levels. If that's pizza parties then DUH we need to be doing that. But I suspect its holdover from the days when the FAA's mandate was blatantly and openly written to be more about commerce over safety and they were literally ordered to do everything they could to help the poor underdog consumer save by any means necessary. Cleared direct, everyone hold for them so they can get right out, vectors so the SWA behind you can land first, never ground their fleet, look the other way and just a slap on the wrist when caught, etc. There is still carryover from that and we need to work hard and throw millions in lobbying at making sure that junk ends.

DAL 88 Driver

This is spot on. You need look no further than Valujet back in the day for a perfect example.

alfaromeo

Sorry, but you are wrong. Talk to any leader at any of the regionals and they only want one thing: mainline to grow so they can get a job there. Many members of the Mesaba MEC are flowing up to Delta as soon as hiring starts again.

They all realize that their situation is untenable at the regionals. Comair is slowly dying, Pinnacle is headed to bankruptcy, and Republic is probably not far behind them.

They want mainline to grow and they want to have flow agreements so they can get to mainline. Our interests are precisely aligned, so laugh away, you are wrong.

We tightened scope in the JCBA, where was the lawsuit, where was the outrage, where was the ALPA President forcing his will on us? You are just using fear and scare tactics on the pilots.

shiznit

ALPA suck$. It's official:
I have no doubt that DPA would be more effctive.

acl65pilot

True true.

That darn bank is giving jet to our competitors at costs that we cannot even get with cold hard cash.

OccupyRestSeat

Thanks for that red herring.

You, as a spokesman for our bargaining agent, shouldn't give a rip what the regional leaders may or may not want at this specific point in time--or try to convince me to care about what they want. Your only concern should be what Delta pilots want.

"Regional leaders" could change their tune tomorrow at the drop of a hat, and when they do, ALPA (and our money) is on the hook to fund and support them, even if it's at our expense.

Enough loophole-enabling double talk from ALPA's company-beholden waterboys. Time for a new bargaining agent.

OccupyRestSeat

What exactly is it that ALPA is doing now that CAPA cannot do with Delta pilots on board--at a fraction of the cost?

We can get some world-class lobbying for pennies on the dollar compared to what we pay ALPA right now.