Fee For Departure Open House
 

The ALPA Fee For Departure Committee (FFDC) has developed a unique opportunity specifically designed to aid pilots at ALPA Fee For Departure Carriers. United MEC Chairman Jay Heppner announced during a recent conference call that the United MEC is hosting United MEC Pilot Open Houses. Taking place in Chicago and Denver, these Pilot Open Houses will be open ONLY to ALPA members at Fee For Departure Carriers.
A variety of guest speakers from United Flight Operations, Human Resources, United’s Training Department, as well as selected Instructors will participate in the Pilot Open Houses to help prepare Pilot Open House attendees on what to expect should they get a call for an interview from United Airlines.
This is a unique, first of its kind, tangible action item to get the information from key individuals who make the hiring decisions at United Airlines to pilots who seek employment as a United pilot. While these Pilot Open Houses won’t solve all of the problems currently facing pilots at Fee for Departure Carriers, these open houses are designed to put many ALPA pilots in a setting in which they can become more competitive.
Additional details on the Pilot Open Houses:

· Visit alpa.org/ualmecfeefordeparture to register. Registration opens on July 7th at noon Eastern Time and closes on July 14th at noon Eastern Time.
· Registration is on a first-come, first-served basis, and space at the events is limited. Through the online registration process, pilots will be able to rank preferences for open house dates and times. If the pilot’s first open house date and time preference is full, he or she will automatically be placed in their next choice, etc.
· The UAL MEC is still finalizing the dates with management but are planning on August and September. Additional communications will be distributed when those dates are determined.
· Due to the anticipated high demand for this event, we expect every available slot will be filled. IF SELECTED, pilots who register will receive a registration confirmation email the week of July 21. The email will include registration date/time. Pilots aren't officially registered for this event until they receive that confirmation email.
· The dress code for this event is business casual.
· There is no cost to attend these Open Houses outside of any individual costs of traveling to and from these events.

I predict their website will crash at 12:01 pm on July 7th.

It would be nice if Delta did this as well instead of trying to fill Endeavour with their EtD program.

This is very strange.

United isn't going to have trouble staffing United.

What's their play here?

And alienating their largest feed provider, too. What's that going to accomplish?

Just alpa bros looking out for fellow alpa bros. Its going to give an insight into those seeking a seat at united, thats what it'll accomplish.

Did you watch the video? Maybe you didn't. The united mec, in meeting with ffd mecs said a common concern was the lack of career progression, aka united needs to hold our hand and help us with what they want to see in a candiate.

It's hard to show career progression when you work in an industry that has been stagnant for the past 10 years. With or without ALPA, the next few years should prove to be interesting for the airline pilot.

Mainline mentor?

It's a step in the right direction.

Those ALPA Bros had no problem flying SkyWest aircraft while on furlough from United. Only works one way, I guess.

By not hiring Skywest pilots? Skywest can't train/staff the flying they have. By not hiring Skywest pilots UAL is helping Skywest.

You mean Jets 4 Jobs? Yeah ALPA negotiated with UAL and relaxed some scope provisions provided that Express hired furloughed UAL pilots to staff those new jets. Isnt that what ALPA is supposed to do....look out for their members? Remember those UAL pilots went to the bottom of the Skywest list and provided upgrade opportunities for more pilots due to more jets coming on the property.

ALPA looks out for ALPA, did you miss that day in class, or are you just realizing the at the 2% you so proudly proclaim to save might not be quite the savings it may seem....

Skywest pilots want all the benefit and none of the cost. Funny thing is they talk about trying to do another union drive, but after 3 tries I dont think ALPA will want to put in the money again.

Bunch of Skywest pilots are vehemently anti union, if you have a union would you want these types on the seniority list, diluting your efforts?
Unions need some semblance of unity, Skywest pilots on the surface might be seen as a liability. Go over to F/I.com and look up "HelloNewman"'s posts, he was at CAL and now UAL, he had repeatedly professed a desire to work at ridding the airline business of unions.

Absolutely nothing, because they will still show up for work and do their jobs.

Maybe SAPA can ask nicely and get an open house too.

This is a step in the right direction but I'm a bit unclear in what this will accomplish? They're inviting us to a united pep rally??

Fee For Departure Open House
 

What about former ALPA members that got put on the street at an ALPA carrier? Does ALPA care about them still?

I'm sure a bunch are pro union too. I'm sure a bunch are also undecided or not sure.

A helping hand for the future XJT furloughs. "Come to our open house to show you what it is like to be an adult. Unlike the kids you have been. If you still don't get it.. furlough and no job for you!"

BS. SKW has a lot of lifers, who generally hate unions. Although I'm starting to see more union talk lately.

The vast majority of the upwardly mobile pilots are probably pro union.

I'm pretty sure it's illegal to make hiring decisions based on union status or activity. Most people think that protects union members but it also works the other way. So majors cannot make union membership or lack thereof a hiring criteria. So pep rally is the best they can do.

A flow through would be ok but then they lose their ability to be selective. A national seniority list would work too, but that's a pipe dream.

I'm SkyWest and probably a lifer. For years I didn't want anything to do with a union, especially ALPA.

While still not excited about ALPA for the regionals, I'd sign a union card in a second.

I'm tired of going backwards, our management is playing us like fools and there's nothing we can do about it.

That being said, I would not be surprised if ALPA National is prodding this process to get the SkyWest pilots to play along?

No dues. No news.

Republic, Eagle. PSA all have unions. How has that been beneficial to them? What regional carrier has a union that has been able to produce results in the form of compensation, benefits, duty time, trip rigs, days off, etc? This is not a rhetorical question. If there is such a union out there, then perhaps it should be the model for the regional airlines. ALPA certainly does not seem interested in looking out for the "little" guys.

A lot of Skywest pilots are pro-union. The ones who are anti-union are the senior lifers who wouldn't care about moving on to United anyway but unfortunately the senior people at the company are the ones that call the shots. The junior pilots wanting to move on are a lot more pro-union and aren't looking for benefits without the cost.

There probably will never be a passing Union drive because the people who want it most are unhappy and just going to move on to majors before it happens anyway. The lifers who don't want a union will stay.

Last I checked ALPA has no part of the hiring process. This is just a good way to get your foot in the door or introduced to someone at united but ultimately it's united that hires and not ALPA.

Make sure you tell the Capt. on the interview panel that he has no say. All it takes is a down check and it's on to the next guy/gal. Plenty of applicants for every slot, in the coming years unity in the ranks will be necessary for maximum gains and SKYW guys will be the big question mark, except for the numerous organizing committee members. But keep telling yourself it makes no diff.

Wait, so your telling me that the Captain doing the interview will see that a qualified applicant isn't with ALPA so they won't be offered the job? That sounds ludicrous! Now if ALPA was doing the interview then this would make sense. I find it extremely hard to believe that someone as smart as United would turn away a great pilot just because he isn't ALPA. I can't even imagine a captain doing the interview to be bias toward ALPA applicants. ALPA would be bias and turn away a qualified applicant all day long but United is much smarter than this. My point is, United Captains do the hiring and not United ALPA guys.

Why would a SKW pilot applying for a job with an ALPA carrier be a question mark? Wouldn't that mean that they're willing to join the union and wouldn't that also mean that ALPA would be start receiving dues from someone who wasn't paying them before?

I get the union members stick together mentality but I don't understand why people would turn away applicants who want to join their pro-union company.

Skywest folks has and will continue to get hired at every Major/ Legacy carrier.

I'm to lazy to fill out the UAL app. Will ALPA do it for me if I show? Now that would be cool!

I've been saying this for years. ALPA carriers should only hire APLA pilots. This would also bring more groups to APLA. But with the new HR rules its hard now I guess, another boat APLA let sail.

It's definitely a step in the right direction, and I wish ALPA can keep it going with their other carriers, and maybe have non-ALPA carriers like AA and SWA hold open houses too.

The issue is that management hires and fires not to mention controls the seniority lists.

The EEOC may be another reason why. What should happen is that all hiring into the majors should be done through the regionals. To have allowed others to get a head start directly hired to mainline avoiding the low pay and less benefits at regionals has only helped perpetuate the food stamp welfare wages and whipsawing.

Actually, if I'm not mistaken your local MEC controls the seniority list, otherwise the company would do as they see fit, as if they don't already!

Don't feel bad. It's not just their largest feeder (not that the UAL MEC cares about who management uses for feed), it also includes Horizon, Gojet, Silver, Great Lakes, Cape Air, Allegiant, Virgin America, and a multitude of second and third tier cargo airlines.

Yes, you are an inactive member and should be getting the ALPA furlough benefits (assuming you are still furloughed).

Where does Delta fall in on that? They are required to hire a certain percentage of ALPA pilots. Anyway, I don't think anyone is talking about hiring only union pilots. Because there will always be military pilots that they want to hire. Those would be the non-union pilots.

Do you honestly think that Eagle, PSA, Mesa and republic would have been better of non-union and at the whim of their managements? This is what a lot of anti-union people miss. It's not just the gains. It also mitigating the loses when times are not good.

Do you honestly think that Eagle, PSA, Mesa and republic would have been better of non-union and at the whim of their managements? This is what a lot of anti-union people miss. It's not just the gains. It also mitigating the loses when times are not good.[/QUOTE]

I don't think it could be any worse....management seemed to do mostly what they wanted even though a union was in place and when they couldn't they totally f@cked their pilots over. Where was the benefit?
My point, if I were to have one, is that ALPA is a Major airline union and I am curious if you were to ask the pilots who lost their pensions a few years ago how they felt about their union, what kind of response you'd get.
I am neither pro nor anti-union. I honestly do not believe the current representation at the majority of regionals (Compass seems solid) is funcitonal (has teeth).