“ ay, there 's the rub”

—Hamlet

A volunteer is defined as “a person who performs a service willingly and without pay.”

While the reps serve willingly they don’t serve without pay. They run for a position and are compensated for the work they provide. They aren’t volunteers. They are highly compensated employees of the pilots they represent. The job should be viewed as such.



Back to the point, let’s call this ALPA Pres situation what it is. This is typical ALPA National political infighting. This is a waste of time and resources that the line pilot works hard to provide ALPA National in the form of treasure. You have a Delta MEC which has been in a tumultuous power struggle since their 2015 Contract 1.0 was voted down and they saw recalls and personnel changes in their own MEC. Now those same people and their infighting has caused what they perceive as a slight due to no Delta pilots being represented at the national level.

So now instead of furthering our profession these politicos will focus on ousting the ALPA President and installing their own chosen one. It’s a terrible waste and our hard earned dues money will be used to fund this childish garbage. Unfortunately this is the ALPA way. Personal politics and ambition have become the norm and the line pilot is falling further behind. The Moak way.

-UA


Can anyone confirm that Lee Moak is actively flying for Delta Air Lines? Otherwise the precedent has been set many years ago. There should be no expectation of the ALPA Pres returning to line flying post term.

https://moakgroup.com

Meh. If he's doing the job right, staying current would probably be a distraction, he would be doing it mainly just to show solidarity... but there are many other ways he can do that, probably with far more impact.

He earned his retirement, I don't care when he takes it. Especially since he'd be done anyway when he got back to the line. If he were 55 years old and retired I might suspect he just wanted the alpa gig to launch a beltway career.

I'll reserve judgement and see how he does. Time will tell.

Did Lee Moak retire early to double dip? No. He took an LOA. A bit different than retiring and receiving a deferred pension. Did Lee Moak tell people he would not retire early while he ran, only to do so the day before his term started? What DePete did was legal...but he likely wouldn’t have won if he said he was going to retire. That, to me, is a big deal. He ran on a false premise/statement.

volunteer noun vol·​un·​teer | \ ˌvä-lən-ˈtir \
Definition of volunteer
1 : a person who voluntarily undertakes or expresses a willingness to undertake a service: such as
a : one who enters into military service voluntarily
b(1) : one who renders a service or takes part in a transaction while having no legal concern or interest

The vast majority of ALPA volunteers perform an immense amount of work, sacrifice their free time and endure countless interruptions to deal with union matters compared to the relatively small compensation. It is obvious you have never done any significant ALPA work. Give it a try and get back to us.

It appears nobody asked either one that question as those who claim they did are having trouble explaining why would have even thought to ask such a thing.

Even if someone did FDX didn't want to allow DePete to take an LOA. Sounds like they were trying to mess with ALPA politics. I am glad DePete called their bluff and will be able to focus 100% on his very demanding job.

I specifically referenced Reps and those above them in the chain. Not committee volunteers.

I pay ALPA plenty to represent me. The volunteer or shut up response is tired and it doesn’t work on me. If I need a lawyer and I’m not happy with their work they don’t say “go to law school or shut up.” ALPA reps are in the employ of the dues paying members they represent. They are paid for the work they do.

-UA

Also, don’t even try to compare an ALPA rep to a member of the military. Dumb.

I heard there was also a scuffle at the Delta meeting. Why you guys so angry?

Delta doesn’t have a retirement to double dip from. Maybe Moak should have worked on that when he was there.

Every Purple Pilot has the option to defer their pension. It’s not a deal that was only available to DePete.

-UA

As did I. Long story short. You don't have a clue all the pro bono work being done on your behalf by reps and the other volunteers. You're welcome.

I didn’t mention the “other volunteers”. Read my original and subsequent posts.


-UA