shadyops

I understand aviation safety (security and accident investigation and prevention) is important and that we need to work together with various government bodies to keep flying safe, but do you think ALPA spends too much time and money working on safety issues? They only thing I want to see on the cover of the magazine is what they are doing to directly improve pay and QOL. The NTSB, FAA, and TSA have their job to do, why are pilots paying for research and developement of rest rules, security, and aviation safety? Does not the flying public have an interest in this? Perhaps more should come from government funds. Please offer some facts and different points of view.

eaglefly

Their purpose ?

.......why to make money, of course.

They're the flip side of the same coin as management. A Yin/Yang symbiotic relationship that must be properly balanced for both those sides to maintain their own independant viability.

It's the most expensive magazine subscription in the world.

Bucking Bar

ALPA's purpose is to bring pilots together to bargain collectively to improve pay and working conditions to better our profession.

However, since they decided to blow off the whole idea of unionism, they have an ever decreasing amount of leverage. The result is a negative trend line of lower highs and lower lows.

In the absence of unionism, safety remains ALPA's moral high ground.

I wish they would look at scope as a safety issue. If they did, could they live with the scattered wreckage of pilots career aspirations? Each scope renegotiation is a failure of that system. Each pilot furloughed, while another pilot is hired within that same brand is further evidence of a failure. If pilots are forced to walk across arbitrary lines created by management and lose longevity, the system has failed.

I say, put the safety guys in charge of scope bargaining. Lets have black and white analysis instead of constantly falling victim to management's outsourcing "get rich quick" schemes, our own greed at the cost of our profession and the prejudices that we let stand in the way of unity.

shadyops

Bucking Bar,

You have a way of articulating points that I am just not capable of...right on. No one can tell Alpa to drop the safety issue or at least focus on what they should, that would mean that person isn't an advocate of safety, and safety is number one!

While we all agree safety is number our union has overstepped its bounds. Is the UAW is the spearhead on car safety? It should be the company's expense to make sure it's workers and passengers are safe, not the expense of the workers themselves . Alpa is totally out of control.

B757200ER

WOW! After your first sentence, I was preparing to fire off, but then I read the rest. Excellent perspective. ALPA is no more a union than the Augusta Country Club. If it's in their best interest to sell you out, they'll do it in a heartbeat.

shadyops

What can we do about it?

Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts, absolutely.

forgot to bid

I wonder if it would've been better to morph ALPA national into a safety only operation and a PAC for airline pilot related issues that encompassed all pilots and somehow, in a way I couldn't devise myself, split mainline represenation and outsourced flying representation into two seperate entities that do not and legally cannot report to anyone at ALPA national.

1515greenlight

It may happen sooner than we think. With the drop in dues revenues and Prater's spending on things like his latest "bring 'em all" roadtrip to NZ, it's getting ugly on what's left of the 8th floor that hasn't been sold off.

What's worse, with safety as the one thing they used to be able to claim the high ground on, they just cut back Air Safety Week to an every other year event. Safety's no better, the issue was they couldn't afford it.

A friend in Congressman Oberstar's office said today that they just found out about the UAL-Aer Lingus deal yesterday...from the Teamsters Airline Division. With UAL being ALPA, you'd think they would have been up there a long time ago. Said ALPA hasn't even spoken to them about setting up a meeting about it.

As big a supporter of ALPA that Oberstar has been for years?...damn.

PCL_128

That's essentially what CAPA is, and it's completely worthless.

1515greenlight

Now that's an interesting prespective. SWAPA, IPA, APA, IBTAD, NATCA and others united as an industry group to work for the betterment of all and the mutual support of each other. Working together on the Hill on minor little issues like outsourcing, the UAL-Aer Lingus deal, ATC modernization, labor protection and other things.

But they're as the writer suggests, "completely worthless."

Which would explain why they keep getting asked by Senators and Congressmen, "Where's ALPA?" "Why is this the first time I've heard about this?" (Aer Lingus UAL)

Does the writer have specific working knowledge of the "worthlessness" of CAPA. Curious, since his limited airline experience is with ALPA carriers.

Seems to me that an organization like CAPA who is willing to stand up for the profession should be welcomed, not called "completely worthless."

I'm sure that the pilots who are part of CAPA will be thrilled to know that they are part of a "worthless" organization.

Back to the more lucid comments of "forgot to bid," yes ALPA in time will become a servicing organization for insurance products, maintain a fairly ineffective lobbying effort on the Hill as membership declines from furloughs and the carriers who begin to see that ALPA is interested in their money more than dogged representation. The push for smaller carriers will be to "take the deal" because it's cheaper than fighting.

They will also keep their hand in air safety, though diminished because of the budget cutbacks; witness the move to cancel the annual Air Safety Week in favor of a bi-annual event as a cost saving measure.

The wailing will continue, but the facts are evident. Declining membership base from furloughs and reduced flying translates to severely reduced dues revenues, meaning staff cuts and reduced ability to provide services. All it will take is for one pilot group to get really screwed in a negotiation because of diminished service due to finances and a DFR will follow. That will drain the coffers.

Not an idle musing, but a direct commentary from members of the legal staff who are afraid it is coming sooner than anyone expects.