There was a volunteer who worked for free for training to develop a training
Footprint to ensure success. (Rumor btw) not the same as a normal New had to do. .

 

As pointed out earlier, the experience level is simply not there for day to day line flying and most of us Captains will turn into babysitters instead of mentors. Another danger is how pro-management these types will be right out of the chute owing debts of gratitude to the very entity that allowed them to, for sake of a better word, cut in line.

A bad precedent when there are a large number of currently qualified candidates waiting in the wings. Don't kid yourself, we don't need these types right now and this has the stink of PAR Capitals favorite whipping boy all over it.

 

The exPerience is there currently, and likely good next 3 years. Too many high time pilots looking to move up in the profession.

Amazing. 26 years old CFI goes ahead of pilots with 5000 plus hours, multiple type ratings, and up to 6 combat tours......

 

I wouldn't worry about this too much. Many many former interns are and have been doing ALPA volunteer work for years.

But it is up to us to make sure they understand the yeoman's work ALPA and the Union has done and the sacrifices made to make this a viable career for them and the importance of following and upholding the contract.

 

As opposed to the wave of new hires just off probation tripping over each other to do some kizzazzz useless special project for the chief pilots office? Or how about the j@g off FO I saw today with the slick tie that when I asked if he needed a extra ALPA pin because obviously his had "accidentally" fallen off replied.....I don't wear that fckn ****zzzz. Yeah, I think a few lucky CFIs are going to be very happy to wear a United 1/2 wing....

 

Wow, future SCAB in the making. He must think the company just generously gave us our current pay rates and QOL.

 

It would interesting to see what would happen if UA Captains just started flying EVERY LEG when a slick tie showed up. Pure SOP, pleasant and professional but nothing more. Then slam click.

The contract we toil under is the product of 87 years of ALPA leadership and negotiations. Our wages and benefits are not gifts of benevolence by the company. When I was furloughed I was lucky enough to find one of the last jobs out there. Starting pay for a 757 FO was $34,500 per YEAR. No 401K. No nuttin'. Just a paycheck. And barely one at that. Captains made $58,000. Because that's all the company needed to pay. So much for benevolence.

I didn't much care for the SLI either, but I sure do enjoy a LOT of what the union does for me and I know why I make what I do.

I fully realize that a lot of pin wearing guys and gals have crossed a picket line. But the Eff the union crowd confuses the hell out of me. They enjoy all the benefits of our contract. And one day, should they step on their crank, you can bet your last paycheck that they will expect "their" union to go to bat for them. And, the union will.

I have met a handful of guys over my career that had to sit at either the big table or who got bad aeromedical news and lost their medicals. All of them related their stories to me while at cruise or on an overnight. After their union got them their tickets back.

Just thinking out loud.

 

Probably a SkyWest pilot or two... they've all been brainwashed to be Anti-Union from their first day of ground school.

 

This 1000x over.

I look at union dues as career insurance. You only need to be the victim of a career FAA lawyer once, with nothing more to do than try and make an example out of your perceived deviation (whether you did it or not). A year or two of legal services will make it all worth it, many times over.

Those dues also have many other ancillary benefits, to include our pay, quality of life, work rules, protections, medical services, etc. When you add it all up it’s the bargain of the century. Some idiots just don’t get it.

 

Back during the program in 2000 ran into several guys that didn't feel the need for solidarity ... I made them radio operators for 3 or 4 days at a time. Each leg I would go over a portion of our contract explaining how it was not a gift but was a result of hard work and solidarity. One of those guys does union work now ... And he is really good at it. One of our jobs is to mentor.