ALPA Volunteers Fleeing to Management
 

Today another volunteer who was recently in a fairly significant position within ALPA was announced as having a new management role. This seems to becoming more of a trend as of late and it’s a bit worrisome. Please voice your concerns to your reps (if you have one, sorry DCA F/O’s).

Announced today by the former MEC Secretary, who also violated MEC policy to take his management job.

30 pieces of silver? Or much more, I’m sure……

There are two types of ladder climbers.
Via Union
Via management (includes check airmen)

Many times they criss cross. They ultimately have the same goal, avoid being a line pilot at all costs.

Correct. They aren't fleeing; that was the plan all along.

So there is only really one type...

Disclaimer, i do think there is union-only guys doing it to help their fellow pilots, not sure the same goes for the management types

No need for uncertainty. The management types most definitely do NOT have the line pilot’s interest at heart. If you don’t toe the company line, you won’t advance in the management structure. This isn’t debatable.

ALPA is no different. How may reps do it for the good of the pilots versus the trip drops and FPL? Take the DCA ALPA council. That whole thing is a clown show and has been for years. Anne seems to have found a way to stay home and get paid while writing unabomber manifestos, the outgoing vice chair created a video that was cringe worthy. Anne wanted power and to put her husband in a nonflying high pay position. I don’t think that move was for the good of the pilots.

I’ve met great pilots that do ALPA work and great management pilots. It’s the person not the position. I think Fabian was a good example of being a stand up management pilot.

This is classic false equivalency, IMO. Yes, there are occasional stand up management guys(Fabian) and occasional selfish ALPA reps. But the MAJORITY of ALPA volunteers, especially the pilots in the trenches doing the day to day committee work, are indeed there to better the profession. The same philosophy applies to management; most are there to climb the corporate ladder and that requires opposing much of what our union fights for, and a few still remember where they came from and care about the line pilot. It’s not really a secret. ALPA is here to maximize our earnings and quality of life, while being a voice to promote safety issues when the company tries cutting cost corners that could negatively impact it. It stands to reason that when one entity actively tries to improve our work life and pay and the other actively tries to minimize that effort, the people in each organization are going to reflect those values, for the most part. There are no absolutes, but ALPA reps and management pilots are definitely not the same

shes on LTD.. not FPL

Too bad that LTD occurred simultaneously to her being recalled. I’m sure she would much preferred going out and flying the line with her fellow pilots. Either way we had to pay for her FPL or her LTD.

Funny how that works. I hope she never weasels her way back to having a seat at the table. AW is a special sort of individual.

Thank you for saying this. I'm a retired DL guy and my son flys for UA so I look at your APC section to keep up on current events. I also was a LEC chairman at DL. In my experience none of the guys that served with me in my council were in it for anything other than trying to improve the profession. I and my fellow council reps certainly had a lot of trip drops but we were very busy putting together contract 2000 which was a tumultuous time. Those who we placed in committee work also did the vast majority of their work with very few trip drops. They served because they wanted to improve conditions for all. I'm not denying there are not some who do this work for personal selfish reasons, but those in my experience are few. Personally, I sometimes regret doing the work because of the family events I could not be home for when my sons were teenagers. I like to think the DL and UA pilots (DL + 1%) had much better contracts because of all the volunteers who took a slice of time from their lives to do the work.

You’re welcome. I post it because I don’t want this narrative taking hold that ALPA and the company are the same. They most certainly are not. Thanks for all the volunteer work you did for our profession 👍🏼

Unfortunately, the few ruin it for the many in the eyes of many. I vehemently disagree with that notion and as an ALPA volunteer it's hard not to take it personally when people start criticizing the entirety of the union. I couldn't care less about the tribalism at the top of the MEC. I care in that I want to be represented by upstanding individuals who are in it for the right reasons but I don't care in that what happens up there doesn't generally affect any of the work that 95% of the ALPA volunteers do.

The people I work with on my committee are all doing it just because we want to help. Nobody is getting rich, only two positions ever see any FPL, and when they do it's not much. We do it because it's an important job and people deserve to have a place to get information.

What I've found is the most outspoken critics of the union are the absolute last ones to get involved. They want all of the benefits without putting in any of the hard work themselves.

Your union is you. We get the reps and people we vote for. Don't like it? Get involved. It's not hard.

This is the boiler plate of every person doing ALPA work. Don’t complain and if you do complain it’s not valid because you aren’t doing ALPA work.

Many of us that are critical of the union have served in our careers. If anything it gives you insight into some the fraud waste and abuse that is within the union. I don’t paint all ALPA reps or committee members with a broad brush and say they are all corrupt. History has shown that there are people doing ALPA work for reasons other than serving the pilot group.

If UA ALPA leadership is the best then why can’t we get a UA pilot elected as ALPA national chairman. Outside of Benchke we haven’t been able to get a candidate across the finish line. We always have infighting, backstabbing and people like Anne and Todd that float to the top as candidates. The largest ALPA pilot group being unable to field a successful national chairman seems odd.

I’ve seen this before—that LCPs are aligned with management types…say more. Why not the folks who work at TK? No sarcasm, I’m genuinely curious.

When I say check airmen I mean everyone associated with training.

So what? Is having a ALPA President from UAL somehow going to make life at UAL better for the pilots? No.

Yes UAL ALPA has had its internal issues, and that has manifested itself in a lack of unity in terms of getting someone elected as ALPA president in recent times (to me that is post 2000. I can’t speak to the previous 70 years) but at the end of the day it also doesn’t really make a difference in the quality of our contract. And that is all that matters..

id be happy if we just got rid of the hats.

Recent FO had an interesting theory. Since so many of us still don’t have the hat, even fewer than normal will be wearing it for a while. When a large percentage of pilots are in the terminal with tech jackets and no hat, the company will give up and make it optional. I personally doubt it since they seem to like that goofy looking hat, but a guy can dream.

Preach!!!!!!

For all practical purposes, the hat has been optional for years at United. There’s no need to worry about when hats get shipped, or who wears what. Nobody is going to say anything or care.

I get it that hats are basically optional since the uniform standards in the FOM are never enforced, but it would be nice to make it official by changing the FOM. Until that day, I’ll just wear their stupid looking hat.

so everyone that is involved with training is a management stooge? GFYS.

I guess you would rather have instructors not on the seniority list with nothing personally invested.

You probably also want to show up and be spoon fed instead having to crack a book.

What makes those in the training department more aligned with management? They’re definitely by the book more than many line pilots, but I wouldn’t call them climbers. They may have been attracted to those positions in part for self serving needs, but don’t we all do that when it comes to BES? So far I definitely haven’t had any complaints from any I’m my instructors or LCP’s. All have been very thorough and professional.

I support this dream. You can’t tell a pilot from a regular person if they are wearing the tech coat. I’m waiting to see how many people try to get away with only wearing the inner shell.

I made my sad face when they updated the FOM to say no puffer only. The blazer would have never seen the light of day.

Sure you can. He’s the overweight guy without his jacket appropriately buttoned/zipped, the pant legs are probably high waters and he’s wearing a phone holster. You can spot them a mile away. Just like guys wearing camouflage in town.

TK standards captains have ALWAYS been management. With the advent of job share, I can’t say for certain if they are management, but my guess is no. Part of the reputation of training center standards captains being “management friendly” stems from our history. During the strike, they were expected to keep working, much like pilots in the flight offices around the system. Post strike, many of the scabs hid in training center for years and were protected by the company. This is why the reputation exists, fair or not.

I get the history. The UAL side was what you mentioned, and the CAL side had a training department and CP office full of scabs, friends of Fred, etc, but that was a long time ago. It doesn’t need to be forgotten and it definitely explains the present perception by many that people in the training department are climbers or management friendly, but I don’t think that is the case today. There are exceptions of course, but the vast majority of pilots working at TK or on the line as LCP’s are line pilots first. TK instructors like to teach, they want to sleep in their own bed, and they like the money. LCP’s like to teach and the money is good. If we ever get to the point of a legal job action I’d expect them to do their part for the pilot group without question.