Not to set a drift on the thread, but trying to understand your take.....
Are you saying Alaska Airlines, Capt. Cassidy, is just a puppet as a National Officer since he's not part of the "Big Three" (as you call it)?

What I find comical (or sad depending on the view), one of the "Big Three" has ZERO direct representation in the National Officer's seats at the current time.......BUT, that's a whole different story, theory, and discussion for another thread.

National officers are merely the mouthpieces for the BoD. Rarely do they have any direct effect on ALPA policy.

And as far as elections go, my understanding is that the current slate has more to do with the complete abdication of one large MEC's responsibility to provide a viable candidate for office. Historically, all of the major ALPA offices are held by pilots from the largest voting blocks at the time. What we have here is an historical aberration.

Check 10K filings from that period and you'll see that UAL domestic mainline ASM shrank by about 10% and feeder flying increased by around 10%, There might not have been more feeder airframes, but there was more feeder flying and it wasn't CAL, because our flying shrank by about 4% both mainline domestic and RJ. Also a pretty monumental economic crisis going on at that time.

A then furloughed UAL buddy told me in '07 there was realigning of flying as CAL entered the Star Alliance with UAL reducing its NYC presence. Anecdotally, I don't remember seeing any increase in flying to UAL hubs until after the actual merger. If it makes you feel any better the CAL EWR base was cut by around 30% in the fall of '08 and today is about 60% of its peak. I'm still not back to the relative seniority I had in my base almost five years ago.

X,

Actually it doesn't make me feel any better. I personally don't want to see anyone, your side or ours, get slammed in this merger process. This forum is pure sport and hopefully the arbitrators will not skew the isl towards one side or the other. The composition of both lists will not be as simple as one thinks since there are many nuances that will affect both sides.

Few if any here actually wish any malice on the other side. I've been pretty lucky in my career and I know it. I know a lot of LUAL pilots and know you guys have gotten hammered over the last dozen years, so I'm sympathetic. I think the thing that gets under our skin (at least my skin) occasionally is the notion that things have gone great over here at your expense. We have had a small furlough (small in comparison to yours) and some reduction in flying. Still, I see the obvious over the past couple of years and I know it's frustrating from your side of the "fence."

Having said that, I expect my Merger Committee to fight tooth and nail for every slot on the list as you expect yours to do the same. We've all got our ideas about how the SLI should and will go, but the only one that really matters is the arbitration board. Few will get exactly what they want, but we'll move forward. I honestly think in the long run this merger will be a good thing. I just hope we see the benefit before our careers are over.

Sage words, wise one.

Anyone who was present at the BOD in Florida when the current Officer were elected fully understands & witnessed the full-blown Gong Show that the past CAL-IAH LEC brought to the event.

Their actions destroyed just all credibility in bringing forward anything formidable to the table for consideration in the election process......Enough said about that.

I think you are right. This is good for all of us.

Back to the original topic, I don't like the idea of a fence at all. Just put the list together with all the three policy factors and let it go.

So, in short, you know the story but were just playing coy. LOL!

Not playing "Coy", actually quite the opposite.....Just look at the top of the page by way of the quote below C/P'ed that I made earlier. Their "Three Ring Gong Show" was hard to miss......no matter who you were.

Regardless, Cassidy being a "non-Big Three" as you say still resides as one of the National Officer's. Serving strictly as a mouth piece for the BOD, now that's debatable. Taking up your jaundice view surrounding the current Frag-Policy with Sean would be better served than that on APC.