Change the names to Jeff Smesick and POS Tilton and I know I've heard this same sentence uttered around 2009-2010 timeframe. Thought you would have learned the never know what you got thing a long time ago......

Why wasn't Attrian a pilot at UAL? How could he rise to that position without having to prove himself amongst his peers and colleagues?

Why on earth would you think Pierce would be VP of flight OPS? LOL , You guys have some real issues. It is very entertaining... Maybe Pierce was involved in parking the 737's, or Did any of you guys see him on the Grassy knoll too? :)

May we refer to this post in the future?

Over my career, I've seen plenty of union reps who later ended up in managerial positions (or who wanted to).

Like Attarian?

JP signed a letter not to take any management job. All the CALALPA reps did.

I'm sure that will hold up.

Most guys don't want PIERCE floating to the top again. How he got to be the CAL MEC Chairman is explained by his blind following. He used fear and intimidation - just ask the CAL reps of the time. He was instrumental in helping the company delay the contract. This cost every United pilot money - including you.

Throw him a dinner and let him go fly his Guppy to Europe.

Howard was doing this also? Not doubting your recollection. I am thinking about it now, I remember hearing that he never upgraded at NWA, which is not a criticism. Apparently he was a Second Officer Rep, and eventually jumped onto Duane Woerth's coattails. Hopefully someone else can fill in the picture.

I distinctly remember Joe Cupcake (former Delta pilot, a 767 Captain over at Delta, but never flew here at United) calling himself captain. It drew formal protests, and he discontinued his misrepresentions.

Howard Attarian surely ain't a dumb guy, so I am optimistic about his potential.

To do what?

That's a good question. We can just speculate, however at the time these guys started showing up we constantly wondered why there wasn't any "native" United pilots getting these assignments. Some believe that management was being cautious to not **** off the union pilots with a scab appointment, and same by not giving the job to a "striker". Not so sure about that argument, as this was also done in Maintenance, Flight Attendants (I guess they call that "Onboard"), etc.

The first one was Hart Langer from Pan Am. He got hired straight into Sr VP of Flt Ops.

Some other non seniority list fellas:

Joe Cupcake

Don Dillman - American Captain retired from American in his early to mid fifties (good guy as I remember him)

Michael Quiello - former Delta Captain. Not sure if he retired from Delta. Believe he was hired directly into Sr VP of Corporate Safety. He has his picture in the inside cover of the SafetyLiner publication.