BMEP100

It would be a shame to ban this guy. However that would not be unexpected as I see in many of these types of boards, there is an "inbreeding of ideas" that seems to permeate.

I have flow with Sean. Wish I could count on every FO the way I could count on him on the flight deck. On the social side- he was very pleasant to share a meal and beverage with on a layover.

At the risk of sounding too syrupie, it is nice when you fly with someone like him that doesn't bring his whining/ hatred filled agendas on deck with him. He's a winner, not a whiner.

And no, I did not cross the picket line.

Airhoss

To bad he has to act like a complete tool on APC.

Probe

At least Staller got bumped to #2 Delta Bravo. Competition is a good thing.

Airhoss

Correction.

Don't you mean it would be a shame to ban this guy AGAIN.

You are forgetting that Mr. "Winner" already got his nasty, in your face, negative commenting, rear end banned for generally being a tool of grand proportions.

Probe

Staller;
Yeah, I did start a thread. The SW guys professionally answered my question about 737 training, and I took their advice and did it a couple of weeks ago. Nobody like you jumped in and turned it into a SWA vs Airtran rant.

And sorry, you are #2 now.

Probe

So Pkcola, if Staller is not, in fact, you, why do you keep defending him and responding to posts I make that are directed at him?

baseball

There is no discredit to ALPA. Only an observation that as people come and go in ALPA so do the agenda's and so do the goals. ALPA's inconsistency in preserving and protecting the profession is problematic because ALPA failed to define what the profession is. Where the sandbox was. What the lateral and vertical limits of the sandbox were. ALPA tried to be ALPA to everyone instead of ALPA to the guys and gals that actually funded and paid for the ALPA tool box. Then, on occasion tried to use the ALPA tool box only to find out you had to get the key from some guy "named Prater" who hid the key under his pillow. ALPA needs to draw a line in the sand and stand up for mainline careers and actually be ALPA to those folks.

You think that's a slam on ALPA. Not hardly. That's a slam on the pilots who haven't told ALPA where the sandbox is and what the limits are to ALPA's influence.

I pay over 3K a year in ALPA dues. and I work for a main line carrier. ALPA had better have my and my famalies best interest at heart. I certainly don't want to pay for airline/commuter XYZ's contract negotiations and have them negotiate against me.

baseball

I've been to allot of rodeo's. This one is been done before. Big deal. Lorenzo is an arse hole. I met the SOB and probably you haven't. Lorenzo and I talked about ALPA pins. He went by the 1/3 rule. One third are pussies and don't care about the pin. 1/3 will listen to ALPA and 1/3 are clueless. He goes after the clueless and he counts on the pussies. He figures that some of the clueless are easy for the picking.

If you like the pin and it gives you warm and cozy feelings great. But, Lorenzo counted on (and got) pin wearing and uninformed selfish people who were ALPA members to cross the line. How many UAL pilots wore a pin and still crossed?

The pin is so "passay" A real show of solidarity would be putting one's nuts on the table for the cutting. I am not for things that are for show. I am for things that drive results. ALPA decides who can and who can't wear a pin. But, ALPA also wants all hands on deck. So, ALPA needs to find a way for both the "pin" and for solidarity to co-exist. Some find the pin to have the opposive effect on solidarity. Why? I think I explained it.

Some of the strongest unionists I've ever seen and followed didn't have a union pin, they just walked the walk and talked the talk and backed it up.

baseball

Just a couple of observations regarding unionism that I think are applicable.

I spoke to my brother in law about this. He is an Air Force pilot on active duty. He knows what ALPA is, but doesn't understand the significance. He knows about some of the good things that ALPA has done for the profession but doesn't understand some of the historical and monumental labor actions that have taken place over the years. Despite the age of the internet he doesn't get TWA, PAN AM, Eastern, CAL, United and others. The military doesn't really talk about this tuff. When people come off of active duty and get into the airlines they need to be mentored about the profession and what unionism means. And that meaning should be more than a pin.

There have been both triumphs and failures of ALPA, they all need to be frankly and honestly discussed.

Second, I talked to my son, who is in high school and who I have shielded from the profession. I asked him allot of generic questions and some situational ones. He understands why people scab and he blames the union for allowing it to happen, and he blames the union for a lack of education to those most vulnerable to manipulation: the junior guy or the guy on the outside looking in.

ALPA needs to own it's past mistakes and communicate a clear vision for the future. squadron guys and flight school students in college need to understand where ALPA has been and where ALPA is going. This isn't a dig on ALPA, but an honest assessment of what ALPA needs to do to prevent the next Lorenzo from kicking our butts. We'll all be flying for shamrocks instead of greenbacks if ALPA doesn't pick which profession to champion: mainline or regionals. That to me is a big deal. Factor in the next wave of foreign pilots to take our jobs and now you've got a big fight on our hands. Yesterday's scab is tomorrow's foreign airline captain. Only difference instead of working at Eastern, now he's at Norweign Air. Trouble is, ALPA likely can't influence pilot candidates at Norweign. Maybe we need to re-define "scab." But that's a fight for another topic/thread.

pilot64golfer

It's also very "passe" mon ami.