Newsflash, I was trying to help you put a term to what you were struggling to describe. Consider your vocabulary expanded, you're welcome.

Nice sidestep of the core issue of ALPA charging premium prices for lackluster quality and the UAL MEC being absent on the issue. Any snark for that?

You appear more comfortable in the roll of chief apologist for Herndon's shortcomings rather than being interested in getting the best value for membership dues dollars. With recent pay raises at United and Delta, how many more millions of dollars of our dues does Herndon now have to squander?

 

Amazing. Only a pilot could ***** about the bargaining agent than delivered big pay raises because of the 1.9% dues we pay to our union.

You are clearly someone who simply doesn't like having to be associated with a union because there is no better airline pilot union in the world. Call us when you are willing to get in the arena and show us how it should be done. Until then you are just a rank critic whose predictions could not have been more wrong.

 

There's no argument from me that ALPA is the best bargaining agent, with the best contracts in the industry. But, as you know those contracts are negotiated by pilot volunteers, with the help of collective ALPA resources. It would be inaccurate and unfair to give Herndon the credit for our current contract.

However, you can give ALPA National all the credit for transforming Kitty Hawk, which was originally formed to underwrite ALPA National employee pension liabilities, to the litigation defense fund it is today. Chuck Goldstein, TWA, Mansfield just to name a few lawsuits that cost ALPA dearly and point to the fact that ALPA isn't perfect. People make mistakes so it's a good thing we have insurance to pay out tens of millions of dollars in DFR suits, right?

Side step the subject of our bargaining agent squandering dues all you want, it won't make the problem go away. Just because you don't like it when someone calls your baby ugly doesn't mean you don't have an ugly baby. Attack me, but in the process maybe you can tell the forum why you're so against getting the best value from out dues dollars. Clearly you can do that, right?

 

ALPA Risk Management and Kitty Hawk Insurance Company
A Vital Financial Asset to Protect Our Union’s Resources
Any well‐run business or organization has a solid risk management program to ensure its long‐term viability and survivability. ALPA is no different. ALPA’s risk management program has been developed and
refined over its eighty‐year history to both maximize outcomes and minimize risk to the union and its members. Insurance, including coverage provided by Kitty Hawk Insurance Company, is a key component of ALPA’s risk management.
History and Mission of Kitty Hawk Insurance Company
Established in 1991, Kitty Hawk is a Bermuda‐based captive insurance company that is a wholly owned subsidiary of ALPA. ALPA is the sole shareholder in Kitty Hawk; no pilot or other individuals have any financial interests in ALPA.
Initially, Kitty Hawk provided fiduciary‐only insurance
coverage to ALPA for pilot representatives and staff
related to activities on airline and ALPA benefit plans.
However, beginning in 1999, as a result of action by the
1998 ALPA Board of Directors, Kitty Hawk expanded the
insurance provided to ALPA to four lines of coverage,
adding professional services, employment practices, and
duty of fair representation (DFR) insurance. The current insurance program is unique. ALPA is not aware of any other U.S. or Canadian union that has DFR insurance coverage.
Kitty Hawk, in turn, purchases reinsurance coverage on all four lines from reinsurers based in both Bermuda and London. Bermuda has been determined to be the best location to access the Bermuda and London markets to reinsure the coverage Kitty Hawk is providing to ALPA on a cost effective basis. Reinsurance coverage through Kitty Hawk enables ALPA to obtain significantly more insurance coverage than if it relied on only Kitty Hawk for insurance.
ALPA and Kitty Hawk have expanded insurance/reinsurance coverage since the program was established in 1999. The status of the Kitty Hawk insurance/reinsurance program is reviewed by ALPA’s Executive Council on a regular basis. However, ALPA and Kitty Hawk—as is true for many other organizations and their insurance companies, even captive ones owned by the organizations they insure—do not reveal their resources or insurance coverage publicly to potential litigants.
Any well‐run business or organization has a solid risk management program to ensure its long‐term viability and survivability.
ALPA is no different.
Full Accordance with ALPA Policies
In accordance with ALPA financial policies adopted by the Association’s Executive Board in 2005, ALPA’s premium payments to Kitty Hawk cover the cost of Kitty Hawk’s reinsurance premiums. Such premium payments are budgeted for payment from ALPA funds. All other Kitty Hawk expenses are paid from Kitty Hawk funds, not from ALPA dues. As with ALPA’s other wholly owned subsidiaries and affiliated organizations, Kitty Hawk’s financial results are consolidated into ALPA’s annual audited financial statements, published, and made available to the membership.
Kitty Hawk Insurance Company Structure and Governance
As a Bermuda‐based captive insurance company, Kitty Hawk is subject to Bermuda laws and regulations. Kitty Hawk uses a local law firm (Appleby), a captive insurance manager (R&Q Quest), and Bermuda‐based auditors to advise on governance, legal and regulatory compliance, and accounting matters. Kitty Hawk pays for professional services directly or reimburses ALPA for certain services performed.
Kitty Hawk has a seven‐member Board of Directors. ALPA’s Executive Council approves the nomination of each director to the Board. Bermuda law requires two Bermuda residents to be directors on the boards of Bermuda‐based companies. All directors serve on the Board without compensation.
Clear Benefits for ALPA and its Members
Kitty Hawk is not a liability of ALPA; it is an asset. In fact, it is an essential element of ALPA’s risk management program. As with any insurance policy, Kitty Hawk acts as a safety net to protect the resources of the Association.
Kitty Hawk and the insurance/reinsurance program played an integral role in the settlement of the Mansfield lawsuit in 2010. Without it, ALPA would have had to use a significant portion of its available assets to settle the litigation.
An effective risk management program is integral to the long‐term success of any organization. ALPA has developed and refined an extensive risk management program over many decades, with a focus on high quality advice and training, clear policies and procedures, sound decision making processes, and downside protection in the form of unique professional insurance through Kitty Hawk.
For more information, please contact ALPA at [email protected].

 

So when are we getting our 5% hold back form the contract?

 

But the best is not enough for you. You want MEC web sites to be on par with the largest most successful e-Commerce site on the planet. Got it. Like I said there is no pleasing some people especially those who simply don't like unions. No, what is inaccurate and ridiculous is to think we would make anything close to what we do with only a few pilot volunteers negotiating for us. That is why the APA just re-upped for ALPA E&FA services. https://www.alliedpilots.org/News/ID...ncial-Analysis

The reason ALPA is so successful is the whole package. MEC independence with all the services: ALPA-PAC, Governmental Affairs, AFL-CIO affiliation, E&FA, Air Safety, etc. and the many pilot volunteers who having seen behind the curtain will tell you that you simply don't understand how the game works or how uneven the playing field is against union labor.

Love the focus on the big picture.

 

Let's see if awax can connect two dots.

SkyWest CEO warns pilot shortage could lead to big service cuts | Government Affairs content from ATWOnline

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/alpa-u...212500710.html

 

Let's see if Flytolive can avoid false equivalence and straw man arguments and share why he's supportive of dues fraud and waste.

He claims to have done ample union work (which I doubt), but when a member openly criticizes dues dollar waste, he won't even address it. Instead, he's first out of the gate with personal attacks and false logic arguments. This ladies and gentlemen is your union - "shut up and color".

UAL pilots DO have a very capable web platform, they just can't use it's complete set of features. We collectively could've paid less than $250,000, but instead will pay millions more for a hobbled version. Do your own research on Sitecore and then look at how DDN was managed at ALPA over the last 10 years. At least we're job creators for the programmers in Herndon.

ALPA pilots get a substandard product and will pay 10 times more than they should. And I'm the a-hole for bringing it up?

 

Your assertions regarding ALPA costs, pay and performance are as demonstrably wrong as are your predictions. At least you admit that ALPA is indeed the best pilot union on earth.

 

ALPA salary info is public as are the line item budgets, I'm not sure what you're looking at. I'll stand by my review of nearly 20 years of ALPA's membership website offerings. Your denial that IT's track record is anything other than pathetic is highly suspicious.

As for my prediction, it's more of a reality that you're buried to far in denial to see. ALPA IT has become first and foremost a jobs program for Unit 1 represented staff and providing the best services and products to ALPA represented pilots is a distant second. I'm not going to suggest that this happened through malice, although the tail is wagging the dog.

For example, take the PDR system which advertised as the lynchpin of pilot feedback. The system was made in house and uses now obsolete technology. That limited product was framed into DNN which as of last week is no longer used by UAL pilots.....except to act as a container for PDR.

Ask any pilot volunteer who answers PDR how easy it is to track and reply to a PDR. I think you'll find some common and unflattering answers. What are the plans to upgrade and modernize PDR? The answer as of last month is "I don't know". Whatever the timeline, the plan is that it'll be an in-house effort and will employ premium paid programmers, again with an open ended delivery date.

Now, do a google search "Customer Ticketing System" and you'll see there are many excellent software packages available today that are less expensive and more fully featured than what ALPA can deliver in house.

So the obvious question is, why don't we use off the shelf software that's better and cheaper? To echo Herndon, "I don't know".