I have 4 letters for you ALPA hounds..... M E S A (sucks despite ALPA representation)
And imagine how much worse JO would make it for their pilots if ALPA wasn't there!
Skywest does not need a union. I hear a lot of "wait till MGT needs something or times get rough. Then the hammer will come down on you." Has this happened in the last what, 35 years at SKYW? Friends of mine have become fairly senior at SKYW and I have seen mind boggling support for pilots from their MGT. Where other carriers would have fired their employees and let the union get the jobs back SKYW has decided to stand behind the pilot. The way the company treats them is far above par. How they are treated by crew scheduling is far better than any other regional I know of. I can't speak for the futute. As for now, Skywest does not need a union.
Skywest fires many pilots without their pilots having the due process that a union recognized by the NMB. They just don't announce it to their employees every time some pilots is given a pink slip. I have friends there that have not been treated fairly, one was even a long time checkairman. Who knows what they felt "fair" was. But they didn't have any recourse to prove the unfairness. It was either put up or shut up. I can't speak for the futute. As for now, I think Skywest does need a union. If for at least to participate in the furtherance of their profession and acknowledge the safety improvements gained by unions in our profession.
Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't it an ALPA carrier's mishap that is directly affecting this change in training rules?
There will always be mishaps because we are human. ALPA has always been there so that the rules that go into effect because of them, make sense.
Really, when was the last time you ever talked to your CEO? I've called mine on many occasions and had very constuctive talks with him. I also see him in my jumpseat regularly. to say I don't have a voice in my career is extremely ignorant. Any problem most pilots have is quickly remedied and they normally (except for nondisclosure agreements) communicate pretty well with us on current company events. ALPA isn't right for skywest, and thry are a good company.
Maybe APLA is the problem, representing a mainline group and a group that is taking the jobs of the mainline group...if you look up conflict of interest in the dictionary it gives this example.
I had a constructive talk with your CEO as well. Yes, he made it clear to me and others how much you don't have a voice in your Skywest career, much less your profession as a whole.
I have never heard of Skywest putting out memos every time someone is disciplined, fired, reprimanded, counseled, etc. It only comes out from public court records. At union carriers we all know the grievances and their outcomes.
Uhmm, I don't follow much of this board, and do not know too much about the working conditions at other regionals - including Republic. Still, correct me if I am wrong, but SKW seems to be at the top of the pyramid (or at least close to it) when it comes to working conditions. What do you mean by "stronger regionals" by the way? Mesa? PSA? AW? Colgan? GJ?
How does Skywest decide what to pay their pilots? How do they decide what work rules their pilots work under?
Funny how ASA was a horrible place to work (directly from the mouths of ASA pilots) until Skywest took over. Funny how all that happened under the professional watch of ALPA and it's ASA representatives.
This isn't the Chicago meat packing industry in 1920. ALPA is what is broken. Fix it, then come back without your giant excuse/justification book.
W
That's because Skywest has good management in that they know how to run a good operation. The pilots can only do so much from the flight deck.
Ahhh yes...The ALPA talking point with regards to regional job protection.
Either way, you can't win this debate....There are two ways to go about refuting this point:
1. "ALPA doesn't make business decisions": If that is true, then what is section 1 of the contract about? What if Delta wants to make a "business decision" to run 737s at ASA or CMR?
2. If your above point is true, then it gives the ALPA cheerleaders even less to cheer about....In essence, you are admitting that Jerry will make the business decisions regarding ASA....Is it really smart to then pi$$ off the person who can make those decisions? After all, as you point out, ALPA won't make those decisions....Jerry will.
You help make my point about how impotent ALPA really is....Thank you....
It's not me that is confused about what ALPA can and cannot do....I am well aware of the fact that they can't do much....
You are getting two things mixed up. Operationally, management runs the company however competently it can. Pilots can do as much as they can but ultimately, its up to management to put the other pieces of the pie to together to make an airline run efficiently. ALPA has very little say in the operation of the airline. How management decides to make an ontime airline is management's rights.
By the way, DAL wants to run 737 at ASA, they can. Nothing stops them from giving DAL pilots whatever they would trade for that. And you are right, ALPA can only do what its empowered to defend in their contract or can lobby for in congress, or the executive branch, or what they can successfully argue before a judge/jury. Everything else, is by definition, management's rights.
This is incorrect....Most downward pressure on regional airline pay comes from fellow ALPA pilots at BOTH the regional and major level...
Well it was JA that put downward pressure on XJT using SKW pilot's total compensation, not ASA's.
That IS a conflict of interest and is what pits one group against another...That builds walls...not bridges...You aren't winning any points for ALPA.....
I guess we disagree in what is a conflict of interest. Personally, if the CAL MEC wants to scope in all jet flying, that is good for all pilots. My point is that MECs will do what is best for their pilot that doesn't always mean that they are different.
Dan B. did try as did many others...Every member of the RJDC leadership at both ASA and CMR were former ALPA MEC officers, MEC members, or committee members. Former ALPA EVP Cress Bernard had to sue ALPA to fairly represent him in the Alaska/Jet America merger. The two senior members of the ASA MEC admit "off the record" that RJDC helped us here at ASA....It is broken for the very reason you said above....
"Every MEC will do what is best for their pilots. And they should"
That won't build unity...Without unity...ALPA cannot be fixed.....
I don't know who Dan is. But seems as though you are more influential from the inside rather than by quitting.
There is unity in every MEC doing what is best for their pilots. There will always be differences at the fringes of issues. But ultimately, policy is only made when there is enough unity for it.
Fail! They dictate a huge amount of business choices a company makes. The threat of one also drives choices a company makes. You've missed the mark dramatically on that one, Sir.
The company will do whatever they think its best for the shareholders. A contract is a two way street. The DAL/NWA merger is an example of that. Their managements said they wanted an agreement on SLI before the merger. The pilots couldn't come to an agreement so the deal was off. Management came back and said we are going to merge anyways. This sort of stuff happens all the time. And most of the time, the company comes to an agreement with the union. Its not like innovation, expansion, change in business model, mergers, acquisitions stop because there is a union in the house.
