AirTran Airways pilots ARE now ALPA!!

[MINIME]

This is a post from the airlinepilotcentral forum.

The future belongs to those who produce for their companies. Impressed with the salaries of SWA Pilots? You should be!! The pilots of SWA work hard for what they get and they don't try to hide that fact. They are proud of it. Go to their website SWAPA and read the first few paragraphs front and center on the page. ALPA wouldn't be caught dead with those words on their website!! ALPA does not know the meaning of the concept called "productivity." It is foreign to their juvenile little minds. All they know is a sense of entitlement and how to preach it (and they do a good job of that). Their behavior is akin to that of the loudest, meanest bully on the playground who will fight anyone, anywhere to get what they want.

If this person did their homework on AirTran Management, he'd understand that this sentence applies squarely to those executives. That Management Team could possibly be the hardest, most anti-labor trained around. They learned from the best (Frank Lorenzo) the art of union busting.

They are a handful. Fighting them with a weak union is like bringing sticks to a gun fight. The only suppressive fire they understand is hardcore litigation every time they break the rules. Litigation that in the end will hit the only thing they care about, their MONEY.

With more litigation, may come less intimidation and more job protection for the pilots. Which will eventually embolden the group to picket more, and eventually full blown war that may lead to a strike. Sounds bad, but unfortunately that's the only language that these types of Management Teams understand.

Alpa is the most likely body to bring these weapons. Alpa has the money and the litigators. AAI pilots need the big guns (litigators) and the funds. Most of the rank and file appears to be ready, especially their more junior ranks. We'll see if they elect solid MEC leadership to lead the way. In the end, the pilots are still responsible for the use of those weapons.

SWA management has been 180 degrees the other direction thus far. Most of the pilots' gains have come through a good and fair working relationship with management. I'll argue that that's the only reason you don't hear the calls of war with them. There simply hasn't been a need for it. Let's hope it remains that way.

 

[eaglesview]

Interesting. I didn't know Glenn Tilton had an account on airlinepilotcentral.com.....

He doesn't need one. The quote is accurate. ALPA has know idea who they are or who they want to be and Glenn knows it. With or without our hats, Local minority stickers or numerous bracelets.

 

[PHXFLYR]

Well, PCL, that might be a bit naive of you. ALPA has had this "play nice with everyone" thing going on for a while. You think Bill Couette (EGL) is going to hold a tough stance SCOPE? Not that he's the be-all-end-all there at National, but he is on the Executive Board. It's a sign of the times that ALPA is representing mostly regional airline pilots. Are you arguing this? Or are you aware of it?

Sure, in the most idealistic sense, each ALPA pilot group is purely atonomous and allowed to fight like hell for what it thinks is right. Is this the pure truth? The whole truth? Not really. ALPA National is clearly involved in the plan of attack on management, and mostly their intentions are good, but for who? Here are some comments by Duane Woerth:
Management has a strategy to further divide us and ratchet us down – they call it “brand management.” We need a counter strategy and we need it yesterday. What I believe we need is brand governance for pilots within the brand. Traditional scope fences will still be necessary outside of the brand, but inside the brand it is going to require a paradigm shift to what I call “the next generation of scope.”
This next generation of scope sets contractual standards for brand eligibility. This scope focuses more on the quality of the contract rather than merely on the quantity of small jet aircraft. To remove management’s financial incentive to develop even more substandard subsets within the brand and accelerate the proverbial race to the bottom – which they think they’ve got right now – all of us need to work on a coordinated brand scope strategy.


So you're telling me that National isn't involved in the shaping of SCOPE policy? I think they are, and I think it influences the thinking of the individual ALPA groups.


This could go on forever but I'll cut to the chase: I think ALPA does a poor job of educating the membership of the importance of fighting for the profession, sacraficing if necessary to make sure that future generations will have major airline jobs, not just the crumbs left after the whipsawing is finished.


I still wish you guys well though! Anytime a group stands up and overwhelmingly votes for their future it's an important step. It means you have the group's attention, and I hope you use this opportunity wisely.


BC

And usappa does this better how, again? I seem to have missed that lesson ....

PHXFLYR