Not trying to stir the pot, bit if I was a "Real Southwest Pilot", I would have thought he did a super bang up job. Again, just curious why he was voted out.
You're trying to put too much on him. Let's not forget that the SLI deal came about from the
company, and had little to nothing to do with who was the SWAPA President (or Negotitating Committee, for that matter). It really wouldn't have mattered who was the SWAPA Prez at the time. He just got the
credit from Airtran guys and the
blame from Southwest guys. That's why you say he did a "super bang up job" and Southwest FOs think he "screwed them." In actuality, what he did (and in actuality, ALL he did) was manage the expectations and spin the outcome that the company decreed. For instance, you guys dislike him for his statements on the decision for the 717s going away. Chase had no input or vote on that particular business decision, and only put out a statement to try to show the positives of it to
his constituents, especially the junior ones. It's his job to represent Southwest pilots, not Airtran pilots. I suspect that
any SWAPA President would have put out a similar internal memo, regardless of who he or she was. His natives were restless, and he was tried to mollify them.
I think the real reason he was voted out was a combination of things, but mainly it was a bunch of internal union crank-stepping that you guys don't have too much info on. Things like communication, or lack thereof, unpopular constitutional amendments, decisions that seemed to go against the will of the majority, ever-increasing union budgets etc. (And of course, being in SWAPA when this whole SLI thing got rammed down our collective throat added a
little bit of taint to the office that he happened to be sitting in. But I suspect that's the least of it).
Bubba
