ALPA Change of Command

[BobDDuck]

Word on the street is Woerth(less) is out and Prater(?) is in. Any of the Delta guys want to share their opinion of him? Both my local reps were supporting him but didn't have much to say other then he wasn't Duane.

[wheelsup]

nothing on crewroom.alpa.org

source?

edited to add: wasn't he the CAL MEC chairman?

here's some more:
http://johnprater2006.com/index-1.html (the "home" button brings you to a dead site, the other links work).

[BobDDuck]

Originally Posted by wheelsup

source?

text message from one of our reps at the BOD meeting.


Also this off FI out of all places

Release #06.060
October 18, 2006
ALPA Delegates Elect Capt. John Prater as President
Pilots send clear message to industry of newly aggressive stance
LAS VEGAS, NV ---- The Board of Directors of the Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA) today elected Captain John Prater, a B-767 Continental Airlines pilot, to serve as the 8th president in the union’s history.
This decision sends a strong signal to the airline industry that ALPA pilots are prepared to move into a new period of strong, concerted action to rebuild their profession.
“The airline pilots of the United States and Canada today sent a clear message that their union desires to return to its roots of aggressive bargaining, strict contract enforcement, tenacious organizing, and pilot action to restore our contracts and our profession,” Prater said in the wake of his election.
“After five years of concessionary bargaining, lost pensions, and battered work rules, our pilots are primed to take offensive action,” Prater continued. “This may mean a return to the hard-nosed tactics of earlier years and a grassroots mobilization of each and every one of our members.”
While the concessionary era in the airline industry is coming to a close, several airlines remain prisoners of the “1113 process” (whereby management can have labor contracts annulled by the bankruptcy court), and others are stalled in negotiations with their managements. This stagnation takes place while load factors are high, fuel prices are lower, and profits are rising.
“The airline industry survived because of the concessions pilots and other workers made,” Prater said. “Now it is time for us to see a tangible return on these bitter investments.”

[Kristie]

hmm.. nicely worded!

[Maximillian_Jenius]

Originally Posted by Kristie

hmm.. nicely worded!

I agree but I do wonder if he and ALPA as a whole will be looking out for salaries & work rules at the regional level as well!

Should I dawn the flame suit?

[FlyChicaga]

From what I have read and heard from other pilots, I believe John will do many things to help the regional pilots. I'm excited for the future of ALPA, and hope good things come of the change in leadership.

[Doug Taylor]

Duane paraded his "LAHSO" triumphs as Rome burned.

Prater better be the airline union equivalent of "The Second Coming" or we're still hosed.

[B767Driver]

Originally Posted by FlyChicaga

From what I have read and heard from other pilots, I believe John will do many things to help the regional pilots. .

This is critical to the future of our profession, not to mention the safety of our industry. The proliferation of regional airlines, who unceasingly whipsaw contracts among different groups, has to come to an end. The under $25,000 regional pilot compensation package has to come to an end. These are serious jobs that are providing lightning fast upgrade opportunities to the minimally qualified. The compensation of the job needs to more accurately reflect the responsibility involved. In return, this should entice a more qualified applicant into the field.

Regarding safety information, get your hands on a copy of October's Aviation International News. (It gets delivered to my house for free...I think professionals can get a free copy.) It has an excellent feature this month regarding safety across the various sectors of the industry. I would not have thought this, but the most dangerous sector of the industry, outside of general aviation, is regional airlines. They are even worse than the air taxi industry and owner flown business aircraft. And the displacement between the standings is not narrow, either. The stats are not good.

The article has some other very interesting stats that are well worth the read as well, including accidents per phase of flight, how technological advancements have reduced trends, etc.

[GaTechKid]

I won't have access to that issue so would you please post some stats?

[EDUC8-or]

I've also heard that the new #3 guy is an Eagle RJ driver. Perhaps ALPA will look out more to prevent whipsaw tactics from mainline VS feed carriers as well as feed carriers VS feed carriers.

Only time will tell.

[Doug Taylor]

I don't know if ALPA itself can stop the whipsaw tactics, but it's up to the individual pilot groups.

Don't cut rates to submit a lower cost RFP for someone else's flying. Problem solved.

[jtrain609]

All it takes to stop whipsawing from the pilot groups perspective is one payrate for each aircraft, set by ALPA national. If they held their memebers to that then the airlines wouldn't be able to get away with Pinnacle FO's making $24 their second year and ExpressJet FO's making $33 their second year.

[EDUC8-or]

I have a back up plan, so I might be different but I ain't doing this job for less money. I LOVE to fly and love interacting with the PAX and love challenging weather, but being gone from my wife and home all the time deserves more money.

[Doug Taylor]

A standard payrate is a good idea, but I'm doubtful it's going to happen without a shift in how we think.

Say the baseline payrate for a CRJ-700 is $X. Carrier ABC pays CRJ-700 $X-15. Carrier ABC goes to it's pilot group and, with crocodile tears, says "If we pay you guys $X, we're going to lose our flying to a non-union carrier!"

Do the pilots have the cajones to hold the line, or do they leave the union to retain the flying out of fear?

[Maximillian_Jenius]

Well I'm hopiong that whipsawing can be addressed. I'm really hoping that one of the first acts of this new president is dealing with the ASA debacle,Mesaba and the Pinnacle contract issue!