Union work at a regional

[OldTownPilot]

Some questions to ponder that I thought of.

Is union work at a regional a good way to network your way into a job at a major?

Would past union work be a detriment at an interview at a major? Would this be because you would be seen as anti-company by an HR person? Would this make even more of a difference if the director of hiring was part of "Continental's class of '83"?

Overall, looking at a career progression point of view, would union work be a positive or a negative?

[DE727UPS]

I think you'd do much better trying to be a checkairman.

[OldTownPilot]

Originally Posted by DE727UPS

I think you'd do much better trying to be a checkairman.

Would that be because of a possible "pro-company" point of view?

Is it possible to be a check airman and a union volunteer?

[Alchemy]

At expressjet, being a union officer seems like it's the fastest track to a job at Continental. It seems like every year we lose half our officers to Continental.

Our check airman don't go quite as much....most of them have 10+ years of seniority, and with the override are probably cracking six figures pretty easy....not much reason for the them to leave.

[skydog]

Originally Posted by OldTownPilot

Some questions to ponder that I thought of.

Is union work at a regional a good way to network your way into a job at a major?

Would past union work be a detriment at an interview at a major? Would this be because you would be seen as anti-company by an HR person? Would this make even more of a difference if the director of hiring was part of "Continental's class of '83"?

Overall, looking at a career progression point of view, would union work be a positive or a negative?

Allow me to answer your question with a question. Is the only reason you are interested in doing union work to network for another job? If so that is the wrong reason for doing it.

Conversely, are you not going to do union work because you are afraid that it might hurt your chances for a job at a major? Again, that is not a reason for not doing it.

My point here is that you make your decision to act, or not to act, because you believe it is the right thing to do. If you demonstrate that the only time you stick your neck out is when there are no personal consequences, you are showing a lack of professional integrity, and in my opinion, that is what is going to not get you hired at a given company.

[skydog]

BTW, I believe the best way to get hired at a major, or anywhere for that matter is to: 1) learn your craft, 2) never stop learning, 3) put forth your best effort on the job every day 4) don't take a job you know your are not qualified for, 5) don't go into any job with your eye on the door, 6) work to enhance the profession, 7) see rule number 2.

If you do these things your name will get known. Over time, you will find that more and more opportunities will come your way.

Conversely, if you don't do these things your name is also likely to get known, but not in way that you want.

[casey]

you forgot the most important rule: nepotism.

[Doug Taylor]

Nah, not detrimental at all. I was heavily involved in strike prep and communications at Skyway while in the interview process at Southernjets.

[kellwolf]

Well, the guy that was pretty much a shoe-in for the MEC chairman job here is at jetBlue now. He was also on the neogtiating committee, so I'd say even going to a non-union carrier, it's not a hinderance. A LOT of the guys that are the high ups in our union aren't going anywhere. They're there to make the airline a better place for themselves and others that are gonna stick around. More power to 'em, and I think it's a good thing.

As for networking, yeah, you'll meet a lot of people doing the union thing. You'll also meet some people if you join other ALPA carriers at picketting events. Don't just go to the majors, though. Show your support for the regionals guys fighting it out with ya. You never know who you're gonna meet that moves on and says "Oh yeah! When we were trying to fight off a managment screw job at XXXX Express this guy stood up with us!"

Don't get into a union job just to network. You'll find yourself seriously overworked and under-appreciated very quickly. I accidentally landed myself on the Hotel Committee here about two weeks ago, but I'm actually kinda likin g it.

I do have to agree with Don, though. Go for check airman if the opportunity presents itself. You can be a check airman without being a "company man." Your job is to teach the airplane, procedures and make sure the FOs and upgrading CAs are safe to operate without guidance and supervision, not enforce company rules that don't apply like scheduling, benefits, etc. Plus, it shows the airline you're applying to that you're willing to go the extra mile. I know of a couple of check airman from here that are at CAL now.....and they actually didn't know anyone!

[Bog]

MAG is in the process of losing at least 5 people actively involved in running MAG-ALPA. As long as you don't want to get a job at AAY, you're OK.