The Summer of Our Discontent; fertile ground for an in-house Delta Pilots Union?

It has been a long, hot, frustrating summer here in ATL. Quite a bit of time was spent in unsuccessful pursuit of two grievances (combining International and Domestic Categories and the use of new scheduling practices). A lack of transparency and the restrictive control of information by the MEC Administration and its Committee Chairman greatly inhibit the opportunity to pursue seemingly valid grievances. In the process, good ideas and experience from pilot members (many whom are previous ALPA volunteers) is resisted and ignored. While the Delta MEC pursues a policy whose underlying theme is having a great working relationship with management, their relationship with those they represent continues to deteriorate. Incredibly, the MEC’s new mission statement mentions neither service nor representation of the Delta Line Pilot as objectives!

Captain Lee Moak, our Master Chairman, is now running for ALPA National President. His campaign letter to members of the ALPA Board of Directors states,
• "I will work to unify our members through open and direct communications, and I will work to increase our ranks through inclusion."
• "We must also work tirelessly to ensure that we listen to dissenting views with an open mind and understand that none of us have a monopoly on the good ideas."
While Captain Moak tells Delta Pilots in his recent communiqué,
• “There is no question that we continue to operate as a bottom-up organization …”

What do Delta Pilots experience from Capt. Moak’s Administration?
• The inability to obtain information from MEC Committees to support grievances,
• Numerous LEC Resolutions “Received” by the MEC without comment or action,
• A Pilot Working Agreement that has been altered by LOA numerous times before the wording/content is shown to Delta Pilots for comment, and
• Being governed by a strategy for recovery that has never been fully explained will not state specific goals, nor has the broad support of Delta Line Pilots who wish to be focused on restoration of losses.

Meanwhile, a drive to decertify ALPA and replace it with a stand-alone union, the Delta Pilots Association (DPA) is underway. They seem to be focused on the above issues plus conflicts of interest and inefficient use of pilot dues money at ALPA National. While still in early stages of organizing and writing by-laws, their competitive effort may serve as a wakeup call to ALPA’s leadership. Time will tell if this group can offer a worthy alternative. The upcoming year may prove very interesting if DPA can get enough Authorization Cards for a NMB election.

Next month the ALPA Board of Directors (of which our LEC Officers are members) meets to elect a National President. The Delta MEC elects a new Delta MEC Chairman in November. At the lovsl Council level many good candidates are also stepping forward to run for the one-third of LEC offices up for election this fall. The time to welcome a change towards transparency, openness, valuing of differing viewpoints and Union leadership focused on serving its members is long overdue. This will not happen unless you make your wishes known to your LEC Officers.