FlyChicaga
Vintage Restoration
In an attempt to show a different side of our union, rather than jumpseat debates and pay issues, I thought I would share a few experiences I have personally had as a dues paying ALPA member in my short time in the airlines. I am a union supporter, although I take a less militant approach to union politics. I feel the best unions are those who work with management for the good of our profession and the good of the company. Fortunately I work for a company, and am part of an MEC, that takes this approach.
As a line pilot, I am part of "labor." Therefore, I want to ensure that my personal best interests and the best interests of my fellow pilots is a priority. However, I feel sometimes we can go too far in our attempt to "look out for number one," and we fail to realize just how important the success of our company is to the future of our career.
I did not want to start this post to discuss union politics. Rather, here are a few examples of some things that ALPA has done which has benefited me personally, and the pilots at my company.
This week, I had been assigned a four-day pairing. However, since I am also work in another department within our company, my four-day trip was dropped so I could facilitate a CRM class for our pilots. In our collective bargaining agreement (contract), it says that should my trip be dropped for training, I will be pay-protected for the value of my trip. I lose my per diem, but I'll still get paid for the flight time I was supposed to fly. However, I can't just go home... Instead, I would be required to sit reserve for four hours per day in my base.
Rather than sit reserve, I found a trip in another domicile that would allow me to fly, gain per diem, and reduce my expenses related to sitting reserve in base. However, crew scheduling would not permit me to "pick up" this trip from our open time, since it would adjust their reserve numbers in base. They were mistaken, but I did not want to start an argument on the phone, and I wanted to ensure that it was not I who was mistaken. Later, the trip was assigned, and I was out of options.
Looking into the issue, I found in our contract that indeed I could pick up the trip in another domicile in place of my reserve days. I e-mailed our union compliance committee, and they confirmed the fact that I could have had the trip. Using this information, and the contract page numbers, I called my Chief Pilot. I explained the situation, and explained that I was spending a lot of money to sit reserve in base when I could have been flying and gaining per diem. We reviewed the contract together over the phone, and he agreed that what scheduling did was incorrect. He said he would call the scheduling supervisors to clear up the matter, and I was released from duty. This meant I could go home.
So, because of our collective bargaining agreement, I would have been able to pick up work in place of sitting reserve (and I would have been able to see my girlfriend). However, things did not work out that way. Instead of getting upset and spending a lot of money out of pocket, I calmly referenced our contract to rectify the situation. Luckily we have some awesome Chief Pilots who are very helpful and accommodating when things like this happen.
Another benefit I experience through our union is our FOQA and ASAP programs. FOQA is a program that had an extra flight data recorder installed in our airplanes, and this information is downloaded and sent to our ALPA Safety Team to review. The computer basically spits out information that can be broken down and reviewed, so we can use it to see how our pilots are doing out on the line. It can get the information broken down to a point where we can find troublesome airports where our pilots find themselves high and fast on approach more often than not. We can then present this information to the pilots, so they will then be more prepared for an aggressive descent due to terrain or ATC needs. As a Human Factors Facilitator, our department uses this information quite a bit to present to the pilots in recurrent training, so we can identify negative trends and attempt to reverse them.
ASAP is a program where a pilot can admit his or her mistakes openly and honestly, therefore minimizing possible actions against their certificate. For instance, if a pilot is told to hold short of a particular runway and does not, that pilot can file an ASAP report explaining what happened and why. Should the controllers at that airport take action against the crew, those pilots could get a letter in their file saying "don't do it again," rather than lose their pilot certificates and their job. It is not a "get out of jail free card," but rather a way we can learn from honest mistakes so we can attempt to reduce them in the future. If someone does something deliberate, they are not protected by this program. We also use many of the reports from this program in our recurrent classes, so our pilots can learn from the mistakes of others. All the identifying information (date, flight number, crew names, etc.) is removed when this information is sent to the FAA.
One last benefit I've experience from ALPA is our Critical Incident Response Program (CIRP). If you ever met me when I'm out flying, you'd see a card underneath my ID that says ALPA CIRP, because I am a volunteer in this program. Our volunteers will call or meet with crewmembers whenever those pilots experience a "critical event," which could be an inflight emergency, or something in their personal lives that might cause undue stress. We'll discuss the event with them, and try to offer some coping mechanisms to help them get through this difficult time. CIRP is just one small part of the ALPA Human Performance Group, which has programs designed to help with substance abuse, pilot mentoring, peer pilot assistance (similar to CIRP but involving non-flying events), and so forth.
So as you can see, there is more to our union than issues surrounding pay and benefits. Here are just a few of the committees that do not involve how much money we make, but can be just as important, if not more important: Aeromedical, Hotel, Critical Incident Response, Loss-of-License, Long-Term Disability, Peer Pilot Assistance, Pilot-to-Pilot, Pilot Mentoring, Professional Standards, Safety, Security, and Training.
If you ever have any questions about the benefits of ALPA (or other unions), or want to clear up any misconceptions you may have about union membership, there are many of us here that will be happy to field your e-mails or PMs at any time.
Good luck!
As a line pilot, I am part of "labor." Therefore, I want to ensure that my personal best interests and the best interests of my fellow pilots is a priority. However, I feel sometimes we can go too far in our attempt to "look out for number one," and we fail to realize just how important the success of our company is to the future of our career.
I did not want to start this post to discuss union politics. Rather, here are a few examples of some things that ALPA has done which has benefited me personally, and the pilots at my company.
This week, I had been assigned a four-day pairing. However, since I am also work in another department within our company, my four-day trip was dropped so I could facilitate a CRM class for our pilots. In our collective bargaining agreement (contract), it says that should my trip be dropped for training, I will be pay-protected for the value of my trip. I lose my per diem, but I'll still get paid for the flight time I was supposed to fly. However, I can't just go home... Instead, I would be required to sit reserve for four hours per day in my base.
Rather than sit reserve, I found a trip in another domicile that would allow me to fly, gain per diem, and reduce my expenses related to sitting reserve in base. However, crew scheduling would not permit me to "pick up" this trip from our open time, since it would adjust their reserve numbers in base. They were mistaken, but I did not want to start an argument on the phone, and I wanted to ensure that it was not I who was mistaken. Later, the trip was assigned, and I was out of options.
Looking into the issue, I found in our contract that indeed I could pick up the trip in another domicile in place of my reserve days. I e-mailed our union compliance committee, and they confirmed the fact that I could have had the trip. Using this information, and the contract page numbers, I called my Chief Pilot. I explained the situation, and explained that I was spending a lot of money to sit reserve in base when I could have been flying and gaining per diem. We reviewed the contract together over the phone, and he agreed that what scheduling did was incorrect. He said he would call the scheduling supervisors to clear up the matter, and I was released from duty. This meant I could go home.
So, because of our collective bargaining agreement, I would have been able to pick up work in place of sitting reserve (and I would have been able to see my girlfriend). However, things did not work out that way. Instead of getting upset and spending a lot of money out of pocket, I calmly referenced our contract to rectify the situation. Luckily we have some awesome Chief Pilots who are very helpful and accommodating when things like this happen.
Another benefit I experience through our union is our FOQA and ASAP programs. FOQA is a program that had an extra flight data recorder installed in our airplanes, and this information is downloaded and sent to our ALPA Safety Team to review. The computer basically spits out information that can be broken down and reviewed, so we can use it to see how our pilots are doing out on the line. It can get the information broken down to a point where we can find troublesome airports where our pilots find themselves high and fast on approach more often than not. We can then present this information to the pilots, so they will then be more prepared for an aggressive descent due to terrain or ATC needs. As a Human Factors Facilitator, our department uses this information quite a bit to present to the pilots in recurrent training, so we can identify negative trends and attempt to reverse them.
ASAP is a program where a pilot can admit his or her mistakes openly and honestly, therefore minimizing possible actions against their certificate. For instance, if a pilot is told to hold short of a particular runway and does not, that pilot can file an ASAP report explaining what happened and why. Should the controllers at that airport take action against the crew, those pilots could get a letter in their file saying "don't do it again," rather than lose their pilot certificates and their job. It is not a "get out of jail free card," but rather a way we can learn from honest mistakes so we can attempt to reduce them in the future. If someone does something deliberate, they are not protected by this program. We also use many of the reports from this program in our recurrent classes, so our pilots can learn from the mistakes of others. All the identifying information (date, flight number, crew names, etc.) is removed when this information is sent to the FAA.
One last benefit I've experience from ALPA is our Critical Incident Response Program (CIRP). If you ever met me when I'm out flying, you'd see a card underneath my ID that says ALPA CIRP, because I am a volunteer in this program. Our volunteers will call or meet with crewmembers whenever those pilots experience a "critical event," which could be an inflight emergency, or something in their personal lives that might cause undue stress. We'll discuss the event with them, and try to offer some coping mechanisms to help them get through this difficult time. CIRP is just one small part of the ALPA Human Performance Group, which has programs designed to help with substance abuse, pilot mentoring, peer pilot assistance (similar to CIRP but involving non-flying events), and so forth.
So as you can see, there is more to our union than issues surrounding pay and benefits. Here are just a few of the committees that do not involve how much money we make, but can be just as important, if not more important: Aeromedical, Hotel, Critical Incident Response, Loss-of-License, Long-Term Disability, Peer Pilot Assistance, Pilot-to-Pilot, Pilot Mentoring, Professional Standards, Safety, Security, and Training.
If you ever have any questions about the benefits of ALPA (or other unions), or want to clear up any misconceptions you may have about union membership, there are many of us here that will be happy to field your e-mails or PMs at any time.
Good luck!
