Throw us your roundtable ideas...

ComplexHiAv8r said:
How about a serious discussion to how we all need to work together to make the industry better. Might mean that the current generation will have to give some to accomplish, but needed. We also need to come together as a collective pilot group no matter who we work for or what we fly.
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That is actually a great idea since we all need to pull this industry up again not push it down with our own hands. A side not should be made that we are going to be those large body jet captains in the next 20 years so we better start creating better work rules for ourselves and yes that starts now even from this point.
 
With that, do you think it would be a good idea to bring in union representation and hold a pro/con session afterwards to discuss and work thru the issues? it'd be a separate roundtable from what Tracy is suggesting but could go along the lines....
 
-How to get through training from the training departments perspective. We've got a handful of former training captains hanging out around here who could provide some good feedback to people on how training departments look at trainee's and what you can do to get yourself through training. I can think of three freight training captains and one part 121 sim instructor that are active on the forums off the top of my head. A subset of that discussion could be a little bit on quality vs. quantity of flight time and how it can and will affect you in the training environment.

-Why a kid just walked by me in the hotel lobby wearing a life jacket?

-I had some ideas for other topics I'd love to see us discuss, but the kid in the life jacket really threw me off.
 
-Staying healthy and fit while on the road.
-keeping a good relationship with your wife/husband/family/signicant other.
-How to survive on first year pay
-Bridging the gap between the aviation profession past and present.

....more to come!
 
Kristie said:
With that, do you think it would be a good idea to bring in union representation and hold a pro/con session afterwards to discuss and work thru the issues? it'd be a separate roundtable from what Tracy is suggesting but could go along the lines....
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I PM'd Doug about that after the failed SkyWest vote. I think it would be cool to have a rep from ALPA national come out and give everyone the "real deal" as far as the bennefits other than pay that union representation offers. Doug, you still in on that idea?
 
Kristie said:
With that, do you think it would be a good idea to bring in union representation and hold a pro/con session afterwards to discuss and work thru the issues? it'd be a separate roundtable from what Tracy is suggesting but could go along the lines....
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Seggy and I will both be there, but I could also talk to someone in the Communications department at ALPA if you'd like to get an "official" speaker from ALPA. Just depends on what you're looking for.
 
I would block off a good chunk of time if you'd like a union discussion. As you can see from the discussions on the board, it is a subject that brings a lot of strong opinions and emotions along with it. It is important to talk about, but be ready for the possibility of it getting "heated." That's why I just prefer to stay out of the union discussions anymore. It's not because I'm anti-union.

If the discussion would inform pilots of the total benefits of union representation, in a positive manner, then it would be great. Usually these types of things talk about "when management tries to screw you", contracts or disciplinary hearings. That is ineffective when trying to encourage companies with good labor/management relations into unionization.

Just my opinion.
 
FlyChicaga said:
I would block off a good chunk of time if you'd like a union discussion. As you can see from the discussions on the board, it is a subject that brings a lot of strong opinions and emotions along with it. It is important to talk about, but be ready for the possibility of it getting "heated." That's why I just prefer to stay out of the union discussions anymore. It's not because I'm anti-union.
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I don't think it would necessarily get heated. These things tend to get "heated" on message boards, but stay relatively calm in person.

If the discussion would inform pilots of the total benefits of union representation, in a positive manner, then it would be great. Usually these types of things talk about "when management tries to screw you", contracts or disciplinary hearings. That is ineffective when trying to encourage companies with good labor/management relations into unionization.
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I think both discussions would be helpful. Some pilots work at companies where they really are out to get you (Pinnacle, Mesa, etc...), while others work at companies with relatively good labor relations (ExpressJet, RAH, etc...). Dealing with both sets of issues would be advantageous. As a union organizer, I've had to deal with both. We tried to focus on the positive when holding Skywest events, for example.
 
would it be better to deal with both sets of issues separately (as in 2 roundtable sessions) or as one big chunk of "union" talk?

If it's going to be a particular large event, we could set up the golden room for something like that.
 
Kristie said:
would it be better to deal with both sets of issues separately (as in 2 roundtable sessions) or as one big chunk of "union" talk?

If it's going to be a particular large event, we could set up the golden room for something like that.
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I personally think it would be best to have it as one single event. Although all pilots aren't subjected to the confrontational labor relations styles of airlines like Pinnacle and Mesa, it's important for all pilots to understand that it does go on. A newbie pilot at Skywest might not understand why pilots at Mesa are so disgruntled, so this sort of dialog could help him understand where they're coming from. Likewise, a Pinnacle pilot might be completely dumbfounded that an ExpressJet pilot isn't filled with vitriol towards their management. A full discussion could explore all of that.
 
i can see that being a huge discussion and would suggest getting a big room for it. I know I'd be interested in listening in, if for nothing else than for my own education.
 
we have a big room that could fit 200-400....so that would be the room we would set up for it... i'm just not sure when we would hold it.

PCL - can you talk to your comm. officer about the event and roughly pencil him in? I think that would be a great idea and might help with community relations among the pilot group(s).
 
Do you have the dates set yet? This is a Board of Directors meeting year for ALPA, so for two weeks in October the Planet Hollywood will be swarming with a couple hundred ALPA reps and staffers.

I'll talk to someone in the Comm Dept in Herndon to see what they can do.
 
Yup... Oct 19-22...All of the meeting room stuff will be going on from the 20th - 21st. so either of those two days is up for grabs.
 
Kristie, do you have a list going? If so how about an update on subjects.

How about:

CFI as a career? It takes a special person to do this. Is Van coming to NJC???

Flying and the family? How to support/handle having the family and flying for a career.

Career Changers: I think we are seeing more of this, might be nice to have a seperate discussion with people changing careers to flying.

Finance 101: How to prepare and survive those first couple years on low pay.

Would it be beneficial to have someone from AOPA attend and discuss the benefits of joining their organization?
 
ComplexHiAv8r said:
Kristie, do you have a list going? If so how about an update on subjects.

How about:

CFI as a career? It takes a special person to do this. Is Van coming to NJC???

Flying and the family? How to support/handle having the family and flying for a career.

Career Changers: I think we are seeing more of this, might be nice to have a seperate discussion with people changing careers to flying.

Finance 101: How to prepare and survive those first couple years on low pay.

Would it be beneficial to have someone from AOPA attend and discuss the benefits of joining their organization?
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-On this note, how not to get yourself in the hole as a regional captain to the point where you can't move on.

-Also, as a new 121 guy, I would REALLY like to know specifics from ALPA as to how I (the individual) can get involved in different aspects of the union. I feel a big problem for new FO's is that we have no idea what we can do to change things, when I'm sure it starts at our level. So a discussion on ALPA being for ALL and not just a captains only club.
 
Kristie, I emailed one of my friends in the Comm Dept, so hopefully I'll hear back from him sometime tomorrow. As soon as I hear something, I'll let you know.
 
PCL_128 said:
Kristie, I emailed one of my friends in the Comm Dept, so hopefully I'll hear back from him sometime tomorrow. As soon as I hear something, I'll let you know.
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That would be cool if an "official" ALPA could speak about their current goals, problems, battles and how we could help. Although you probably could do that job just as well judging from your posts. :)
 
I think an ALPA discussion would be great. It would be particularly interesting for someone like me who isn't in the industry yet (in terms of flying) and wants to become informed on issues that you guys face out on the line. I'd definitely be up for something like that!
 
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