tallpilot

Absolutely. I worked with AMAS when I was at an ALPA carrier and they were not very helpful. I ended up just sending everything in myself and got my medical back.

ImSoSuss

That and the one or two other niche specialty’s that APA actually excels in would be able to stay in negotiations with ALPA, which would have been a lot easier if the BOD followed the recommendations from their own committee last year.

Snake1234

Contract Admin has been solid for the past few years. Sound advice, solid knowledge of contract areas I am weak in. I personally had a huge $8000.00 contract win due to a company error.

Secondly the POD is absurdly good. Fills in a 50% hole in case of LTD.

There are many other areas that APA is solid in. This whole argument seems like a “grass is greener” syndrome with a large price tag.

ImSoSuss

Contract admin or contract compliance? If Contract Admin they are a joke. Those are civilian nonpilots hired by APA. They barely know the contract, talk to you in a condescending tone, and think all pilots are lazy. Contract compliance is great but those are other pilots helping you out and they are contract experts. I am sure every ALPA pilot union has something similar to that. Actually I know they do from my past airlines.

Again, as I said all those niche things, once in a career like stuff that you may never actually use, that APA are supposedly superior at (haven't seen any stats to support that) can be negotiated to stay in. ALPA dues will also dramatically decrease with the addition of 15,000 pilots.

I'll also repeat that all of this would have been much easier if the BOD didn't go against their own committee’s recommendations. Can you explain why they did that if it wasn't 100% pure self-interest?

Sliceback

Contract Admin is the past was usually staffed with ex crew schedulers, etc who knew the contract very well. They're not random off the street hires.

Snake1234

I didn’t stutter. I said contract admin, and I added the caveat that the past few years they have been very good. Not once in a career, but several times per year.

The irony of “condescending tone”. Pot meet kettle.

ImSoSuss

Crew Schedulers? lol, well then everything I said makes sense. No wonder everybody hates using them. Everybody I know doesn't even bother with Contract Admin anymore, they just go straight to Compliance. I'm happy that Contract Admin helped you out 30 years ago or whatever. But if that is your argument to keep APA then you already lost.

ACEssXfer

The conversation is over once you start defending contract ADMIN.

whosthepylot

Just got a fat check from ALPA for reimbursment of dues I paid while at my last 121 carrier, even though I'm no longer an ALPA member.

Did anyone else notice the sequence of events?...

April 19: ALPA announced they had collected too much in dues last year, so they would be returning some of that money to ALPA members, even if you aren't an ALPA member anymore.

June 4th: THEN, and only after ALPA took that initiative, did APA come to us and say "oh, we acutally can afford not to charge our APA members due, lets call it a "dues holiday" of 4 months, enjoy." It's almost as if APA randomly decided they didn't need all the extra money.

My point is, who took the initiative first... ALPA. APA just seems to always follow what ALPA does, and doesn't think or act first. This is what concerns me duirng the next contract negotiations.

Sliceback

APA has given 'dues holidays' after every contract cycle. It's been that way for decades. It takes awhile for the dues holiday to be implemented. That fact that it's suddenly 'new to you' doesn't mean it's APA following ALPA's actions.