We’ve learned that ALPA-Airtran has decided not to submit the pilot agreement decided upon between them and Southwest Airlines APA union weeks ago.  ALPA delayed their vote for several weeks and now it’s coming out that there will be no vote.

SWAPA (Southwest Airlines Allied Pilots Association) will be the controlling union when this merger is over.  ALPA has no chance of becoming the controlling union and ALPA has kind of allowed things to spin out of control more than once over the past several years (think US Airways pilot integration and what that resulted in.) 

SWAPA membership appeared to get slightly feisty upon learning the details of the agreement but quickly settled down and started voting.  ALPA-Airtran almost made me think of that husband who is afraid to go home and tell his wife he just gave some guy their life savings to start a restaurant.  It’s as if ALPA-Airtran leadership felt very timid about promoting this deal and really gave no indication as to why they would feel that way.

My thinking?  Well, I have wondered if national ALPA leadership isn’t feeling frustrated these days.  The US Airways thing didn’t go so well and the two chapters involved in the United/Continental merger don’t appear to be able to agree on what kind of coffee to have at their negotiations.  And let’s not forget their second failure to organize jetBlue as well. 

Furthermore, they got spurned and insulted by rogue elements in American Airlines’ APA and by all appearances independent unions or non-traditional pilots unions appear to be gaining strength at ALPA’s expense. 

So, did ALPA-Airtran get slapped at by the national union?  I would like to think that didn’t happen in light of the fact that its president is the very reasonable Lee Moak but Lee Moak is just one man in a forest of much more traditional union types. 

Let’s not forget that ALPA at both the national level and within Airtran have got little to lose by being obstinate.  The union leadership will not control the Southwest pilots and that is certain.  But there may be the hope that if they play extra hard in the SWA/Airtran deal, they’ll be perceived as doing their job by membership at other airlines. 

But there is a price to be paid for that behaviour.  That price, however, is exacted upon the rank and file Airtran pilots who arguably have quite a bit to gain from this merger in terms of benefits and salaries.  In addition to those gains, they have a lot to gain by going to work for an airline that has an excellent record of working with union leadership that is arguably very strong (SWAPA). 

So, I ask you:  Should the national ALPA leadership have a dog in this fight?  I think they have a duty to represent their pilots in this merger but I don’t know if they should have overriding influence on the negotiations either.  I suspect that had the agreement been put to a vote among Airtran pilots, it would have passed and the merger would have gotten on with getting done.  But that would have essentially put an end to ALPA’s ability to influence the merger or stay in the spotlight.

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