March 5, 2024 • 25 mins
Stepping up to serve our members is our union’s highest calling. During ALPA’s annual Leadership Training Conference the union’s newest leaders gather to learn more about the resources available to them and best practices for their new leadership position. This month, ALPA President, Capt. Ambrosi spoke with Capt. Tiffany O’Connor (FedEx Express), Capt. Steve Savidge (Alaska Airlines), F/O Manuela Valenzuela (WestJet Encore), and F/O Brandon Arrington (Delta Air Lines) about the unique challenges and opportunities they’re facing as some of ALPA’s newest leaders.
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Jason Ambrosi (00:05):
Welcome to the airline pilot Podcast. I'm Jason
Ambrosi. For this episode we'recoming to you from ALPA's
Leadership Training Complex. Thecore of ALPA success is and will
always be the line pilots whostep up to make their voices
heard in this union and supportother pilots, as volunteers.
Volunteering to become a leaderand serving our ALPA colleagues
(00:27):
is something that I believe isour Union's highest calling. For
this episode, I wanted tohighlight some of the volunteer
representatives attending theconferences here and here and
how they're addressing the widevariety of topics that our
members are facing. Today wehave with us Captain Tiffany
O'Connor FedEx seniority blockone rep out of Memphis,
(00:49):
introduce yourself and tell us alittle bit about yourself.
Tiffany O'Connor (00:52):
Hi, my name is Tiffany O'Connor. I've been at
FedEx for almost 29 years. I'man MD 11 Captain. I'm married to
another industry. Pilot, he'sAPA. And we live in North Lake
Tahoe.
Jason Ambrosi (01:07):
Very good. What encouraged you to get into
becoming a local councilrepresentative? Well,
Tiffany O'Connor (01:13):
during COVID, when a lot of airline operations
slowed down or stopped, oppositeFedEx accelerated substantially.
And a lot of our pilots foundourselves in uncomfortable even
intolerable conditions, at somelayovers. And as a result of
(01:36):
these very adverse conditions,we took every opportunity we
could to get together whether itwas a common room, that hotel
set aside for us, or operationcenters before departures. And
the upside of this adversity isthat pilot unity increased
(01:58):
substantially during this. Sowhen the block one rep position
came open, I was kind of movingon a swell of, you know, this,
this pilot unity and theencouragement and, you know, the
friendships that had haddeveloped during that COVID
(02:19):
trouble. And I decided that Iwould step up and represent
these people that I'd grown soclose to during that time.
Jason Ambrosi (02:26):
That's awesome. I know that many of your crew for
us had to endure some pretty,pretty rough conditions during
the pandemic. I know. Most ofthe passenger carrying airlines
didn't operate near the schedulethat that you all did, and it
was, it was quite a lift. So youknow, FedEx definitely owes you
owes you and we appreciate allthe hard work that your crews
did during that. What are themain topics that you're dealing
(02:48):
with in your council right now?Well,
Tiffany O'Connor (02:51):
we just rejected a TA last summer. So
that that's presenting uniquechallenges at FedEx, we have
never rejected a TA before. Sothis is new for everyone.
There's a huge amount ofdisappointment in our pilot
group because we did endure suchadversity during COVID. And the
(03:18):
company expressed gratitude inthe form of thank you emails.
But we expected something alittle more substantial. So when
the contract was presented toour members, last summer, there
was a great deal ofdisappointment and how lacking
(03:38):
it was.
Jason Ambrosi (03:40):
So speaking of negotiations, what tactics are
using to communicate with yourlocal council members during
negotiating progress, get directfeedback from them, you know,
obviously, after a rejected TA,it's everybody's heightened,
everybody's focused, and there'sa lot of emotion. So how do you
work through that?
Tiffany O'Connor (03:57):
Well, unlike some airlines that represent
pilots based on fleet seatdomicile at FedEx, we are broken
out by seniority. And myparticular counsel includes the
500 most senior pilots, and the500 most junior pilots in
(04:20):
Memphis and then a block of 500Middle seniority. It's very easy
for me to speak to block onepilots because I've known all of
them for almost 29 years. Butit's much more challenging to
speak to the block eight pilotsbecause our priorities are not
(04:40):
so similar. But what the blockeight representative the block
four representative and I haveconcluded as a counsel, is that
if we are completely honest andtry to be agnostic in our
communication As with thepilots, they don't have to wade
(05:02):
through our opinion and ourspin, and they can just read
fat. This is what is happeningwith the company. This is what
we are pursuing. These are theobstacles we're facing. This is
the pushback we're getting. Thisis where we need your help. So
this leadership conference hasreinforced the importance of the
(05:23):
pilots were speaking tomaintaining their autonomy and
forming their own opinion. Andthis conference also emphasized
buy in and the importance ofbuying. So we as a council in
communicating two blocks, one,four and eight the spectrum of
(05:44):
seniority, are attempting todeliver information that in such
a way that the pilots are ableto step up with us. And we can
face those obstacles with thestrength of the pilots behind
us, rather than trying toshoulder the load as three
(06:04):
members of the MEC
Jason Ambrosi (06:06):
well said, I hadn't thought about the unique
challenge you face having thethe most senior group of pilots
and the most junior group ofpilots and in the same same
Council like that. So that'sthat's definitely a unique
challenge. Sounds like you're,you're tackling it well.
Alright, next up. Let's move toCaptain Steve savidge Alaska
(06:27):
Airlines. So, Steve, tell us alittle bit about yourself and
what you've done in the Unionbefore and who you fly for what
you do.
Steve Savidge (06:35):
Okay, Steve savidge cheer. Yeah, thanks for
having me. 737 Captain, and theblock six rep in Seattle,
Secretary Treasurer, I starteddoing union work back in 2016,
after I got an accident myself,and had to go out on short term
(06:56):
leave, and was fine with theunion president at Alaska at the
time. And so he got me to jointhe Air medical committee. And
so they went to my first AirSafety Forum in 2017. And then
got involved more with ALPA helpdo build the pilot peer support
(07:21):
program in 2018. And broughtthat to Alaska Airlines. So now,
in this new position, I've beenable to take some of that
expertise I learned in the lastfive, six years and bring that
more the political side of thehouse from the pilot assistance
(07:43):
side. So it's been I've learneda lot, I've worked with a lot of
great people. And looking to domore.
Jason Ambrosi (07:52):
You know, you're recently the Hawaiian Alaska
merger was announced. And whatare you hearing from, from your
pilots on on a potential merger?
Steve Savidge (08:03):
Um, I would say mostly excited. But you know,
there's a lot of people withquestions, we just went through
a merger with Virgin America,and so be able to take that
experience from other people onthe MEC that's helped, helped
the pilots bring down theirconcern. But I think for the
(08:25):
most part excited, we just metwith them for the first time
last month. And so that wentgreat, great bunch of pilots.
And we're going to be going outthere next month in February, to
do some more unity building andstart the process. Yeah,
Jason Ambrosi (08:43):
I was able to join you last month in Seattle,
for a little while it was I wasimpressed at the what seems like
the unity, right? Anytime mergesare stressful, they just are but
the fact that that you have thatopen dialogue between the two
pilot groups and the fact isthat you're you're not shooting
inside the circle, you know, useuse your unity to extract the
maximum level of leverage youcan out of the out of the
(09:06):
combined company. And the youknow, that's a great way
forward, there's certainly gonnabe challenges, but it seems like
you, you all are really taking apositive, positive approach on
it. Is there anything Lastly,that your previous experiences
of, you know, pilot assistancevolunteers can can help you in
this in this new position?
Steve Savidge (09:25):
Someone instructor for the PPS program,
and we go over active listeningskills. And so I've already used
those more in my life eversince, you know, educating
teaching it, but now I'm reallyputting those to use.
Jason Ambrosi (09:39):
Yeah, that's actually a great point. You
know, that's a that's a goodpoint. Maybe we should maybe
make that part of thisconference. Right. Awesome.
Well, I appreciate it. Andthanks. Thanks for stepping up.
All right. Next, we have firstofficer Manuela Valenzuela from
from WestJet encore and you'rebased in Toronto. Tell us a
little about yourself. Yeah. Hi.
Manuela Valenzuela (09:59):
Thanks. you for having me. My name is
Manuela, as you said, I'm thefirst officer rep in Toronto.
And I've been with encore for ayear and a half. And I've been
the fo rep since September. Andwe recently closed her base. So
while it's not technicallyclosed, it's closing the spring
(10:22):
of 2025. But we no longer haveflights out of Toronto. So I'm
based out of Toronto, but all ofmy flying actually starts at
West. So we got that headed outto Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver,
and then do all of our flightsout there.
Jason Ambrosi (10:35):
Alright, so what inspired you to step up and do
this with only being at Encore ayear and a half?
Manuela Valenzuela (10:41):
Yeah, well, our pilot group in Toronto
really took a hit in many ways.So we announced our base
closure. I think it was likeearly 2023. And since then, we
had 132 pilots like a year agotoday, we are currently sitting
(11:02):
at 54. So And of that, I thinkonly 25 are first officers. So
yeah, no one was really steppingup to the plate, it was
suggested to me to do it. And Ithought it was a good
opportunity to get involvedrepresentative pilots. I had
never been involved with theunion before. But seeing how
(11:24):
involved ALPA is and how muchsupport we were offered the
communication like yeah, I justI was very intrigued by the
position. So I went for it. AndI got voted in. And it's been
really cool.
Jason Ambrosi (11:36):
Well, great. So, you know, Thanks for stepping
up. It's it's definitelyexciting. So this is obviously
your first real, real visit andto see all the resources that we
have here at the at themothership, for lack of a better
term. So what's your biggesttakeaway from from the
conference here? So far?
Manuela Valenzuela (11:55):
There's been so much, but I would say that
the biggest thing was likeunderstanding the mech meetings,
having to like doing thatBreakout Room participation.
That was really interesting tosee, because I went to a Mac
meeting before, but I was like,I just didn't know it was going
(12:16):
on terminology is reallyconfusing. And yeah, the order
of everything. So having thatexplained was really useful. And
I think I'll be better preparedfor our next meetings. And then
also, as Steve was saying, theact of listening. And yeah,
being able to engage with ourpilots a little bit better as to
(12:38):
understanding what their desiresand needs are.
Jason Ambrosi (12:43):
All right. Well, that's a good point, I would, I
would point out that you'retaking office at a very
significant time at Encorebecause you're in the middle of
a significant contract,collective bargaining fight. And
you just entered conciliation,our previous podcast, Tim Perry,
the Canada board presidentexplained how the differences
(13:06):
between Canada and the US onconciliation and the road to
release to self help or strikeup there. But you you all just
recently entered conciliation,which sets that stage for a
potential strike, the clock isrunning. How do you expect to
work with your counsel toprepare for that possibility?
Manuela Valenzuela (13:25):
Well, we have an informational picket
coming up on March 22. So we'rejust getting everyone well
educated on that. Trying tocreate as much unity as possible
to get as much participation aswe can. We're hosting some pub
events. We are hosting coffeesets at the airport for anyone
that wants to just stop by havea coffee have a conversation.
(13:47):
Yeah. And then I think we'vealso got some family events
coming up. But yeah, really justtrying to educate as much as
possible and create unity.Awesome.
Jason Ambrosi (13:56):
Awesome. You know, what? What are the main
priorities that your pilots arelooking for in this in this
agreement? career progression?Yeah, sure. I
Manuela Valenzuela (14:06):
would be the main one. Yeah. We recently had
our flow reduced significantly,we were flowing 16 pilots every
two months, we're now fillingfor every two months, the pilot
transfer agreement, so thatwould carry your seniority
number over from our regionalcarrier to the mainline carrier.
So and with our PTA beingcancelled, we don't have any
(14:29):
incentive for any first officerscoming on to encore to even
stick around to one float.Right. So okay, that
Jason Ambrosi (14:35):
makes sense. Well, that would probably draw a
line on on significant needs,between the captains and first
officers with with the with theending of that agreement, how
are ours or your pilotsbalancing the priority
differences between the captainsand the first officers?
Manuela Valenzuela (14:52):
Yeah, all of our new first officers don't
have that seniority. So we'vejust become a stepping stone
basically to go to Bigger carrylike Air Canada, honestly, is
our only competition right now.But yeah, there there is a line,
especially because we are reallyheavy on First Officers right
(15:13):
now. So even their ability totime build and be able to
upgrade has taken a toll. So Ithink like First Officers are
getting blocked at 40 hours amonth right now, where we could
be getting blocked at. So yeah,I mean, the prospect of being
(15:34):
able to get that upgrade makesthem better money and and have a
better career. That's not reallylooking very good for us right
now.
Jason Ambrosi (15:42):
All right, well, obviously we're we're here to
support you and all your allyour endeavors to get the
contract you deserve. Andobviously on a broader scale,
our our goal is to close the gapbetween the US and Canada on on
wages and working conditions,because you certainly do it,
you're carrying the samepastures in the same airspace
and everything. So we standbehind you, 100%. Thanks for
(16:04):
your support. Absolutely.Lastly, on to you, Brandon,
we're joined by first officerinstructor Brandon Arrington
from Delta, who represents theinstructor Council in Atlanta.
So you were the status rep forthe instructors. Tell us a
little little bit aboutyourself, Brandon.
Brandon Arrington (16:23):
Hey, thanks for having me. The instructor
Council is kind of a uniquedeal. We represent the 650 Plus
seniority list instructors atDelta. But to be a part of the
larger MEC family has alreadybeen been special to see getting
to attend a special meeting inOctober that was dealing with
implementation issues was It wasfascinating to see the process
(16:46):
play out and how we can workthrough those challenges, and
hold management accountable in afair and equitable way to get
the results that the pilots werelooking for. And then to attend
a larger, regularly scheduledmeeting in November it was was
great to be able to come herethis week, and have this
training has proved, I think,already invaluable. And I think
(17:10):
it'll transition really, reallywell going back and being ready
to start March 1, with this newchallenge.
Jason Ambrosi (17:16):
So what what got you to do this? Why did you why
did you decide to volunteer yourtime to represent your fellow
pilots?
Brandon Arrington (17:24):
Yeah, so good question. So voluntold is, is
part of it, I got big shoes tofail. Replacing Sam Mason who
has been in this role for threefull terms and did a great job
achieved amazing gains for us,we got our own section and
seniority list instructorsspecifically. But I I don't know
(17:44):
I've always had a heart forguiding conversations trying to
build consensus as part of whyI've enjoyed the instructor
role, haven't done much ALPAwork because so much of my
energy was either involved inthe instruction side of things
or being there for my family.But to get in to see the way
things played out during COVID.To see the contract drag on to
(18:06):
see that pot process play out.Just wanted to be able to be a
part of a positive culturemoving forward to try to build
on what we've what we've gainedcontinue that that strong
momentum that net pilot unitythat was apparent. And is great
as the instruction side ofthings was my impact was fairly
limited with smaller crews. Andthis was a way to really now
(18:26):
take that influence that you cangain and take it to a larger
level and hopefully be able toadvocate for a large number of
pilots across the board. Butspecifically, you know, the
instructors on all of ourdifferent fleets.
Jason Ambrosi (18:40):
Yeah, that's, that's awesome. And I would echo
your sentiment that Sam did along, long time in that
position. And it was a it was itwas a heck of an advocate for
for the instructors at Delta.You know, you mentioned contract
enforcement. Yeah. How is how isyour counsel dealing with with
contract enforcement?
Brandon Arrington (19:00):
So on a broader sense, I'll start there.
There's there's been a lot ofimplementation issues, probably
being the number one I knowthat's that's very, that's very
broad, all encompassing, but thelarge emphasis has been on
getting things done correctlyand in a timely manner. And
there's been a lot of issues, alot of that falling back to, I
(19:22):
guess, coding issues on theDelta front, they're telling us,
but it has been encouraging tosee some some positive progress
the last two months on somebetter pay automation, a quicker
turnaround on things. And Ithink that has been because the
the union, especially our adminhas been able to foster these
very productive weekly meetings.And if they can continue that
(19:43):
good working relationship, Ithink that benefits both
parties. I mean, it's a fortune100 company, you need to be able
to pay your pilots accuratelyand timely. And so the more
automation that gets built in, Ithink the better that's going to
be as far as the instructorsspecifically It's a very manual
process are the team worksreally hard behind the scenes
(20:05):
but being a manual processmistakes get made. There again,
you you'd love to see it gethandled properly the first time
around. But there has been somesome positive strides being
taken the waterbody overridinghas been a unique challenge,
especially in fly months,something that we've been
working through, and it's veryinstructor specific issue has
(20:28):
been the kind of the whipsaw, aflatline. So it used to be
people didn't feel like they gotenough law months. And now it's
fun. Now, the pendulum has swungfully to the other side where
almost every seat but especiallyfirst officers last year, were
were forced to the line at avery, very high rate. And so we
were worried about theaggregation of instructor
(20:49):
skills. And, you know, we didn'twant to see the quality of
training lowered at all becauseof lack of experience, you know,
especially recent experience.Right?
Jason Ambrosi (21:00):
Well, that makes sense. I've got to ask, so I've
met pilots in this position.Here, I've met pilots that have
climbed Mount Everest that havesailed across the Atlantic,
you're the first that have beenon American Ninja Warrior. So
tell us, you know a little bitabout that. And whether or not
(21:21):
you're you're still training orwhat you're doing to keep those
skills active.
Brandon Arrington (21:25):
So it's, it's, it's kind of funny, it got
brought up here, I don't, Idon't think about it a whole lot
anymore. Every now and again,I'll get a text from a friend
that saw our rerun. But duringthe open house here on the first
night, the leadership conferencewas speaking to the comp team.
And the individual, John thatwrote the article, back in 2014,
(21:47):
we get to talk in and we justrealized that, that our voices
sounded familiar. And he said,my face look familiar. And I'm
like, Well, how long have youbeen in the role and so it
through the process ofconversation, it came out that
he had written that article,back in 2014. It was, it was a
really neat and uniqueexperience to be able to compete
on American Ninja Warrior made alot of great friends. It
(22:10):
actually turned into a reallygood platform to be able to talk
to, especially youth in ourcommunity about the importance
of fitness and making it fun.Because to me, when you're on a
obstacle course, swinging fromone thing to another, you're
just playing, you know, you'renot working out your butt,
you're just having a good time.And so it's actually fostered
some unique friendships.Especially even adults. I had a
(22:32):
lot of captains that I draggedon layovers to ninja warrior
gyms. I don't know. I want tosee that. Yeah, I don't know how
many of their spouses were, werevery happy with coming back with
dang knees and callous tans andthat kind of thing. But you
Jason Ambrosi (22:47):
have to write a note that those bruises came
from Ninja Warrior.
Brandon Arrington (22:49):
No, I've never had to testify to a spouse
on where the injuries started.But now it's it's been a great
it's been a great thing. It'sjust one of those life
experiences. That's That'sunique. And is much as it's nice
to talk about it. I would ratherengage the other person I love
hearing about what otherpeople's hobbies and where it's
(23:09):
taking them. I would much ratherhear about somebody climbing
Mount Everest and hear about mefalling in the water on American
Ninja Warrior on the cityfinals.
Jason Ambrosi (23:16):
Well, it's very cool. I would say that you're
definitely working out because Iknow that I wouldn't make it
past the first. The firstchallenge per se but but it's
cool to hear about what wouldpeople we talk all the time
about airplanes. We talk all thetime about work, but it's good
to hear somebody that hadsomething cool that that
happened happened away fromwork. Yeah, was
Brandon Arrington (23:35):
there their first token pilots so the pilot
ninja Daddy was the littleTwitter name that they gave me.
I guess they thought that wouldbe fun. And the host of the show
had a lot of key one liners thatsomebody in the communications
team had clearly written forthem to deliver at the right
moments. He's cool underpressure, you know, he can
handle adversity in the air. Andyeah, it was a very unique
(23:57):
experience.
Jason Ambrosi (23:58):
Yeah. Cool. Very cool. Thank you for for sharing
that. With that. Thank you,Tiffany, Manuela, Steve and
Brandon for for joining us todayand being part of our podcast
here at the Leadership TrainingConference. ALPA is truly a
bottom up organization. EveryCouncil and every pilot group
(24:20):
has different needs andpriorities. And this was a great
review of all the work you'redoing within our union.
Volunteers and elected leaderskeep our union moving forward
together. It takes a lot of timea lot of hard work to support
77,000 ALPA members in theUnited States and Canada. And we
always need more help. If you'reever thought about getting
(24:43):
involved, and don't know how toget involved. Reach out to your
Elysee or colleagues on theflight deck to see where you can
help your fellow members. Thankyou for tuning in to this
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(25:06):
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airline pilot podcast productioncopyright ALPA 2024. All rights
reserved. Thanks and have a safeflight.
Welcome to the airline pilot Podcast. I'm Jason
Ambrosi. For this episode we'recoming to you from ALPA's
Leadership Training Complex. Thecore of ALPA success is and will
always be the line pilots whostep up to make their voices
heard in this union and supportother pilots, as volunteers.
Volunteering to become a leaderand serving our ALPA colleagues
(00:27):
is something that I believe isour Union's highest calling. For
this episode, I wanted tohighlight some of the volunteer
representatives attending theconferences here and here and
how they're addressing the widevariety of topics that our
members are facing. Today wehave with us Captain Tiffany
O'Connor FedEx seniority blockone rep out of Memphis,
(00:49):
introduce yourself and tell us alittle bit about yourself.
Tiffany O'Connor (00:52):
Hi, my name is Tiffany O'Connor. I've been at
FedEx for almost 29 years. I'man MD 11 Captain. I'm married to
another industry. Pilot, he'sAPA. And we live in North Lake
Tahoe.
Jason Ambrosi (01:07):
Very good. What encouraged you to get into
becoming a local councilrepresentative? Well,
Tiffany O'Connor (01:13):
during COVID, when a lot of airline operations
slowed down or stopped, oppositeFedEx accelerated substantially.
And a lot of our pilots foundourselves in uncomfortable even
intolerable conditions, at somelayovers. And as a result of
(01:36):
these very adverse conditions,we took every opportunity we
could to get together whether itwas a common room, that hotel
set aside for us, or operationcenters before departures. And
the upside of this adversity isthat pilot unity increased
(01:58):
substantially during this. Sowhen the block one rep position
came open, I was kind of movingon a swell of, you know, this,
this pilot unity and theencouragement and, you know, the
friendships that had haddeveloped during that COVID
(02:19):
trouble. And I decided that Iwould step up and represent
these people that I'd grown soclose to during that time.
Jason Ambrosi (02:26):
That's awesome. I know that many of your crew for
us had to endure some pretty,pretty rough conditions during
the pandemic. I know. Most ofthe passenger carrying airlines
didn't operate near the schedulethat that you all did, and it
was, it was quite a lift. So youknow, FedEx definitely owes you
owes you and we appreciate allthe hard work that your crews
did during that. What are themain topics that you're dealing
(02:48):
with in your council right now?Well,
Tiffany O'Connor (02:51):
we just rejected a TA last summer. So
that that's presenting uniquechallenges at FedEx, we have
never rejected a TA before. Sothis is new for everyone.
There's a huge amount ofdisappointment in our pilot
group because we did endure suchadversity during COVID. And the
(03:18):
company expressed gratitude inthe form of thank you emails.
But we expected something alittle more substantial. So when
the contract was presented toour members, last summer, there
was a great deal ofdisappointment and how lacking
(03:38):
it was.
Jason Ambrosi (03:40):
So speaking of negotiations, what tactics are
using to communicate with yourlocal council members during
negotiating progress, get directfeedback from them, you know,
obviously, after a rejected TA,it's everybody's heightened,
everybody's focused, and there'sa lot of emotion. So how do you
work through that?
Tiffany O'Connor (03:57):
Well, unlike some airlines that represent
pilots based on fleet seatdomicile at FedEx, we are broken
out by seniority. And myparticular counsel includes the
500 most senior pilots, and the500 most junior pilots in
(04:20):
Memphis and then a block of 500Middle seniority. It's very easy
for me to speak to block onepilots because I've known all of
them for almost 29 years. Butit's much more challenging to
speak to the block eight pilotsbecause our priorities are not
(04:40):
so similar. But what the blockeight representative the block
four representative and I haveconcluded as a counsel, is that
if we are completely honest andtry to be agnostic in our
communication As with thepilots, they don't have to wade
(05:02):
through our opinion and ourspin, and they can just read
fat. This is what is happeningwith the company. This is what
we are pursuing. These are theobstacles we're facing. This is
the pushback we're getting. Thisis where we need your help. So
this leadership conference hasreinforced the importance of the
(05:23):
pilots were speaking tomaintaining their autonomy and
forming their own opinion. Andthis conference also emphasized
buy in and the importance ofbuying. So we as a council in
communicating two blocks, one,four and eight the spectrum of
(05:44):
seniority, are attempting todeliver information that in such
a way that the pilots are ableto step up with us. And we can
face those obstacles with thestrength of the pilots behind
us, rather than trying toshoulder the load as three
(06:04):
members of the MEC
Jason Ambrosi (06:06):
well said, I hadn't thought about the unique
challenge you face having thethe most senior group of pilots
and the most junior group ofpilots and in the same same
Council like that. So that'sthat's definitely a unique
challenge. Sounds like you're,you're tackling it well.
Alright, next up. Let's move toCaptain Steve savidge Alaska
(06:27):
Airlines. So, Steve, tell us alittle bit about yourself and
what you've done in the Unionbefore and who you fly for what
you do.
Steve Savidge (06:35):
Okay, Steve savidge cheer. Yeah, thanks for
having me. 737 Captain, and theblock six rep in Seattle,
Secretary Treasurer, I starteddoing union work back in 2016,
after I got an accident myself,and had to go out on short term
(06:56):
leave, and was fine with theunion president at Alaska at the
time. And so he got me to jointhe Air medical committee. And
so they went to my first AirSafety Forum in 2017. And then
got involved more with ALPA helpdo build the pilot peer support
(07:21):
program in 2018. And broughtthat to Alaska Airlines. So now,
in this new position, I've beenable to take some of that
expertise I learned in the lastfive, six years and bring that
more the political side of thehouse from the pilot assistance
(07:43):
side. So it's been I've learneda lot, I've worked with a lot of
great people. And looking to domore.
Jason Ambrosi (07:52):
You know, you're recently the Hawaiian Alaska
merger was announced. And whatare you hearing from, from your
pilots on on a potential merger?
Steve Savidge (08:03):
Um, I would say mostly excited. But you know,
there's a lot of people withquestions, we just went through
a merger with Virgin America,and so be able to take that
experience from other people onthe MEC that's helped, helped
the pilots bring down theirconcern. But I think for the
(08:25):
most part excited, we just metwith them for the first time
last month. And so that wentgreat, great bunch of pilots.
And we're going to be going outthere next month in February, to
do some more unity building andstart the process. Yeah,
Jason Ambrosi (08:43):
I was able to join you last month in Seattle,
for a little while it was I wasimpressed at the what seems like
the unity, right? Anytime mergesare stressful, they just are but
the fact that that you have thatopen dialogue between the two
pilot groups and the fact isthat you're you're not shooting
inside the circle, you know, useuse your unity to extract the
maximum level of leverage youcan out of the out of the
(09:06):
combined company. And the youknow, that's a great way
forward, there's certainly gonnabe challenges, but it seems like
you, you all are really taking apositive, positive approach on
it. Is there anything Lastly,that your previous experiences
of, you know, pilot assistancevolunteers can can help you in
this in this new position?
Steve Savidge (09:25):
Someone instructor for the PPS program,
and we go over active listeningskills. And so I've already used
those more in my life eversince, you know, educating
teaching it, but now I'm reallyputting those to use.
Jason Ambrosi (09:39):
Yeah, that's actually a great point. You
know, that's a that's a goodpoint. Maybe we should maybe
make that part of thisconference. Right. Awesome.
Well, I appreciate it. Andthanks. Thanks for stepping up.
All right. Next, we have firstofficer Manuela Valenzuela from
from WestJet encore and you'rebased in Toronto. Tell us a
little about yourself. Yeah. Hi.
Manuela Valenzuela (09:59):
Thanks. you for having me. My name is
Manuela, as you said, I'm thefirst officer rep in Toronto.
And I've been with encore for ayear and a half. And I've been
the fo rep since September. Andwe recently closed her base. So
while it's not technicallyclosed, it's closing the spring
(10:22):
of 2025. But we no longer haveflights out of Toronto. So I'm
based out of Toronto, but all ofmy flying actually starts at
West. So we got that headed outto Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver,
and then do all of our flightsout there.
Jason Ambrosi (10:35):
Alright, so what inspired you to step up and do
this with only being at Encore ayear and a half?
Manuela Valenzuela (10:41):
Yeah, well, our pilot group in Toronto
really took a hit in many ways.So we announced our base
closure. I think it was likeearly 2023. And since then, we
had 132 pilots like a year agotoday, we are currently sitting
(11:02):
at 54. So And of that, I thinkonly 25 are first officers. So
yeah, no one was really steppingup to the plate, it was
suggested to me to do it. And Ithought it was a good
opportunity to get involvedrepresentative pilots. I had
never been involved with theunion before. But seeing how
(11:24):
involved ALPA is and how muchsupport we were offered the
communication like yeah, I justI was very intrigued by the
position. So I went for it. AndI got voted in. And it's been
really cool.
Jason Ambrosi (11:36):
Well, great. So, you know, Thanks for stepping
up. It's it's definitelyexciting. So this is obviously
your first real, real visit andto see all the resources that we
have here at the at themothership, for lack of a better
term. So what's your biggesttakeaway from from the
conference here? So far?
Manuela Valenzuela (11:55):
There's been so much, but I would say that
the biggest thing was likeunderstanding the mech meetings,
having to like doing thatBreakout Room participation.
That was really interesting tosee, because I went to a Mac
meeting before, but I was like,I just didn't know it was going
(12:16):
on terminology is reallyconfusing. And yeah, the order
of everything. So having thatexplained was really useful. And
I think I'll be better preparedfor our next meetings. And then
also, as Steve was saying, theact of listening. And yeah,
being able to engage with ourpilots a little bit better as to
(12:38):
understanding what their desiresand needs are.
Jason Ambrosi (12:43):
All right. Well, that's a good point, I would, I
would point out that you'retaking office at a very
significant time at Encorebecause you're in the middle of
a significant contract,collective bargaining fight. And
you just entered conciliation,our previous podcast, Tim Perry,
the Canada board presidentexplained how the differences
(13:06):
between Canada and the US onconciliation and the road to
release to self help or strikeup there. But you you all just
recently entered conciliation,which sets that stage for a
potential strike, the clock isrunning. How do you expect to
work with your counsel toprepare for that possibility?
Manuela Valenzuela (13:25):
Well, we have an informational picket
coming up on March 22. So we'rejust getting everyone well
educated on that. Trying tocreate as much unity as possible
to get as much participation aswe can. We're hosting some pub
events. We are hosting coffeesets at the airport for anyone
that wants to just stop by havea coffee have a conversation.
(13:47):
Yeah. And then I think we'vealso got some family events
coming up. But yeah, really justtrying to educate as much as
possible and create unity.Awesome.
Jason Ambrosi (13:56):
Awesome. You know, what? What are the main
priorities that your pilots arelooking for in this in this
agreement? career progression?Yeah, sure. I
Manuela Valenzuela (14:06):
would be the main one. Yeah. We recently had
our flow reduced significantly,we were flowing 16 pilots every
two months, we're now fillingfor every two months, the pilot
transfer agreement, so thatwould carry your seniority
number over from our regionalcarrier to the mainline carrier.
So and with our PTA beingcancelled, we don't have any
(14:29):
incentive for any first officerscoming on to encore to even
stick around to one float.Right. So okay, that
Jason Ambrosi (14:35):
makes sense. Well, that would probably draw a
line on on significant needs,between the captains and first
officers with with the with theending of that agreement, how
are ours or your pilotsbalancing the priority
differences between the captainsand the first officers?
Manuela Valenzuela (14:52):
Yeah, all of our new first officers don't
have that seniority. So we'vejust become a stepping stone
basically to go to Bigger carrylike Air Canada, honestly, is
our only competition right now.But yeah, there there is a line,
especially because we are reallyheavy on First Officers right
(15:13):
now. So even their ability totime build and be able to
upgrade has taken a toll. So Ithink like First Officers are
getting blocked at 40 hours amonth right now, where we could
be getting blocked at. So yeah,I mean, the prospect of being
(15:34):
able to get that upgrade makesthem better money and and have a
better career. That's not reallylooking very good for us right
now.
Jason Ambrosi (15:42):
All right, well, obviously we're we're here to
support you and all your allyour endeavors to get the
contract you deserve. Andobviously on a broader scale,
our our goal is to close the gapbetween the US and Canada on on
wages and working conditions,because you certainly do it,
you're carrying the samepastures in the same airspace
and everything. So we standbehind you, 100%. Thanks for
(16:04):
your support. Absolutely.Lastly, on to you, Brandon,
we're joined by first officerinstructor Brandon Arrington
from Delta, who represents theinstructor Council in Atlanta.
So you were the status rep forthe instructors. Tell us a
little little bit aboutyourself, Brandon.
Brandon Arrington (16:23):
Hey, thanks for having me. The instructor
Council is kind of a uniquedeal. We represent the 650 Plus
seniority list instructors atDelta. But to be a part of the
larger MEC family has alreadybeen been special to see getting
to attend a special meeting inOctober that was dealing with
implementation issues was It wasfascinating to see the process
(16:46):
play out and how we can workthrough those challenges, and
hold management accountable in afair and equitable way to get
the results that the pilots werelooking for. And then to attend
a larger, regularly scheduledmeeting in November it was was
great to be able to come herethis week, and have this
training has proved, I think,already invaluable. And I think
(17:10):
it'll transition really, reallywell going back and being ready
to start March 1, with this newchallenge.
Jason Ambrosi (17:16):
So what what got you to do this? Why did you why
did you decide to volunteer yourtime to represent your fellow
pilots?
Brandon Arrington (17:24):
Yeah, so good question. So voluntold is, is
part of it, I got big shoes tofail. Replacing Sam Mason who
has been in this role for threefull terms and did a great job
achieved amazing gains for us,we got our own section and
seniority list instructorsspecifically. But I I don't know
(17:44):
I've always had a heart forguiding conversations trying to
build consensus as part of whyI've enjoyed the instructor
role, haven't done much ALPAwork because so much of my
energy was either involved inthe instruction side of things
or being there for my family.But to get in to see the way
things played out during COVID.To see the contract drag on to
(18:06):
see that pot process play out.Just wanted to be able to be a
part of a positive culturemoving forward to try to build
on what we've what we've gainedcontinue that that strong
momentum that net pilot unitythat was apparent. And is great
as the instruction side ofthings was my impact was fairly
limited with smaller crews. Andthis was a way to really now
(18:26):
take that influence that you cangain and take it to a larger
level and hopefully be able toadvocate for a large number of
pilots across the board. Butspecifically, you know, the
instructors on all of ourdifferent fleets.
Jason Ambrosi (18:40):
Yeah, that's, that's awesome. And I would echo
your sentiment that Sam did along, long time in that
position. And it was a it was itwas a heck of an advocate for
for the instructors at Delta.You know, you mentioned contract
enforcement. Yeah. How is how isyour counsel dealing with with
contract enforcement?
Brandon Arrington (19:00):
So on a broader sense, I'll start there.
There's there's been a lot ofimplementation issues, probably
being the number one I knowthat's that's very, that's very
broad, all encompassing, but thelarge emphasis has been on
getting things done correctlyand in a timely manner. And
there's been a lot of issues, alot of that falling back to, I
(19:22):
guess, coding issues on theDelta front, they're telling us,
but it has been encouraging tosee some some positive progress
the last two months on somebetter pay automation, a quicker
turnaround on things. And Ithink that has been because the
the union, especially our adminhas been able to foster these
very productive weekly meetings.And if they can continue that
(19:43):
good working relationship, Ithink that benefits both
parties. I mean, it's a fortune100 company, you need to be able
to pay your pilots accuratelyand timely. And so the more
automation that gets built in, Ithink the better that's going to
be as far as the instructorsspecifically It's a very manual
process are the team worksreally hard behind the scenes
(20:05):
but being a manual processmistakes get made. There again,
you you'd love to see it gethandled properly the first time
around. But there has been somesome positive strides being
taken the waterbody overridinghas been a unique challenge,
especially in fly months,something that we've been
working through, and it's veryinstructor specific issue has
(20:28):
been the kind of the whipsaw, aflatline. So it used to be
people didn't feel like they gotenough law months. And now it's
fun. Now, the pendulum has swungfully to the other side where
almost every seat but especiallyfirst officers last year, were
were forced to the line at avery, very high rate. And so we
were worried about theaggregation of instructor
(20:49):
skills. And, you know, we didn'twant to see the quality of
training lowered at all becauseof lack of experience, you know,
especially recent experience.Right?
Jason Ambrosi (21:00):
Well, that makes sense. I've got to ask, so I've
met pilots in this position.Here, I've met pilots that have
climbed Mount Everest that havesailed across the Atlantic,
you're the first that have beenon American Ninja Warrior. So
tell us, you know a little bitabout that. And whether or not
(21:21):
you're you're still training orwhat you're doing to keep those
skills active.
Brandon Arrington (21:25):
So it's, it's, it's kind of funny, it got
brought up here, I don't, Idon't think about it a whole lot
anymore. Every now and again,I'll get a text from a friend
that saw our rerun. But duringthe open house here on the first
night, the leadership conferencewas speaking to the comp team.
And the individual, John thatwrote the article, back in 2014,
(21:47):
we get to talk in and we justrealized that, that our voices
sounded familiar. And he said,my face look familiar. And I'm
like, Well, how long have youbeen in the role and so it
through the process ofconversation, it came out that
he had written that article,back in 2014. It was, it was a
really neat and uniqueexperience to be able to compete
on American Ninja Warrior made alot of great friends. It
(22:10):
actually turned into a reallygood platform to be able to talk
to, especially youth in ourcommunity about the importance
of fitness and making it fun.Because to me, when you're on a
obstacle course, swinging fromone thing to another, you're
just playing, you know, you'renot working out your butt,
you're just having a good time.And so it's actually fostered
some unique friendships.Especially even adults. I had a
(22:32):
lot of captains that I draggedon layovers to ninja warrior
gyms. I don't know. I want tosee that. Yeah, I don't know how
many of their spouses were, werevery happy with coming back with
dang knees and callous tans andthat kind of thing. But you
Jason Ambrosi (22:47):
have to write a note that those bruises came
from Ninja Warrior.
Brandon Arrington (22:49):
No, I've never had to testify to a spouse
on where the injuries started.But now it's it's been a great
it's been a great thing. It'sjust one of those life
experiences. That's That'sunique. And is much as it's nice
to talk about it. I would ratherengage the other person I love
hearing about what otherpeople's hobbies and where it's
(23:09):
taking them. I would much ratherhear about somebody climbing
Mount Everest and hear about mefalling in the water on American
Ninja Warrior on the cityfinals.
Jason Ambrosi (23:16):
Well, it's very cool. I would say that you're
definitely working out because Iknow that I wouldn't make it
past the first. The firstchallenge per se but but it's
cool to hear about what wouldpeople we talk all the time
about airplanes. We talk all thetime about work, but it's good
to hear somebody that hadsomething cool that that
happened happened away fromwork. Yeah, was
Brandon Arrington (23:35):
there their first token pilots so the pilot
ninja Daddy was the littleTwitter name that they gave me.
I guess they thought that wouldbe fun. And the host of the show
had a lot of key one liners thatsomebody in the communications
team had clearly written forthem to deliver at the right
moments. He's cool underpressure, you know, he can
handle adversity in the air. Andyeah, it was a very unique
(23:57):
experience.
Jason Ambrosi (23:58):
Yeah. Cool. Very cool. Thank you for for sharing
that. With that. Thank you,Tiffany, Manuela, Steve and
Brandon for for joining us todayand being part of our podcast
here at the Leadership TrainingConference. ALPA is truly a
bottom up organization. EveryCouncil and every pilot group
(24:20):
has different needs andpriorities. And this was a great
review of all the work you'redoing within our union.
Volunteers and elected leaderskeep our union moving forward
together. It takes a lot of timea lot of hard work to support
77,000 ALPA members in theUnited States and Canada. And we
always need more help. If you'reever thought about getting
(24:43):
involved, and don't know how toget involved. Reach out to your
Elysee or colleagues on theflight deck to see where you can
help your fellow members. Thankyou for tuning in to this
episode of The airline pilotpodcast. If you haven't already,
make sure you subscribe so youdon't miss any episodes. If
you've enjoyed this episodes,let your fellow crew members
know about the show. If you haveany questions or topics you'd
(25:06):
like us to cover, reach out topodcast@alpa.org to listen and
subscribe to the airline pilotpodcast or learn more about
ALPA. Check us outonline@alpa.org Or find us on
all major podcast platforms.Until next time, this is the
airline pilot podcast productioncopyright ALPA 2024. All rights
reserved. Thanks and have a safeflight.
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