New ALPA Reps Gain Skills at Leadership Training Conference Nearly 100
pilots from 25 ALPA airlines are in Reston, Va., this week for the Association’s
Leadership Training Conference, ALPA’s training ground for newly elected local
council representatives and MEC officers. The LTC is held each year, usually in
February to coincide with the beginning of many new elected representatives’
terms. This year’s meeting agenda has been retooled to provide an even stronger
focus on giving ALPA leaders the personal and professional tools they’ll need to
succeed.
The four-day conference is one of the most important things the Association
does, said ALPA president Capt. Lee Moak. “Being an ALPA rep is tough. It’s not
flag football, it’s full-contact without pads,” said Moak, a former DAL LEC rep
and MEC chairman. “You are going to be getting calls in the middle of the night.
You are going to be handling grievances. You are now going to be making
decisions—decisions that some people won’t like.”
The key to being an effective union leader is to make full use of ALPA’s
staff resources and rely on fellow pilots for support, he said. “We are going to
make sure you’re successful. Everybody in this room needs to look around and see
that the guy next to you is here to help you. We have your back, we have your
six,” Moak said.
The first two days of the conference featured
presentations on ALPA structure and resources, leadership tips, contract
negotiations and representation, effective communications, and safety, security,
and pilot assistance priorities.
In a somber ending to today’s session, the pilot attendees were scheduled to
visit an NTSB hangar near Ashburn, Va., where the wreckage from TWA Flight 800
is stored and used for accident investigation training.
The 2012 Leadership Training Conference continues tomorrow and concludes on
Thursday. |