Whose Side Was Past ALPA President Duane Woerth On?

Some of you might recall a post from a few months back in which I expressed disdain that former ALPA president Duane Woerth had in a Letter to the Editor of the Washington Post, signed on to the same old tired airline/FAA line about what’s wrong with the ATC system … it’s general and business aviation’s fault for not paying their fair share.

I thought this former AFL-CIO vice president and former ALPA president was wrong then and I still do. Union folks have no business pitting one side of an industry against another. That hurts everyone. I know it happens, but it’s still wrong.

Then there was yesterday’s Post editorial that took the same line as Duane Woerth (And for the record … business aviation is willing to pay it’s fair share if someone will help us figure out precisely what that is. Hint: We don’t trust the airlines and FAA to give anyone the best numbers on this).

Now I don’t know Duane Woerth … never met the man. But I do know what I’ve learned about his reputation and it’s one that might well make people wary when he comes knocking in his new role as an aviation consultant simply because it’s tough to know which side he’s on. And then there was the letter I received from a Jetwhine reader that got me all stirred up again.

But before I show you the note, a bit of background. It was on Woerth’s watch at ALPA that the RJ Defense Coalition evolved. That’s a sort of anti-ALPA national group of Comair and ASA pilots – good union folks – that tried to sue ALPA on numerous occasions for giving Delta Airlines pilots bargaining priority over those regional partners. Essentially, ALPA looked to be speaking out of both sides of its mouth trying to fairly represent both groups with the Delta mainline pilots coming out of the fight with far fewer bruises.

An ALPA pilot took the time to add a few thoughts that anyone in the industry might want to consider should you meet Mr. Woerth.

“Hello Robert,
About Duane Woerth … please understand he is not a representative of the [ALPA] pilot group. It took us a little while to figure him out, but that’s why we didn’t re-elect him. Notice that Duane Woerth did not return to NWA after his defeat.

No, he’s hung out his shingle as an aviation consultant. He’s never had an interest in flying, just struggling through it long enough to survive through several desk jobs.

Duane is a politician who will say what ever he thinks will advance his career.  What else is there to say about him?

BTW, Jetwhine is a wonderful site with well thought out information. Thanks,
Rand Peck“