Two Points
1: JF- You have my vote.

2: I hope that CD's website was financed by his own funds, I would hate to see my 1% used on his election campaign.

Crusin level

1/ Thanks

2/ I too hope it is only his money financing this web site.
It is very professional, if only we had such facilities for all our C/Cs

Regards

John

JF,

You have my vote as well. Surely in a democracy we should have a choice of candidates, rather than an incumbent being rubber stamped. In particular, I note that the 'best' alternative candidates would not be prepared to challenge an incumbent.

Well done for sticking your head above the parapet.

Regards

HF

John Frohnsdorff,

Although I haven't yet decided which way to vote I support your standing as an alternative to the status quo and watch with interest as the campaign proceeds.

In the meantime, as a non BRITISH (and not even EU citizen) member of BALPA please will you confirm your intent to equally represent us 'foreign' pilots living and working legally in this country should you be voted in as GS?

I noted with interest Mr Pipistrelles comments above and as I seem to be unable to email him/her directly perhaps he/she would clarify the comment "the continual misemployment of foreign pilots" for me in case I have misread the inference...

Human Factor

Thanks for the support

We have a number of ideas as a replacement but the field will be open to all.

Regards

John

TDK mk2

As a foreign national of course you are represented, membership is open to all flying on UK licences, or involved in British commercial flying. I believe pipistrelle is refering to the flagging out problem, one of my colleages on the NEC is well up to speed on this problem. I will put you in touch if it would help.

Regards

John

John if you do unseat Mr Darke you say that you will stand down as soon as a replacement is found , this stance means that in effect I have no idea what I,m voting for except to get rid of Mr Darke.

I find this a very negative way of doing things and without more information about what happens after the unseating of Mr darke and who his intended replacment is you do not have my vote.

How ever if you can take a more constructive line I would be more likely to reconsider my position.

A and C,

I understand your point and I truly wish that I could present you with the final candidate but I am afraid this is the only way to give you an election.

It simply is not possible to get quality people to stand against an incumbent GS. Advertising a position is a different matter and he/she will have to be approved in any event. I would not just plonk someone in.

Regards,
John.

John I'm with A & C ,out of the frying pan into the fire springs to mind.

There seems to be a lot of subversion around here. Stick to the issues and avoid knocking the individuals. BALPA is a cosy quango of self interest and needs changing, just like the rest of The UK's dreadful hierarchy.

Any person taking the effort to challenge the system out of very genuine concern deserves, if nothing else, a lot of respect for the time and hard work it must be taking. Gets my vote for that alone.

:D :mad: :p

John,

Thanks for taking this stand, you have already had my vote.

Can you please explain though, why no top-quality candidate will challenge an encumbent GS?

Is it the fear of losing with the attendant damage to future career prospects, or simply because they would be jeopardising their existing job if they were seen to be interested in another, with no guarantee of winning the election and therefore landing the new job?

If the latter is the case, it is not dissimilar from the way that us Pilots all seem to wait for the contract to arrive from a new employer before actually giving our notice in. Something to do with mortgage payments, I believe. Not an unreasonable position to take.

growler145,

I am not a politician! I am not going to just promise you anything just to get your vote.

I will take the time and care to select the best replacement and will not stick just anyone in. Come on Growler you know it isn’t possible to do what you want!

I need your support!

Regards,
John.

Upperecam,

Thanks for the support.

Regards,
John.

Nearly Nigel,

You have pretty much summed the problem up. Obviously if there is a positive position to fill we can attract the best people. The problems you mention would then cease to be problems.

Thanks for your vote.

Regards,
John

Have just had a look at CD's website: To be fair, it does say that it was created using his own money but what a nauseating piece of self agrandisement.

JF; I've never met you and probably never will but you get my vote, if only for the the sake of transparency.

To the carpers....if CD really is the best man for the job, he'll win anyway, won't he? Simple, innit? :p

Hi John, good luck!!

However........where do you stand on the issue of the RJ100s and BACitiExpress ? We feel we re being let down badly by mainline BALPA here. Any thoughts?

john,
you have my vote.
I do work for BA but have worked for the smaller independants aswell.
I am very concerned about what is at stake for ALL of us here.
BALPA has not,in my opinion,served the interests of the vast majority of airline pilots or flight engineers well in the last ten years.It cetainly has not served the interests of those of us at BA.
Most of us,throughout the industry, have seen real reductions not only in our terms and conditions,but in our overall quality of life.Not to mention other issues such as flagging out etc.

The majority of BALPA is now made up from companies other than BA.Although BA remains the largest stakeholder.It is vital that our colleagues,from all quarters,understand how the BALPA hierarchy has failed them and why it must be changed.
I believe that if we fail to get rid of Darke and his cronies,there is a real chance that BALPA as we know it ,will not exist for long.That would be tragic for all of us.
jumbodriver

John

From another thread it would seem that CD has not been devoting all of his energies to BALPA. Will any future candidate be asked for an assurance that he will devote 100% of his efforts to BALPA, considering the not insignificant salary.

Airclues

John - Good luck, as with very many others, you already have my vote.

BALPA members - We need to make 'our' association work for all of us, not just for the handful at the very top!

This is democracy in action! If we don't reclaim this organisation now, in 5 years time there may not be much left to argue over! Not to mention, much of a profession!

Take a stand. Send off your vote NOW for John Frohnsdorff, and let's get this flight to a more representative and accountable leadership off the ground.

We ALL deserve better than the present incumbent!!

To all 'non BA' members. This is not a coup by 'Nigels!'. You control 60% of the vote. You are in the driving seat! Let's open this door, and you will empower whoever YOU want!

I work for a charter airline and have done my share of "nigel bashing" on pprune.

JF is a fully qualified, time served Nigel!
However, he is a pilot and I'm convinced that he's an honest man, so it's with enthusiasm that I vote JF.

GOOD LUCK, SIR!

Fokker

Thanks for the clear vision

Regards

John

Kurtz

I promised the moderator I would not campaign beyond my remit, however I am also on the BACC. My personal view is that both sets of pilots should be on the BA seniority list. In what order is the difficult problem as always!!

Regards

John

Jumbo Driver

Thanks Jumbo, we both think alike

Regards

John

Visual

1/ Yes, is the simple answer
2/ Yes, there are plenty more candidates than you realise.

Regards

John

Capt Airclues

I believe all of us are shocked by this revelation. We will be asking for such an assurance in future.

Regards

John

Tandemroter

Thanks for your support

Regards

John

Unwiseowl

Thanks again. I try and answer the Q's in a block. These have been VERY gratifying. However there are some people out there who are unhappy, they are entitled to anwers too. I hope they come on this forum.

Regards

John

Our second chance
 

Thanks, John for making yourself available to PPRuNe to discuss these vital issues. Could I please just stress once again that you are standing to give us all a second approach to this election following a successful go-around.

We need to start thinking now about candidates who we would wish to stand in the subsequent election, should you win. I urge everyone from no matter what company, or even independent BALPA members to choose candidates who you believe are equal to the task. This has to be done NOW!

I look forward to receiving lots of manifestos from a broad church of candidates.

In the meantime, John you’ve had my vote.

http://www.sausagenet.freeserve.co.u...rb/roohorn.gif
I'll take on the opposition anyday, it's my management I can't beat!

All will be able to see that this is my first post. I have been moved to register and pass comment because of the amount of claptrap on this thread!

I am astonished that anyone is actually bothering to ask JF his view on where he stands on ANY subject given that JF has said many times that he is not standing for the GS' job - all he is doing is giving members an opportunity to take part in a vote of confidence.

He talks of returning Balpa to its members. What I don't want is a bl**dy pilot running the pilots' union, I want a professional union man who knows what he's doing! Pilots like to think they know everything about everything but sadly, they don't. They're great at dredging up past grudges, however!

As for going for the 'best' - I recall that Bob Ayling was once considered 'the best' (for his job)! It really is a case of whether you prefer 'the devil you know or the devil you don't know'.

Stop wasting JF's time asking where he stands on BA pilots working in GB or BACE etc - you would only get a 'political' answer anyway. This is election time after all - promise everything to everyone and don't upset the voters..........

Cynical? Only a little. I question the true motives, not those in the manifesto.