God Save the Ball! Keepers of the Sacred Orb What is the Ball?

The Legacy

Any group that serves the public, serves a profession, and serves each other over generations has a legacy. For nearly one hundred years, the thousands of pilots of United Airlines have built a legacy of unsurpassed excellence, professionalism, unity, and mutual support through countless triumphs and challenges.

 

That legacy is guided and measured by our ALPA code of ethics, but is lived as we hold each other accountable to it – through every day, every flight; and every interaction with the public, our fellow employees, and each other.

The Sacred Orb

The 8-Ball is not just a person, but truly a thing – The Sacred Orb. In fact, once joined, the person and thing should only be separated by the “crowning” of a new 8-Ball at the bottom of our seniority list. Such a coronation should not be a backroom thing, but a ceremony of simultaneous import and fraternal camaraderie celebrating our new exalted one and their relatively senior compatriots from their new hire class. The more of us who join in that celebration the better.

Our Newest Members

Our legacy is not a thing of the past, It is always “Under Construction.” Sometimes we add members frequently. At other times, much less frequently, yet the legacy evolves with every new member, and with how every current member lives each day. A legacy like the United pilot group’s does not happen by accident. It is built over generations but can be damaged and squandered in an instant of bad decisions. That fragility is ours to accept and protect, and we have done so for almost 100 years in a way that makes our legacy the envy of the industry. It’s a legacy of excellence we have given the public the luxury of taking for granted.

 

If our newest members are going to grow that legacy, it is incumbent on those of us here to live it and model it for them, since we’ll ultimately pass it on to them.

 

To our newest members – Welcome! We’re excited you’re here.

Ball Yoni Butbal
Ball Matthew Ziegler
Ball Connor Tidler
 
Ball Josh Hanna
Ball Andy Kin
Ball Ahmed Ellenshawy

The 8-Ball

“There Can Only Be One”

 

The advantages of the seniority system are many, but one is it provides a uniform measuring stick for every one of us in so many aspects of our careers. It also means that the foundation of the quality of all our professional lives rests on the strong shoulders of one specific individual – our most junior member at any given time. The 8- Ball. Simply put, the better we make life for them, the better it is for ALL of us.

 

All of us get to be United pilots, and that’s the achievement of a lifetime, but only a select few ever get to be, “The 8-Ball.” Once “The 8-Ball”, always a “Ball”, for at one time we all stood on their shoulders.

 

To be The Ball is special and should be commemorated – and that’s just what we’re here to do.

*ONLY YOU (AND GOD) CAN SAVE THE BALL!*

Please be aware that this organization and our ability to welcome our new hire pilots is 100% dependent on the pilot group. We receive no monetary support from the company or union. We depend upon YOUR support!