The Road Less Traveled

The Allied Pilots Association (APA), the labor union by which American Airlines pilots are represented, has rejected a merger with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), which represents more than 74,000 pilots at forty U.S. and Canadian airlines.

The APA’s decision was predicated primarily upon a consensus that merging with ALPA would provide insufficient benefit vis-à-vis the liabilities inherent forfeiture of the collective, independent voice of APA’s membership.

AA Pilots for ALPA, a grassroots group of American Airlines pilots supportive of merger with ALPA, worked for months to persuade APA leadership to investigate the ostensible benefits of such an alignment. At the group’s behest, APA commissioned the formation of a merger exploratory committee which produced a report setting forth that an APA/ALPA merger, though beneficial in some respects, was not in American Airlines pilots’ best long-term interests.

Notwithstanding its merger exploratory committee’s broader findings, the APA executive board staunchly maintains its decision to reject the ALPA merger was based on economics. The APA executive board contended, also, that merger with ALPA would see APA, in its entirety, reduced to a so-called Master Executive Council (MEC)—an entity with greatly-diminished financial autonomy—under the ALPA banner.

In a written statement posted to the Allied Pilots Association’s website, American Airlines pilots Captain Jon Sherrell and First Officer Jason Gustin stated: "As the fiduciary of the Association, the Board is obligated to consider all the financial implications of a potential merger. A merger would necessitate the voluntary transfer of all membership assets to ALPA. More than $68-million of unrestricted liquidity would be handed over, with a net return to our newly formed MEC of an estimated $16-million. The committee expects a merger would result in initial membership dues rising by 85-percent while only 36-percent of our pilots’ dues would be allocated back to a new MEC from ALPA National."

Letters expressing similar sentiments were disseminated throughout APA domiciles.

In its report to APA leadership, the merger exploratory committee expressed concerns that joining ALPA would render APA less “nimble.”

The APA ascribes great value to “Consistency and continuity in representation and services, including in long processes such as Section 6 bargaining.” Subject services, during bargaining under Section 6 of the Railway Labor Act, include financial analysis, legal counsel, and multimedia communications.

In a 03 June public memorandum, ALPA President Captain Jason Ambrosi averred: “We’re stronger together; however, we’re not in the business of a hard sell. The many benefits of ALPA representation speak for themselves. At ALPA, the democratic process is always respected—and it drives our agenda.”

Captain Ambrosi opined the APA contract, “Failed to raise the bar for our industry.”

Conversely, Forbes’ Ted Reed reported APA-negotiated pay rates for American narrowbody pilots are higher than those of Delta Air Lines pilots operating the same equipment.

Despite stating ALPA deserved credit for negotiating “industry-leading” contracts, APA spokesman Dennis Tajer maintained APA members will continue making the final decision pertaining to the APA-negotiated contracts.

FMI: www.alliedpilots.org