Delta Pilots Association Trying To Oust ALPA

There is a bit of a power struggle going on between ALPA, which has represented Delta pilots since 1940, and the upstart Delta Pilots Association (DPA), which was created in 2010 and would like to become the bargaining body for Delta's pilots.

DPA says that it has collected cards backing its effort from nearly half of the 12,000 pilots that fly for Delta. But U.S. Labor laws make about a third of those invalid because they were not signed in the past 12 months, according to a report from Reuters.

To become the pilot's collective bargaining unit, the DPA would need cards signed by more than 50 percent of the members in a one-year period, which would trigger an election through the National Mediation Board. That vote by all of Delta's eligible pilots would determine which union would represent them.

The DPA's organizers say they are "fighting apathy" on the part of the rank and file. But with a contract coming up, DPA volunteer Amie Howard, a Delta first officer, said "now's (the) perfect time."

DPA says that ALPA is too close to the airline's management, a charge the larger union denies.

DPA said it will push Delta to be more open about its financial gains since emerging from bankruptcy reorganization in 2007.

But the battle will be fought uphill. DPA founder first officer Tim Caplinger told Reuters that the new union needs to to try to reach more of the carrier's newly-hired pilots, but the airline prevents DPA from recruiting new members in its pilot lounges, which is one of the best places for pilots to talk to one another.

FMI: www.deltapilotsassociation.org