Pledges To Build On Unity
Capt. Lee Moak (pictured) took office on January 1 as the
ninth president of the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l
(ALPA). He leads a team of national officers who are aggressively
implementing the strategic and political priorities established by
the Association’s Board of Directors. These elected pilot
representatives, acting for 53,000 members at 38 airlines and
supported by a highly experienced staff, will engage at all levels
on every issue that influences the careers and lives of commercial
airline pilots.
“Since ALPA was founded in 1931, this great union has
drawn its strength from the unity, determination, and resolve of
our membership, backed by the expertise of our extensive staff of
dedicated professionals—all working together with coordinated
resources and action in support of our pilots,” Capt. Moak
said. “We will capitalize on this strength as we continue
into the new decade. We will constructively engage with any and all
stakeholders who can affect the interests, careers, and
professional lives of our pilots, and we will do this with a clear
focus on contractual improvements while continuing to advance the
highest standards of safety, security, and training.”
The new slate of leaders was elected during ALPA’s 43rd
regular biennial board meeting in 2010, which all the union’s
representatives attended to deliberate member issues and develop
the union’s strategic plan framework for the future. All four
officers have assumed four-year terms.
Capt. Moak, who joined ALPA in 1988, currently flies as a B-767
300 ER captain. A 22-year veteran of Delta Air Lines, he served
three terms as the chairman of the Delta Master Executive Council
(MEC), which represents the 12,000-plus pilots of Delta Air Lines.
He began his first term as Delta MEC chairman on October 1, 2005,
two weeks after Delta Air Lines filed for bankruptcy protection. In
the years that followed, he led the Delta pilots through
Delta’s bankruptcy, which included an attempt to reject the
pilots’ collective bargaining agreement; US Airways’
attempted hostile takeover of Delta Air Lines; and the merger of
Delta Air Lines with Northwest Airlines, a merger that, for the
first time in aviation history, included pilot engagement from the
earliest stages of the process.
As ALPA’s chief executive, Moak will oversee the
daily operations of the Association and preside over the meetings
of ALPA’s governing bodies, which set policy for the
organization. He will also serve as chief spokesman for the union,
advancing pilots’ views before the U.S. Congress, the
Canadian Parliament, government agencies, and the news media.
Moak will be joined on ALPA’s national officer team by
Capt. Sean Cassidy, First Vice President; Capt. Bill Couette, Vice
President–Administration/Secretary; and Capt. W. Randolph
Helling, Vice President–Finance/Treasurer.
Capt. Cassidy, an Alaska Airlines pilot, is ALPA’s new
First Vice-President. An ALPA member since 1996, Cassidy served as
MEC chairman of the Alaska Airlines pilot group and is a B-737
captain based in Seattle, Wash.
Capt. Bill Couette was reelected to a second term as Vice
President–Administration/Secretary. A 22-year American Eagle
pilot, Couette flies the Embraer ERJ-145 and is based in
Chicago.
ALPA’s Board of Directors also reelected Capt. Randy
Helling to the position of Vice President–Finance/Treasurer.
Currently a Delta Air Lines A320 captain, Helling flew for
Northwest Airlines for 22 years (prior to the Delta-Northwest
merger in October 2008).