Dear Friends and Fellow Pilots,

One of the primary issues in the ALPA card drive and election has been that JetBlue
pilots need ALPA to protect their jobs and careers in the event of merger, acquisition,
or other events. ALPA supporters ask pilots to forget their own experiences and instead
accept what JetBlue ALPA might be. As ex TWA pilots we can’t forget our ALPA
representation during the American takeover. This vote is so important to all of us....it
can completely change everything we have know for the last 11 years. We want JetBlue
pilots to hear our story....to know why we don’t want to be associated with ALPA again.
We believe that it is imperative to know that ALPA simply can’t provide the career
protections they are selling.

There is an ongoing lawsuit by TWA pilots against ALPA for failure in its Duty of Fair
Representation (DFR). Documents that support my story (including ALPA briefs) are
downloadable at TWAPilot. We encourage
everyone to at least open the files and read the table of contents and introductions.

The undisputed facts are that (like USAir) TWA was in trouble and management sought a
merger partner. American was willing, but set a precondition that TWA enter bankruptcy
so American could void some contracts and avoid the level of DOT oversight which
scuttled the United/USAir merger. Bankruptcy maneuvering allowed American and it’s
pilots to impose a seniority integration that stapled 1200 of the 2250 TWA pilots below
409 AA pilots who were not even on the payroll at the time of the Asset Purchase
Agreement. The remaining TWA pilots were placed at an approximately 8-1 ratio that
had the effect of decreasing seniority by up to 21 years. The result was “harshly-unfair”
to the point of inducing Congressional legislation; the McCaskill-Bond act we hear so
much about now. Since then, court rulings have even put American Eagle flow through
new hires above TWA pilots.

Our lawsuit claims ALPA violated its DFR by not only failing to support TWA pilots
but actually undermining their efforts. ALPA actions included failing to 1) support TWA
pilots’ refusal to waive the Labor Protective Provisions (LPP’s) in the TWA/ALPA
contract, 2) pursue litigation against the unilateral AA plan, and 3) support legislative
efforts to mandate a seniority arbitration. ALPA and its president Duane Worth were
motivated by a desire to merge with APA. Worth saw the merger as his legacy, and
wasn’t about to let a “little thing” like the TWA seniority integration stand in the way.
Worth vetoed a TWA MEC legal strategy because he would not permit them suing APA.
ALPA shut down the TWA MEC offices and kept all the contents, including personal
handwritten notes of officers. ALPA denied the TWA MEC financial assistance,
including funds which they supposedly held in trust. ALPA at least promised funding
for APA pilots leading an ALPA card drive. Worth told APA pilots TWA had to “get
real”; undercutting the TWA position by telegraphing that ALPA would not provide
support. In total ALPA provided no protection from the APA cram down.

Further, when it became apparent that TWA pilots may file for failure of DFR, ALPA
destroyed evidence in attempts to cover up. They continued to destroy evidence after the
suit was filed and well into discovery. They destroyed paper copies, tapes, and electronic
data including computers, servers, and hard drives. Only copies fortunately kept by
TWA MEC members exist to counter ALPA versions of the events which cost TWA
pilots so dearly.


ALPA claims of course that Worth didn’t make statements attributed to him, that they
never continued the APA merger effort, that they did everything possible to help TWA
pilots, and that discarding some items and upgrading equipment is standard business
practice.

Either way it’s damming. Either ALPA undermined a member to curry favor with
a larger airline not even affiliated, or ALPA was completely impotent to do anything
to protect TWA pilots. For ALPA to claim now that McCaskill-Bond is a union
achievement or that the law applies only to union pilots is shameless hypocrisy. The law
was passed specifically in response to ALPA’s failure.

There are many other examples where ALPA’s claims to provide superior merger
protections are simply false. In the recent Republic, Lynx, Frontier, Midwest seniority
integration (3077 combined) only Midwest pilots were represented by ALPA and
they faired the worst. Of 385 Midwest pilots, 215 were stapled to the bottom with the
remaining 150 scattered in the middle third (1000 to 2185) at a 10:1 ratio.

ALPA did not provide a smooth seniority integration for US Airways- American West
but rather disengaged to let them fight it out. To the US Airways pilots the result was so
outrageous they quit ALPA to form an independent union. The “winning” America West
pilots have yet to see any benefit from the integration, and ALPA has been powerless
to enforce their own merger policy. Both pilot groups are stuck with bankruptcy era
ALPA contracts and there will be no progress until the pilots strike a deal. US Airways
management is laughing all the way to the bank.

We could (but won’t) go on and on about how the ALPA promises can’t be met. We will
say instead there are two keys to protecting a pilot’s career.

First, your airline must be strong enough to control it’s own fate. You avoid hostile
takeovers by having the better brand and better balance sheet. A solvent airline can’t use
bankruptcy as a strategy to void all contracts. History is full of union airlines grabbing
quick gains in good times followed by concessions under actual or threat of bankruptcy.
That leaves any pilot vulnerable. Southwest employees wisely chose modest contracts
while they grew the airline at a low debt ratio. That is the path to long term success and
with or without a union.

Second, (particularly if yours is not the stronger airline) you need to have strong Labor
Protection Provisions in your contract. We consider Kevin Fitzpatrick independent and
authoritative. In road shows he says our current contracts as enhanced by the proposed 5

documents will provide excellent LPPs immediately. We like the idea that the company
is liable if an integration is not fair. We don’t need ALPA to have contractual protections
and we don’t need 5 years of contract negotiations to get them.

We will not willingly again pay 2% of our gross compensation to that organization.
ALPA can’t guarantee the initial contract will have even close to the 5 document
employment protections. If they get them, they’ll most likely give up something else
we now have. We urge you to vote and vote no. Do not allow a majority of voters (who
may be a minority of pilots) to impose ALPA on us all.

Sincerely,

Frank Daniel TWA 3/3/89 MD80 Captain JFK

Anne Aldrich TWA 5/12/1994 to 07/01/2003

Steve Gardella TWA 4/7/1997 to 12/31/2002
too!

Bill Dowling TWA 3/11/1999 to 10/31/2001

Pat Hines TWA 9/89 to 07/03 MD80 Captain JFK....took care of me they did

Scott Farmer TWA 1996-2003

Alan Altman TWA 1997-2003 MEC member, Negotiating Committee member, TWA
vs. ALPA lawsuit witness

Greg Register TWA May 1996 - June 2003

Craig Mulligan TWA 02/03/89-11/01/03

Paul Bruder TWA 05/19/89-07/02/03

Ian Duncan TWA 4/89-8/03 MD-80 Captain JFK JetBlue 7/05-present 190 Captain
BOS