I remember it clearly. In early 2025, GU spoke openly about his desire to “go.” He framed his role as temporary, a necessary but short-lived intervention.

Here we are now.

Nearly two full years after the initiation of an “emergency” trusteeship, and almost six months beyond what the Department of Labor contemplates as lawful duration, nothing of substance has changed.

Were elections held? Yes.

Did those pilots ever exercise real authority? No.

GU remains in control. He directs outcomes, controls messaging, and overrides the will of the pilots those elections were supposedly meant to empower. The structure may have changed on paper, but the power did not change hands.

There is no serious indication that GU intends to relinquish control. Any forthcoming merger will simply become the next justification. It will be sold as “protection for Allegiant pilots.” In practice, it serves as political cover for continued self-preservation.

This is not representation. It is entrenchment.

This is precisely why Allegiant pilots find themselves in desperate need of ALPA.

The problem is not simply one individual. It is a system that allows indefinite control without accountability, leadership without consent, and power without meaningful checks. That system is not fixable through another internal election, another promise, or another rebrand of the same structure.

ALPA offers what this environment has systematically denied: pilot-run governance, constitutional limits on authority, elected leadership that answers to the membership, and a proven record of enforcing contracts rather than managing pilots. It replaces trusteeship and political appointments with accountability and transparency.

The clock is still ticking. The National Mediation Board will eventually grant a representation election. When Allegiant pilots finally end this Teamsters experiment, GU’s utility to the IBT will evaporate. Organizations like the IBT are not sentimental. They discard failed political projects.

What concerns many pilots is the period between now and that day.

A trustee whose authority is eroding is not a stabilizing force. History shows that leaders in that position tend to govern through escalation rather than restraint, through control rather than consensus. Many pilots believe they are already seeing that pattern play out.

The loss of Allegiant at Local 1224 matters. It was a power base, a revenue source, and a social circle. Its collapse was not just political; it was personal. Ignoring that reality requires pretending incentives do not exist.

GU’s legacy is being written now.

Not as a defender of pilots.

Not as a reformer.

But as a cautionary example of what happens when control becomes more important than representation.

Allegiant pilots deserve more than damage control and delay. They deserve a union that is built for pilots, run by pilots, and constrained by rules that prevent exactly this kind of concentration of power.

Allegiant pilots will move on. The industry will move on.

ALPA is how that happens.

GU will be remembered not for leadership, but for the damage done while clinging to authority long after legitimacy had expired

To the pilots who ran the ALPA drive, please don’t stop. We need you now more than ever. It sounded like you all had some real support, it will only grow.