Fellow Pilots,

I need to let you know that the rumors about ALPA National having the office of myself “under investigation” is not accurate. I have been quiet about this because I did not want a public battle. However, this has gone on for too long and I can no longer ignore these baseless accusations.

A group of elected ASA LEC status representatives traveled to the ALPA Headquarters for an ALPA paid training session. During this visit, these representatives insinuated that the ASA ALPA office, and myself in particular, were not being honest. This is also simply untrue; Randy Helling, the Vice President of Finance at ALPA, will confirm the facts of this situation to anyone that would like to call him at (703) 689-2270.

There is an issue with how ExpressJet reports the merger expenses to ALPA, while that issue remains, ALPA National is asking the Company directly for the information to remedy what should have been fixed years ago. I have changed nothing in how I am paid or where my pay sheets are sent in 17 years; the baseless allegations of financial wrongdoing by me are simply incorrect.

You should know that further accusations of misuse of dues money has no factual basis. The ASA MEC office handles zero money. Literally every dime is input and paid by ALPA National or the Company. The merger expenses that are paid by the Company are verified by ALPA national on a monthly or quarterly basis and agreed to by the company. The ASA MEC has never used all available merger funds and runs at less than half of the allowed paid off line positions available through the Transition and Process Agreement.

The issue of my pay as the ASA MEC Chairman was set when I took office so that I would not take a pay loss and would be able to continue staying with my peers in the training department; that document, MOU 91, was signed by Brad Sheehan. MOU 91 allows myself to be paid for the ALPA time spent as if I were being paid as instructor pilot in the Training Department. This compensation is paid by the Company via merger funds, as permitted by the TPA. This is consistent with ALPA policy that states a volunteer will neither benefit nor be financially harmed as set forth in the ALPA bylaws; I am adhering to that policy.

The recent accusations that I, as well as the rest of the ASA ALPA Committees, are not working with the company are also unfounded. Specifically, a review of the numerous LOA’s and MOU’s negotiated since the modified TPA was signed January 2016 easily demonstrates your volunteers have not been idle.

I must also say that the company is extremely upset at the leak of negotiating information made available to the MEC. That leak of information prompted verbal and written communication from the Company that any future leaks would most likely end further talks. The Company received the following email (edited for clarity) from an ASA pilot that began the degradation of trust between the ASA MEC and the Company:


I'm a DTW guy who bid over to LGA to avoid drifting back to reserve (like a lot of other people…. I do my best to commute to DTW... [and] I had hopes that the LGA operation would allow me to continue to do that, but having looked at the pairings this morning for the startup month in May, that clearly will not be that case.
.... I understand it's a new operation with a small sample of segments/city pairs to work with and it's also a heavily "banked" operation, but I will not be able to fully commute (front and back) ANY pairings between LGA and BNA. Not being able to fully commute some of my monthly schedule in DTW isn't a big deal as hotels are cheap (around $45-50/night) and I only have to do that perhaps once a month. But that will be an impossibility for me (anyone really) 4 times a month in LGA with hotel costs being what they are, which I'm sure you are fully aware.
…At the line pilot level, moral is already pretty low and this is another shot to the gut. I know you guys are fighting for this airline and will continue to do so, but I just wanted to make you aware of what's going on down in the trenches. I hope there is a plan to make it better for the LGA operation in future months, because these pairings combined with the NYC market are a recipe for disaster that I know everyone wants to avoid when performance is so crucial in today's environment.


I think for anyone watching Facebook or listening to the few dissenting reps, should realize that; two of those reps have always had an issue with myself for removing them from a committee, and another rep appears to be constantly angry with everything he disagrees with.

I removed one of the reps from the negotiation committee because he was not a good fit at the time and I became weary of seeing the pictures of him sleeping at the negotiation table.

I removed another rep from the Safety committee due to complaints and a complete lack of information after several requests from the MEC about the Safety committee. Another rep, who is the source of the leak, creates a dysfunction in the MEC. Ask the other reps current or past. This rep has been angry at ALPA since his involvement with the RJDC and I was reminded by Delta ALPA while here in Herndon VA at the Executive Board that we all had the opportunity to be stapled to the delta list, but thanks to a few that opportunity is long gone. His self-disclosed direct communication with the director of flight operations is in direct violation of ALPA policy and continues to put the ability to negotiate for all our pilots interests at risk.

In a conversation with myself he admitted that he cared about no one below the no furlough line because “they are temps”.

Currently, the ASA MEC has attempted to compete with our parent company’s operation based in St George, Utah. The ASA MEC has offered several paths to a prolonged future for all our pilots, that is still our goal. The ASA MEC remains dedicated to protecting the jobs of the ASA pilot group and is willing to work in any reasonable manner with the Company to further our mutual interests.