What is ALPA?

Many of our pilots are new to the airline industry and are not familiar with being part of a union. In the next few weeks, we will take the time to discuss what our union does, how it is structured, negotiations, and the Railway Labor Act (RLA). We hope that, by reviewing some key features, it will help our pilots understand how and why things work the way they do. Most of this information can also be found on the ALPA website.

The Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA) is the largest airline pilot union in the world and represents more than 54,000 pilots at 31 U.S. and Canadian airlines. Founded in 1931, the Association is chartered by the AFL-CIO and the Canadian Labour Congress. Known internationally as US-ALPA, it is a member of the International Federation of Air Line Pilot Associations.


ALPA provides three critical services to its members:

Airline Safety and Security: ALPA’s founders chose “Schedule with Safety” as their motto, and that theme remains central to the union’s work today. Over its history, ALPA has been a part of nearly every significant safety improvement in the airline industry. The Association has helped to make airline travel the safest mode of transportation in human history. More than 600 working airline pilots volunteer to serve on the local and national safety and security committees that help guide the Association’s work. The union’s aeronautics engineers and safety and security experts provide unparalleled independent analysis on emerging airline safety and security issues, as well as federal and industrial policies. ALPA is routinely granted “interested party” status in most major airline accidents, which means that ALPA accident investigators assist the National Transportation Safety Board and the Transportation Safety Board of Canada during on-site investigations and participate in associated public hearings. The union’s commitment to unbiased, fact-based evaluation of airline safety and security issues has won the Association an unrivaled reputation for excellence throughout the airline industry.

Representation: Over the decades, ALPA pilot groups have negotiated scores of contracts with hundreds of airlines. Today, ALPA staff offers its members the finest financial analysis available, in-depth knowledge of the RLA (the legislation that governs airline pilot contracts), and the legal experience to defend pilot contracts. By leveraging the combined resources of all union members, ALPA is able to bring unmatched expertise to bear on matters affecting its members’ salary, benefits, and working conditions.

Advocacy: ALPA’s staff and pilot volunteers consistently represent pilots’ views to all airline industry decision-makers, including Congress, Parliament, the White House, and federal agencies. In Washington, D.C., and Ottawa, Ont., ALPA lobbyists successfully promote legislation that helps pilots and work to stop policies that harm pilot interests. National officers and pilot representatives are routinely called on to give their expert opinion before legislative committees and other influential governmental bodies.


At all levels of ALPA, pilots make decisions through the democratic process. All decisions start with our pilot groups. Each pilot group consists of all the pilots at a given airline. Pilot groups exercise considerable autonomy in governing their own internal affairs, such as negotiating contracts, enforcing those contracts, and discussing issues of concern with their carriers.


Members of each ALPA carrier are represented by their Local Council status representatives, who make up each pilot group’s Master Executive Council (MEC). Each pilot group consists of one or more Local Councils, which generally correspond with the pilots’ major domiciles. These Local Council status representatives sit on ALPA’s Board of Directors—the Association’s highest governing body. The Local Council representatives elect the officers of each pilot group’ MEC. The chairmen of each MEC comprise ALPA’s Executive Board. ALPA’s Executive Council, which bears fiduciary responsibility for the Association, includes both elected national executive vice presidents and the national officers.


ALPA’s national officers, the president, first vice president, the vice president–administration/secretary, and the vice president–finance/treasurer, guide the Association’s work from its Washington, D.C., headquarters and nearby Herndon, Va., offices.


Mesa’s pilot group is referred to as MAG ALPA (Mesa Air Group). MAG ALPA is broken up into four Local Councils. These are Council 84 West (Phoenix-based pilots), Council 85 Central (Dallas/Ft. Worth-based pilots), Council 87 Northeast (Dulles-based pilots), and Council 88 Southeast 88 (Houston-based pilots).


These are your elected LEC council members:
[Edited for names]


LEC 84:

Chairman AH

Vice Chairman NT

Secretary/Treasurer CG


LEC 85:

Chairman EL

Vice Chairman DO

Secretary/Treasurer XS


LEC 87

Chairman DL

Vice Chairman JC

Secretary/Treasurer TG


LEC 88

Chairman SE

Vice Chairman RV

Secretary/Treasurer MW


Serving as our MAG MEC Officers:

Chairman AH

Vice Chairman CG

Secretary TT

Treasurer DC


Working along with us are our Labor Relations Counsel, SG and LR.


As a new pilot to MAG, you will be an apprentice. There are seven different “classifications” of ALPA membership. There are: Active, Apprentice, Executive, Inactive, Retired, Honorary and Reactivated Member. Sub-categories of membership classifications used by the Membership Administration Department include:


Active Classifications: Active Sick, Executive Active, Grievance Pending.


Inactive Classifications: Executive Inactive, Furlough, Military Leave, Personal Leave, Sick Inactive.


Each classification is associated with specific rights/privileges. Members in the Active classifications who are in Good Standing can vote and hold elected and appointed offices. Members in the Apprentice and Reactivated classifications do not have voting rights and cannot hold an elected office, but may be appointed to certain offices and/or committees. Members in the Inactive and Retired classifications do not have voting rights and cannot hold an elected or appointed office. During your first year, as an Apprentice, you do not pay dues.


Many pilots are unsure of how dues are calculated. Dues are calculated by using Annual Earnings Subject to Dues * 1.9%. This is your Annual Obligated Dues for active members

The earnings subject to dues are calculated as gross income minus the following:


· short- or long-term disability pay (but sick-leave pay is subject to dues and should be included in reported income)

· taxable and non-taxable per-diem

· allowances received for foreign cost of living

· meals and/or moving allowances

· furlough income received under the terms of the employment agreement

· special individual monetary merit award of special individual bonus. This is a very limited exception. For example, it does not include: (a) anything that is a part of, or a substitute for salary; (b) an override above ALPA negotiated rates of pay received by a supervisory/management pilot while acting in that capacity; or (c) a general bonus to all members of an airline

· imputed amount for excess life insurance premiums and/or travel passes

· uniform allowance

· income received in the form of corporate securities

· income received after retirement for vacation

· income received for services to the Company not requiring flight crewman qualifications while on furlough status from a flight crew position, and

· income received from the Company for services in a different job classification while physically unable to perform as a pilot or flight officer.


Total dues are allocated as follows: MEC Account Income (36.5%), LEC Account Income (2%), Administrative and Support Account (58%), and Operating Contingency Fund (3.5%).


· MEC Account—funds used to pay for the operation of each individual MEC including: flight pay loss and expenses of members doing ALPA work, MEC office expenses, staff expenses, MEC meetings, and MEC projects, communication and family awareness events, and contract negotiations.


· Administrative & Support (A&S) Account—funds used to pay for the operation of ALPA’s Toolbox of Services, National Committees, and BOD/Presidential Committees. This account funds the services provided to each member including the expertise and support from the following departments: Representation, Retirement & Insurance, Communications, Legal, Economic & Financial Analysis, Engineering & Air Safety, Membership Administration, Balloting & Local Council Support Services, Strategic Member Development & Resources, Event & Meeting Planning, Information & Technology, Finance and Human Resources. The A&S account also funds the local executive council per capita budgets as well as services and expenses related to Aeromedical, governing body meetings, Leadership Conference training, IFALPA and AFL-CIO affiliations.


· Operating Contingency Fund (OCF)—established as a sinking fund with surpluses carried forward into subsequent years, the OCF is divided into three separate funds:


o The Special Projects Fund (OCF-SP)—used to fund projects and initiatives of special importance to the Association including safety issues and organizing. The OCF-SP may not be used for MEC account funding.

o The Contingency Fund (OCF-CF)—used for MEC account funding or projects of special importance to the Association. MEC Account funding is triggered using a calculation of the MEC Account Level status (adjusted MEC balance/current quarter income). When the adjusted MEC account balance is less than 90% of the MEC current quarter income, to the extent funds are available, the Executive Council shall approve an allocation from the OCF-CF adequate to bring the adjusted MEC account balance to 90% of current quarter income. This allocation can be given in the form of a loan or a grant.

o The Operating Fund (OCF-OF)—used to provide supplemental funding for flight pay loss costs related to the negotiations or extraordinary circumstances to eligible MECs. MECs eligible to receive OCF-OF funding are airlines with less than 1,000 Active and Apprentice members as of June 30 of the prior calendar year or with an average annual prior calendar year Active member airline income for dues purposes of less the $75,000.


We hope that this helps many of our pilots build a base of how the union works. Please look for additional educational materials coming soon.