ALPA's Board of Directors Meeting
Proposals, Policies & Plans for the Future of the Profession
By John Perkinson, Senior Staff Writer
One hundred and ninety-one status and seniority-block representatives from ALPA’s 97 local councils convened in Washington, D.C., on October 17–20 for the Association’s biennial Board of Directors (BOD) meeting. Together with master executive council (MEC) chairmen and national officers who serve as ex-officio members, the board spent much of its 46th regular meeting deliberating on policy matters, electing executive vice presidents, and making decisions about the union’s direction, all to advance the airline piloting profession.
The four-day meeting included discussion and debate about several proposed amendments to the Association’s Constitution & By-Laws, including a resolution to update Article VIII “due process” protections for members charged with misconduct. The resolution identified policy language that hadn’t been significantly updated in 26 years, including text that limited the method for delivering documents to postal mail. It also acknowledged several contentious cases during the last two years in which ALPA was compelled to explain the purpose of the required procedures. The board moved to revise the policy to bring it in line with other current practices.
At the direction of one of ALPA’s pilot groups, the union’s Special Representational Structure Review Committee (SRSRC) conducted a comprehensive study to evaluate local council recall and proxy procedures. The SRSRC gave special attention to the policy’s referendum-style process, which enables members to express their concerns about their representatives. The committee also looked at the mechanism for triggering a ballot, in which a member must demand that a recall be added to a local meeting agenda, followed by a vote at the local meeting.
The BOD reviewed the SRSRC’s findings, opting to uphold the current rules but establish an electronic system to expedite the process and make proxies easier to track. The new electronic system will take effect March 1, 2017.
In February 2015, ALPA created the Canada Board Structural Review Committee (CBSRC) to evaluate Canada Board funding, giving special attention to expense and revenue allocation. The BOD subsequently approved amendments to Article XXII, increasing funding and outlining how the Canada Board should promote the policies of the international union in addition to the union’s positions on Canadian issues of interest to Canadian airline pilots.
The BOD also acted on a late agenda item, which observed that ALPA fee-for-departure (FFD) airlines are in direct competition with non-ALPA FFD carriers. Since one of the goals of ALPA’s strategic plan is to advance members’ careers, the BOD passed a resolution directing ALPA pilot groups to press for contractual provisions and other programs that “provide preferential hiring for ALPA members.”
During the meeting, the BOD heard reports from the union’s national officers and elected seven executive vice presidents (see “2016 Board of Directors Meeting: Powered by Pilots,” November, page 9). In addition, Gordon Graham of Graham Research Consultants gave a special presentation on risk management, providing recommended rules and tactics for a broad range of applications. Graham praised airline pilots for their ongoing risk-mitigation efforts, noting, “If the rest of the world took risk management as seriously as aviators do, we’d be a lot better off.”
The balance of the board meeting was spent in delegate-committee session, reviewing national committee reports and hearing from subject-matter experts to determine what adjustments should be made to the Association’s strategic plan. Continue reading to learn more about the process BOD members engaged in to set ALPA’s future course.
