Pledges To Build On Unity

Capt. Lee Moak (pictured) took office on January 1 as the ninth president of the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA). He leads a team of national officers who are aggressively implementing the strategic and political priorities established by the Association’s Board of Directors. These elected pilot representatives, acting for 53,000 members at 38 airlines and supported by a highly experienced staff, will engage at all levels on every issue that influences the careers and lives of commercial airline pilots.

“Since ALPA was founded in 1931, this great union has drawn its strength from the unity, determination, and resolve of our membership, backed by the expertise of our extensive staff of dedicated professionals—all working together with coordinated resources and action in support of our pilots,” Capt. Moak said. “We will capitalize on this strength as we continue into the new decade. We will constructively engage with any and all stakeholders who can affect the interests, careers, and professional lives of our pilots, and we will do this with a clear focus on contractual improvements while continuing to advance the highest standards of safety, security, and training.”

The new slate of leaders was elected during ALPA’s 43rd regular biennial board meeting in 2010, which all the union’s representatives attended to deliberate member issues and develop the union’s strategic plan framework for the future. All four officers have assumed four-year terms.

Capt. Moak, who joined ALPA in 1988, currently flies as a B-767 300 ER captain. A 22-year veteran of Delta Air Lines, he served three terms as the chairman of the Delta Master Executive Council (MEC), which represents the 12,000-plus pilots of Delta Air Lines. He began his first term as Delta MEC chairman on October 1, 2005, two weeks after Delta Air Lines filed for bankruptcy protection. In the years that followed, he led the Delta pilots through Delta’s bankruptcy, which included an attempt to reject the pilots’ collective bargaining agreement; US Airways’ attempted hostile takeover of Delta Air Lines; and the merger of Delta Air Lines with Northwest Airlines, a merger that, for the first time in aviation history, included pilot engagement from the earliest stages of the process.

As ALPA’s chief executive, Moak will oversee the daily operations of the Association and preside over the meetings of ALPA’s governing bodies, which set policy for the organization. He will also serve as chief spokesman for the union, advancing pilots’ views before the U.S. Congress, the Canadian Parliament, government agencies, and the news media.

Moak will be joined on ALPA’s national officer team by Capt. Sean Cassidy, First Vice President; Capt. Bill Couette, Vice President–Administration/Secretary; and Capt. W. Randolph Helling, Vice President–Finance/Treasurer.

Capt. Cassidy, an Alaska Airlines pilot, is ALPA’s new First Vice-President. An ALPA member since 1996, Cassidy served as MEC chairman of the Alaska Airlines pilot group and is a B-737 captain based in Seattle, Wash.

Capt. Bill Couette was reelected to a second term as Vice President–Administration/Secretary. A 22-year American Eagle pilot, Couette flies the Embraer ERJ-145 and is based in Chicago.

ALPA’s Board of Directors also reelected Capt. Randy Helling to the position of Vice President–Finance/Treasurer. Currently a Delta Air Lines A320 captain, Helling flew for Northwest Airlines for 22 years (prior to the Delta-Northwest merger in October 2008).

FMI: www.alpa.org