A Thanksgiving Message from Capt. John Prater, ALPA President

November 24, 2010 - As Americans observe Thanksgiving and take time to reflect on how and why we are so fortunate, we, the members of the Air Line Pilots Association, International, have much for which to be thankful.

We are thankful for our veterans, who have served in peacetime and in war to defend our great nation and the freedoms and rights we enjoy under our Constitution. And we are thankful for the more than 1,200 ALPA members who are on military leave from their airline jobs as this message goes out.

We are indebted to the generations of pilots who came before us to establish and build this great union. Their legacy is ours to defend and make even better, not only for ourselves but also for future generations of airline pilots.

And so we are grateful for the service of our members who work to maintain and improve the safety and security of the airline industry, and those who put in long days and nights to obtain and enforce the collective bargaining agreements that protect so many aspects of our working lives and our retirement.

We are thankful for each other and what we have been able to achieve through our solidarity, determination, and plain hard work.

Happy Thanksgiving.