ALPA's Communications Department provides information and support for news media inquiries. An ALPA communications representative can be reached in the Herndon, Va. office at (703) 481-4440.

Release #01.129
December 13, 2001

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Executive Council of the Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA), today unanimously approved a Merger Agreement with the FedEx Pilots Association (FPA), the union representing the pilots of FedEx Express.

"Last year, ALPA’s governing Board of Directors adopted a unity resolution, which reaffirmed the Association’s objective to provide representation for all airline pilots in the United States and Canada," said ALPA President Capt. Duane Woerth. "The vast majority of the pilots in this country firmly believe that with ALPA representation, their interests are better served. Merging our two unions is just one more step in the process of unifying all pilots under one umbrella – ALPA."

The Executive Council – made up of ALPA’s four international officers and 10 executive vice-presidents – concluded that the proposed Agreement properly implements the pilot unification goal and satisfies the requirements of the Association for the merger of the two organizations.

The Agreement would provide ALPA membership for FPA members, seamless transition of FPA representation to the ALPA governance structure, necessary negotiations support by ALPA, appropriate resolution of all financial issues affecting all FedEx pilots, and maintenance of a fully-staffed office in Memphis.

"With ALPA representation, I firmly believe that the FedEx pilots will be totally prepared for contract negotiations in 2004. ALPA’s world-class resources, combined with our unified pilot group, will help us achieve significant improvements to our contract," said Capt. David Webb, president of the FPA.

The FPA Board unanimously endorsed the tentative Merger Agreement on December 11. The Agreement is subject to a secret ballot ratification by two-thirds of the votes cast by the FPA membership, and the FPA Board authorized that ballots be mailed during February 2002. An educational campaign for the FedEx pilots will begin in January 2002, and will provide ample time for the members to review and discuss the tentative Merger Agreement.

If the tentative Merger Agreement is approved by the FPA membership, the Agreement must be ratified by ALPA's Executive Board in May 2002. If approved, the Agreement would go into effect June 1, 2002.

Formed in 1931, ALPA is the world’s oldest and largest pilots union, representing 66,000 pilots at 47 airlines in Canada and the United States. Its Web site is at http://cf.alpa.org

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ALPA CONTACT: John Mazor, 703-481-4440

FPA CONTACT: Kevin Scheiterlein, Communications Chairman, 901-842-2215