Release #01.65
June 20, 2001

Washington, DC – The 550 pilots of Ryan International Airlines and the airline’s management announced late last night that their negotiating teams reached a tentative agreement in principle on their first pilot contract. Once the language and terms have been finalized, the agreement will be presented to the pilot group’s leadership and then taken to the membership for ratification.

Ryan crewmembers, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, International, and airline management began negotiations in August 1999 and filed jointly for mediation in November 2000. The parties had tentatively agreed to a little more than half of the contract’s 32 sections before the latest round of mediation began earlier this week. During this session, Ryan’s management negotiators were joined by the airline’s owner, Ron Ryan, and president, Jeff Crippen, both of whom expressed an urgent need to complete a deal.

Capt. Bruce Trager, chairman of the Ryan International unit of ALPA, issued the following statement regarding the agreement: "Our negotiating committee and ALPA staff devoted a tremendous amount of time and energy to make this contract a reality. The especially demanding circumstances that have surrounded our negotiations for the past two years created a make or break situation for our negotiators – either make a deal or let the chips fall where they may. The final decision on this tentative agreement will be made by our flight crewmembers through a telephone balloting process to be held the week of July 16, 2001."

Ryan International Airlines pilots fly passenger charters for vacation packages and sports teams as well as cargo flights, including the current U.S. Postal Service Express and Priority mail contract, to more than 30 destinations daily.

Celebrating its 70^th anniversary, ALPA is the world’s oldest and largest pilots union, representing 66,000 members at 47 airlines in the U.S. and Canada. Visit the ALPA Website at cf.alpa.org.

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ALPA Contact: Stacy Platone 703.481.4440