Release #02.009
January 28, 2002

SEATTLE - Leaders of the Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA) unit representing Alaska Airlines pilots have elected pilot officers to serve two-year terms beginning March 1, 2002. Following a vote by the representatives on the Alaska pilots' union governing body, the Master Executive Council (MEC), Captain John Sluys was reelected to a second term as chairman, Captain Rich Madden was elected as vice-chairman and Captain Paul Emmert was reelected as secretary-treasurer. All three of the newly elected officers ran unopposed.

Seattle-based Captain John Sluys, a Boeing 737 pilot, has served as chairman of the Alaska pilot group since 2000. His career at Alaska Airlines began in 1991 and his ALPA volunteer career began in 1992, when he was appointed to be the Membership Chairman for the Alaska pilot group. In 1996, Capt. Sluys was appointed to be Chairman of the newly formed ALPA Membership Committee and has also served as a member of the ALPA Alaska Merger committee. He is a graduate of Purdue University and has worked for People Express and Continental Airlines. He resides in Kent, Washington with his wife and three sons.

Flying with Alaska Airlines since 1992, Captain Rich Madden is currently a Seattle-based Boeing 737 pilot. Captain Madden has been an active ALPA volunteer since 1996, serving as a status representative for Anchorage-based Council 64 pilots and as Chairman of the Strategic Planning Committee. After earning a Bachelor of Science degree from West Virginia University, Captain Madden flew with Westflight Aviation, Seattle Jet Center and Pan Am Express prior to joining Alaska Airlines. He lives with his wife and three children in the Puget Sound area.

Captain Paul Emmert, a Los Angeles-based Boeing 737, began his airline career at Jet America Airlines, which merged with Alaska Airlines one year later, in 1986. Captain Emmert began ALPA volunteer work as the Los Angeles Council 63 Secretary-Treasurer in early 2001. He was elected to the MEC Secretary-Treasurer position in September 2001, while retaining the Council 63 Secretary-Treasurer role. Captain Emmert has flown with the Air Force in active and reserve roles. He graduated from the USAF Academy in 1979, then entered Undergraduate Pilot Training at Williams Air Force Base, AZ. He resides with his wife and daughter in Tucson, AZ.

The Alaska pilots Master Executive Council is made up of six representatives representing bases in Seattle, Los Angeles and Anchorage, and is lead by three officers, all of whom are elected from more than 1,450 Alaska pilots. ALPA, the oldest and largest pilots union in North America, represents 66,000 pilots at 46 carriers in the United States and Canada. ALPA's website is www.alpa.org.

ALPA Contact: Tara Elkins, (206) 241-3138