Release #02.047
June 6, 2002

WASHINGTON, DC---Pilots and professional flight engineers of Atlas Air, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA), opened their Global Command Strike Center office today in the union’s offices in Herndon, Va. The crewmembers also will open strike centers in Miami and Anchorage, Alaska.

"Our preference is to resolve the few remaining issues and achieve a fair and long overdue contract," said Capt. David Bourne, chairman of the Atlas Air pilots’ unit of ALPA. "However, management should also know that Atlas Air crewmembers will strike for a fair contract, if management leaves us no alternative. We are preparing for that alternative with the full support of ALPA’s 66,000 pilot members, backed by the Association’s $70 million Major Contingency Fund."

Atlas Air crewmembers have tried unsuccessfully to negotiate their first collective bargaining agreement with management since April 2000. The National Mediation Board (NMB) assigned a federal mediator to facilitate the contract negotiations in September 2000. The crewmembers rejected a tentative agreement in late January 2002. Last week, crewmembers rejected a proffer of arbitration by the NMB, which prompted the NMB to release both crewmembers and management from negotiations and triggered the mandatory 30-day countdown to a potential strike at 12:01 a.m. on June 28.

Atlas Air is a worldwide all-cargo carrier that operates a fleet of Boeing 747 freighters primarily under long-term contracts with the world's major international airlines. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc.

ALPA is the world’s oldest and largest pilots union, representing more than 66,000 pilots at 43 airlines in the U.S. and Canada. Visit the ALPA website at www.alpa.org.

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ALPA Contacts: Ron Lovas, Miles Wiley (703) 481-4440