Release #09.049
August 5, 2009

American Eagle Capt. Mike Maas Receives ALPA’s Outstanding Airport Liaison Representative Award
Mendota, Ill., Pilot Lauded for Aviation Safety Work at O’Hare Airport

WASHINGTON—The Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), will recognize American Eagle Airlines Capt. Mike Maas with the Outstanding Airport Liaison Representative (ALR) Award for his years of work advocating for pilot interests at Chicago O’Hare International Airport. The award will be presented today at the 55th Air Safety Forum, held in Washington, D.C.

“The O’Hare modernization effort is vitally important to ALPA because ORD is one of the busiest airports in the world, and thousands of our members use it every day,” said Capt. Bob Perkins, ALPA’s Airport Ground Environment (AGE) Group chairman. “Over the years, Capt. Maas has gained the trust and respect of the Chicago Department of Aviation, airport planners, and other stakeholders and has become a model for what an ALR can do to create safe, efficient airports for passengers and airline employees alike.”

As part of the O’Hare modernization team, Capt. Maas takes an active role in planning future runway configurations and airspace management. Among his many achievements was helping to plan for the installation of runway status lights to prevent runway incursions, and for construction of crushable concrete arresting systems to minimize the effects of runway overruns.

Capt. Maas serves as one of two ALPA ALRs at O’Hare, along with Capt. Jeffrey Sedin of United Airlines, who is also receiving the 2008 ALR award. Maas is also ALPA’s regional safety coordinator for the Great Lakes South Region.

“Working together, Capts. Maas and Sedin are a great team representing all segments of ALPA, from regional operators to legacy carriers,” said Capt. John Prater, ALPA’s president. “Thanks to their exceptional efforts, ALPA is helping to enhance safety at one of the busiest airports in the nation.”

“Mike’s tireless dedication to ’Schedule with Safety‘ on behalf of his fellow American Eagle pilots and all users of Chicago’s O’Hare is incalculable,” said Capt. Tom Maxwell, who represents American Eagle as an Executive Vice-President on ALPA’s Executive Council. “It serves to remind all of us in the Air Line Pilots Association of the debt of gratitude we owe to all who work in our safety structure. It is also very satisfying to see Captain Maas’s efforts publicly acknowledged by his peers.”

ALPA’s Airport Ground Environment Group selects Outstanding Airport Liaison Representatives from nominations made by ALPA’s regional safety chairmen and other ALRs, who represent pilots’ interests at 150 commercial airports in the United States and Canada. ALPA honors ALRs who initiate appropriate actions that result in improved airport policy and practices, including correcting airport design and technology deficiencies.

Founded in 1931, ALPA is the world’s largest pilots union, representing nearly 54,000 pilots at 36 airlines in the United States and Canada.

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Contact: Linda Shotwell or Rusty Ayers, 703/481-4440 or media@alpa.org