Release #05.ATA4
June 3, 2005

ATA ALPA Flight Crewmembers Ratify Temporary Concessions Package

CHICAGO -- Pilots and flight engineers at ATA Airlines have narrowly approved a new, temporary concessionary package worth more than $11 million to help the carrier weather the challenges of bankruptcy.

In voting that ended today, the Emergency Relief Tentative Agreement was ratified by a vote of 355 to 319, or 53 percent. Approximately 77 percent of ATA’s 950 flight deck crewmembers took part in the voting.

“Today’s results prove that once again, our members are willing to reach deep into their pockets to help solve a problem that they did not create," said Captain Erik Engdahl, chairman of the ATA unit of the Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA).

"The flight deck crewmembers have given, and continue to give, millions upon millions of dollars to help ATA dig itself out of Chapter 11. But as the slim margin of approval indicates, our willingness to bear the huge financial burden of years of managerial neglect and business blunders is ending. The onus is now squarely on management's shoulders to turn this airline around," Captain Engdahl said.

ATA flight crewmembers first approved a two-year, $42 million concessions package in June, 2004. They later ratified a $12 million, 120-day temporary relief package that expired May 31. The latest Emergency Relief package also runs for 120 days and calls for an 18 percent across-the-board pay cut as well as a 50 percent reduction in company contributions to the pilots’ defined contribution retirement plan. 

Founded in 1931, ALPA is the world’s largest pilot union representing more than 64,000 cockpit crewmembers at 41 airlines in the U.S. and Canada. Visit the ALPA Web site at www.alpa.org.

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ALPA Contacts: Rusty Ayers, 773-284-4910; Capt. Matt Ellis, 310-213-9324