Release #04.ATA
March 8, 2004

CHICAGO --- The ATA Airlines unit of the Air Line Pilots Association has elected the negotiators who will work with the airline to craft its next contract with ALPA, as well as discuss pay rates and work rules should the carrier decide to acquire new aircraft.

Meeting in Chicago March 4, ALPA’s ATA Master Executive Council elected Capt. Dave Walter as chairman of the Negotiating Committee, and Capt. Albert Terry and First Officer Evan Gillespie as committee members.

Walter, 43, is a 20-year veteran of ATA who currently flies Boeing 757s from the airline’s hub at Chicago’s Midway Airport. A graduate of Southern Illinois University, Walter lives in the Chicago suburb of Palatine and was part of the team which negotiated ATA’s industry-leading contract in 2002. He first served on the committee from 1994-1995, when ATA flight crews were represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. He has been a member of ALPA’s ATA Negotiating Committee since 1999.

Terry, 51, lives in The Woodlands, TX and flies Boeing 737s out of Midway. Prior to joining ATA in 1998, he flew for 15 years as a corporate pilot and also served as an U.S. Navy antisubmarine warfare operator on P-3 Orion aircraft.

Gillespie, 26, is a newcomer to ATA and flies Boeing 737s out of Indianapolis International Airport. He divides his time between Cincinnati and New York City, and previously worked as a pilot with Atlantic Coast Airlines.

ATA’s collective bargaining agreement with ALPA becomes amendable in July of 2006, and talks on a new contract could legally begin as early as October of 2005. But the committee’s work could begin sooner if ATA goes forward with plans to add the Boeing 767 to its fleet.

Headquartered in Indianapolis, ATA Airlines is the nation’s 10th-largest passenger airline and the nation’s largest provider of military charter service. ATA’s 1,100 flight crew members 420 operate a fleet of B-737, B-757 and L-1011 aircraft to more than 40 cities in the US, Mexico and the Caribbean as well as other destinations around the world.

Founded in 1931, ALPA is the world’s oldest and largest pilots’ union, representing 66,000 pilots at 42 airlines in the U.S. and Canada. Visit the ALPA Web site at http://www.alpa.org.

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ALPA CONTACT: Rusty Ayers, 773-284-4910