Release #07.RYN2
October 24, 2007

Ryan International Airlines Pilots Call On Rubloff Development Group to Conclude Contract Talks

ROCKFORD, Ill – Frustrated by poor working conditions and below industry pay, Ryan International Airlines pilots are publicly reaching out to the airlines’ owners, the Rubloff Development Group, Inc., urging them to conclude contract talks expeditiously.

Ryan pilots, who are represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), have been negotiating with management for more than two years. The pilots seek long overdue quality of life improvements, better schedules, and industry standard pay. A five-day negotiating session is scheduled to begin Monday, October 29.

“I firmly believe that we can resolve the remaining issues in negotiations at this upcoming bargaining session if management comes to the table ready to reach an agreement,” said Captain Erik Sparks, chairman of the ALPA unit at Ryan. “We serve very important customers such as the U.S. military through the Department of Defense, and the traveling public through vacation charters including Funjet Vacations. Our customers deserve the best service possible and we deliver it. All we ask is that Ryan and its owners, Rubloff Development Group, Inc., deliver to us a contract which recognizes our contributions to the success of this operation.”

Ryan pilots recently received $2 million from ALPA’s Major Contingency Fund (MCF) and the full support of their 60,000 fellow ALPA pilots throughout the U.S. and Canada. The allocation provides Ryan pilots with the resources they need to prepare themselves and their families for a strike in the event that a fair agreement cannot be reached at the bargaining table.

Ryan pilots entered negotiations with management in July 2005. The parties commenced federal mediation in February of this year. The parties have reached tentative agreements on 20 of 31 sections of the contract. If the National Mediation Board decides that the negotiating progress is at a standstill, it will declare an impasse and begin a 30-day clock which can lead to a pilots’ strike or a management lock-out.

The pilots of Ryan International Airlines provide service throughout the globe. ALPA is the world’s oldest and largest pilots union representing more than 60,000 cockpit crewmembers at 42 airlines in the U.S. and Canada. Visit the ALPA website at www.alpa.org.

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ALPA Contacts: Anya Piazza, 703-481-4457
Captain Erik Sparks, 704-622-6341