Pilots for Republic, a newly-merged airline, chose Teamsters by a margin of 2-to-1, the National Mediation Board announced yesterday.
Thousands of Teamsters, their families and their guests greeted the news with deafening applause at the 28th International Brotherhood of Teamsters Convention. The union already represented more airline workers -- mechanics, pilots and fleet service workers -- than any other union in North America. The organizing victory brought Teamsters' airline membership to about 65,000 workers.
Our Republic brothers and sisters are members of Local 357 in Indianapolis.
Local 357 Executive Council Chairman Capt. Patrick Gannon said he looks forward to joining with the other pilot groups. He said,
We can now move forward with our goal of one list, one voice, one contract.Republic is the result of a merger among Republic Airlines, Chautauqua Airlines, Shuttle America, Frontier Airlines, Lynx Aviation and Midwest Airlines. Republic pilots were already Teamsters. The Teamsters defended and retained union representation for 2000 current members in the merged airline and won an additional 1,100 new members.
Previously, Frontier pilots were represented by the Frontier Airlines Pilot Association (FAPA). Midwest pilots were represented by the Air Line Pilot Association (ALPA) and Lynx was represented by the United Transportation Union (UTU). In 2009, Republic Airways placed the winning bid in an auction to acquire the then-bankrupt Frontier Airlines.
