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Ninth Convention Initiates Vast Association Expansion Program THE [[Image]] AIR LINE PILOT Vol.16—No.1 Published by The Air Line Pilots Association, International, 3145 W. 63rd St., Chicago, Ill. February, 1947 ALPA'S Biggest and Best Convention Held February 18-24 [[Image]] NINTH CONVENTION Here is the group picture of the Ninth Annual and Biennial Convention of the Air Line Pilots Association, the longest and most progressive in ALPA history, held in the East Lounge of the Edgewater Beach Hotel, Chicago, from February 18 to February 24. The 99 delegates, 66 of them first pilots and 33 copilots, and members of Headquarters staff are shown in the Convention Hall on the opening day, flanked by the charts and exhibits which told the story of ALPA's phenomenal growth, struggles, and accomplishments. Typical of all ALPA Conventions, the Ninth Convention was business-like and thoroughly democratic, conducted along strict lines of correct parliamentary procedure that gave everyone an equal voice in debate and still kept the work flowing at an even and steady pace. In excess of 100 resolutions, many of them the most vital that ever came before an ALPA Convention, were passed through the committees and acted upon on the Convention floor during the seven days the Convention was in session. The Ninth Convention might well be identified as the "reconversion convention," for its actions provided bridges spanning the last transitional gaps between a wartime and a peacetime ALPA. That its accomplishments were great is undisputed and a marked credit to all in attendance whose efforts will stand as a monument to these creators and builders of the future of the Air Line Pilots Association. Fast --- Transitional --- Constructive The Ninth Annual and Biennial Convention of the Air Line Pilots Association passed into the realms of the historians in February, but only after it had indelibly stamped itself as one of the longest, most progressive, and most creative of all ALPA Conventions, and breathed invigorating expansion and vitality expansion and vitality into postwar ALPA. The convening gavel fells promptly at 10:15 a.m. in the East Lounge of Chicago's Edgewater Beach Hotel on the morning of February 18, and the sine die adjourning gavel fell wearily at 6:30 a.m. on the morning of February 24, as a wintry sun poked its head bleakly over the ice-fringed shores of Lake Michigan fronting Convention Headquarters. But the bleakness of the adjourning hour and the weariness of the delegates were more than allayed by the accomplishments of the Convention which will go down as one of the most vital in the history of ALPA, for out of it emerged a stronger, a greatly expanded, a more thoroughly united and a more democratic ALPA than ever. Of the other Conventions—which have been held in 1932, 1934, 1936, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1942, and 1944—none have been larger in the number of attending delegates, although some have surpassed the Ninth Convention in the number of resolutions passed. But in the over-all achievement and actual volume of work accomplished, the Ninth Convention has had some close seconds but never as an equal. In six days, eight hour and 15 minutes of virtually continuous work, the 99 delegates to the Ninth Convention, passed in excess of 100 resolutions which had: •Provided a badly - needed home for the Air Line Pilots Association by full authorization for the purchase of land and construction of a Headquarters building. •Further democratized ALPA's already vastly democratic organizational setup by creation of a virtually supreme Executive Board replacing the outmoded Central Executive Council. •Adopted a Headquarters recommendation for the establishment of long-advocated field offices on the East and West Coasts. •Created the new office of Executive Vice-President to serve as Headquarters assistant to the Association's President. •Revised the Air Line Pilots Association's dues assessing and collecting procedures by effecting a switch from the flat amount method of 15 years standing to a percentage method. •Taken concrete action to establish a pension plan for all airline pilots. •Authorized continuance of assistance in organizing other crafts and classes in the airline industry for affiliation with ALPA, and further authorized the organization of nonscheduled air line pilots through ALPA's Education and Organization Department. (Continued on Page 2, Col. 3) 'GIVE ME JUST FIFTEEN MINUTES' —PLEADS PAA DELEGATE R. F. ECKERT [[image]] 'THERE'S NO OBJECTION, PROCEED' —REPLIES CHAIRMAN DAVID L. BEHNCKE [[image]] The Ninth Convention had its moods — the prosaic and the dramatic. One of the dramatic high lights that will live in Convention memories occurred when PAA Co-pilot Delegate R. R. Eckert pleaded for "15 minutes on the floor," next gained the rostrum, and in a blaze of persuasive oratory converted the delegates to a revision of ALPA's dues setup which had been in existence for over 15 years. With chalk, blackboard and rapid-fire, tip-of-the-tongue figures, Delegate Eckert explained his idea so convincingly the ALPA will soon go on a new percentage dues basis which will distribute dues equitable according to earnings and give ALPA one of the most democratic dues arrangements of any labor organization in the world. The percentage system of dues was passed in lieu of a flat increase proposed in a previous resolution which was subsequently tabled. Constructive action such as this was typical of the Ninth Convention.
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