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Two THE AIR LINE PILOT March, 1947 The Air Line Pilot Volume 16-No. 2 March, 1947 Published monthly by the Air Line Pilots Association, International Affiliated with A. F. of L. Annual Subscription . . . . . . . . . . . . $2.50 David L. Behncke . . . . . . . . . . . . President Jerome E. Wood . . . . . . . . . . . . First Vice-President Raymond B. Andrews . . . . . . . . . . . . Secretary Warren G. Malvick . . . . . . . . . . . . Treasurer Vice-Presidents, Foreign W. F. Judd. . . . . . . . . . . . TWA-Rome, Italy T. H. L. Young . . . . . . . . . . Panagra-Lima, Peru, S.A. W. R. Everts . . . . . . . . . . . PAA-Rio de Janeiro, S.A. Vice-Presidents, Domestic F. C. Miller . . . . . . . . . . . . PCA-Chicago J.M. Marcum . . . . . . . . . . . . . AOA-New York L. L. Caruthers . . . . . . . . . . . Delta-Atlanta W. T. Babbitt . . . . . . . . . . . . EAL-Miami L. R. Davidson . . . . . . . . . . . . C&S-New Orleans G. F. Beal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NWA-Minneapolis J. H. Roe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TWA-Kansas City M. W. Sellmeyer . . . . . . . . . . . . Brainff-Dallas E. H. Campbell . . . . . . . . . . . . Continental-Denver S. J. Cavill . . . . . . . . . . . . WAL-Salt Lake City J. L. Crouch . . . . . . . . . . . . UAL-Seattle Robert Ford . . . . . . . . . . . . UAL-San Francisco L.M. Williams . . . . . . . . . . . . AA-Los Angeles J. M. DickerMan . . . . . . . . Legislative Representative Entered as Second Class Matter March 11, 1933, at the Post office at Chicago, Illinois, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Contents Copyrighted 1947 by The Air Line Pilots Association. Editorial Offices: 3145 W, 63rd St., Chicago, III. Telephone Hemlock 5015 David L. Behncke . . . . . . . . . . . . Editor AMAZING CHAPTERS---NO. 1 August 30, 1945, marked the beginning of one of the most amazing chapters in air line company-air line pilot relations. That was the date on which the TWA and ALPA began their negotiations which ran the full gamut of all the provisions of the Railway Labor Act and every form of company-initiated bad-labor relations techniques extending the full distance all the way from the ridiculous to the sublime. Every possible device and invention for delaying and confusing was employed to give the representatives of the air line pilots a rugged time. As is the custom of the Air line Pilots Association, it quietly viewed all these actions in this infamous situation and made a flight plan, set its course and stuck to it. From that time on, never once did ALPA falter or deviate from its flight plan or its course. The position that the Association took was simple. Its leaders said, "we will adhere to the provisions of the Railway Labor Act and will bargain individually to make employment agreements with every air carrier as has been our practice from the beginning. We will not fall victims to the schemings and plottings of the ATA's Airlines Negotiating Conference, which is spending many thousands of dollars of the tax-payers' money fighting the air line pilots in a back-handed effort interpreted by the pilots to reward them for their splendid war effort, both in and out of uniform. Obviously the reward they planned was the destruction of their hard-fought for structures of pilots' employment agreements and all that this means to the nation's air line pilots." It has often been said no struggle is ever actually over until the last word is spoken and the last chapters written, Now, let's read two paragraphs from page 50 of the Twelfth Annual Report of the National Mediation Board which was received at Headquarters on March 7, 1947: "The basic dispute between the carriers and the Air Line Pilots Association in these cases concerned the method of collective bargaining, that is, whether it should be industry-wide, between the Air Lines Negotiating Committee representing all the carries involved, or whether it should be conducted for the industry-wide basis, while the Association desired to continue bargaining with each air line separately, and for each new type of equipment. The Association contended that except for A-2219 and A-2231, all of the remaining cases had not been properly progressed under the Railway Labor Act, and therefore were not properly before the Emergency Board. The Emergency Board did not recommend that the Association bargain on an industry-wide basis, and stated that the right of the various carrier to designate anyone they chose to represent them cannot be questioned. "The Emergency Board further recommended that Case A-2231 be remanded to the parties for further negotiations and possibly further mediation. With respect to Cases A-2241-51 inclusive, the Board found that the provisions of the various agreements concerning changes in their terms had not been complied with, nor had the provisions of the Railway Labor Act regarding direct negotiations been carried out. The Board, therefore, concluded that its recommendations in Case A-2219 should not be applied to A-2241, American Overseas Airlines, Inc.; A-2242, Braniff Airways, Inc.; A-2243, Chicago & Southern Air Lines, Inc.; A-2244, Delta Air Corp.; A-2245, Eastern Air Lines, Inc; A-2246, National Airlines, Inc,; A-2247, Northeast Airlines, Inc.; A-2248. North-west Airlines, Inc.; A-2249, Pennsylvania-Central Airlines; A-2250, United Air Lines, Inc.; A-2251, Western Air Lines, Incs. but that these disputes be referred back to the parties for further handling under the terms of the various contracts and the law." Study carefully the above-quoted paragraphs and then recall everything that you have been told in the air carriers' publicity, in their leaflets, bulletins, and by word of mouth about how right they were and how wrong ALPA was and particularly ALPA leadership. Recall all you read in the air carriers' subsidized press and magazines about how wrong the pilots' Association was in its position in this dispute. The paragraphs quoted in this editorial from the latest report of the National Mediation Board prove without the slightest doubt that the carriers' representative, the carriers' negotiating committee of the ATA, was wrong on every count. Let's meditate for a few brief moments on what would have happened to ALPA had its vast structure of employment agreements been destroyed. The answer is written in common-sense deduction and the thought associated with what might have had the Association not stood fast on the side of right or had taken the wrong course are not pleasant. Yes, these are truly amazing chapter *Amazing Chapters.---No. 2 will appear in the April issue. -David L. Behncke. He's Got His '20' on the line By JERRY R. KEPNER Council No. 8, National Jacksonville, Fla. After an absence of almost three months, during which time your scribe played stand-in for a guinea pig, I feel like Rip Van Winkle after his twenty - year sleep. Many things have happened -- some good, some bad. The tragic series of accidents were terrible, and would have been had enough without the magnifying glass of cheap publicity which was held over them by the press. By the way, boys, be careful, will you? I made a twenty-dollar bet that there would not be a fatal scheduled air line crash in the U. S. between March 1 and August 1 of this year. I sincerely hope we go a lot longer than that. Among the more pleasant things that have happened is that we still have Dave Behncke at the helm of our ship of state. I, for one, can think of no one who could possibly take his place. Bobby Knox gave a complete report on the national convention at the last pilots' meeting. According to him, a great deal was accomplished. Official returns are not yet in, but the general consensus of opinion is that our new chairman will be, as before, Palmer Holmes. He might consider this a dubious honor after what he has gone through the last term, because he s h o u l d e r e d everybody's troubles at once, it seems. Tommy E l m o r e and Jess Trevathan have bid the New York base, their reason being that they would have to fly co-pilot anywhere else. Personally speaking, we would rather eat cornbread and peas on a co-pilot's salary down south than the finest steak in New York on a captain's salary. Clarence "Tell Us More" Parramore passed a r o u n d some foul-smelling cigars recently in celebration of the arrival of a bouncing baby girl. I understand on of the boys smoked The Roots from Which We Spring By JOHN R.BRONS Council No. 10, PAA Miami, Florida A discussion at the Coral Gables Country Club recently, concerned itself with the origin of the species--namely, air line pilots. With a slightly raised eyebrow, we unearthed the roots from which we spring. For example, flying under the yoke of Pan American you will find : several lawyers, a couple of M.D.'s and ex-medical students, a motorcycle cop, two college professors, a writer of short stories, real estate brokers, insurance salesman, a railroad brakeman, a parachute jumper, a veterinarian, and lastly, an a p p r e n t i c e undertaker. Ben Jones hurls the cynic's ban in this case by saying that we even have a couple of pilots. "Do Not Exceed" During the infancy of the atom bomb project, each prospective research scientist underwent an exhaustive interview. A questionnaire was produced which asked the applicant many apparently s t u p i d questions about himself and his home life, and wound up by asking whether or not his wife played bridge. If the latter were answered in the affirmative, the candidate, like as not, spent the duration painting "Do Not Exceed" on transport planes. This was not without reason. Do you have a bridge-playing wife? . . . If so, ask her who (continued on page 8, Col. 2) o n e of the aforementioned cigars just before starting for New York, and was on instruments all the way to Raleigh, even though the weather was clear. Yours truly has three kings in a nothing-wild game of draw, so I had better get down to business. In Constant Memorium "To fly West my friend, is a flight we all must take for a final check." Active Duty Air Corps Allen, L. N.--AA: Beadles, Eugene C.--UAL: Berger, H. A.--UAL: Bowen. W. S. --EAL: Canton. C. E.--EAL; Charleton. H. T.--AA: Darby, James E.--C&SAL: Davis, Wm. E. -- Continental: Duke, Albert B.-EAL: Nagel, John-Mid-Continent: Nelson, Franklin S. -- WAL; Peterson Warren -- TWA: Roth, paul F. -- EAL: Shafer. George H. -- TWA: Skelly, H. J.--AA: Trewek, J. M.--AA. Active Duty Naval Reserve Jones. John Paul--EAL: Knudson. Max -- TWA: Roscoe, Thomas M. -- EAL: Sparboe, jerome H. -- NW: Williams. Row W.-- EAL. Active Duty Marine Corps Kimball, Walter F.--TWA. Active Accidental Adams, John B.--UAL: Anderson. Lloyd--UAL: Andert. Paul A.--UAL: Antonie S. B.--PCA: *Bamberger, T. L.--TWA. Barrett joseph C., Jr. -- PAA: Barron. John M. Jr. -- AA: Bates, Clarence F. -- NW: Bethel, A.T-- TWA: Biendorf, C.R. -- UAL: Bickford, L.A.-- Panagra: Bigelow, Ed. -- UAL: Bliven, L.H.-- NWA: Blom. Edwin W.-- UAL: Bogen, W.L.-- WAE; Bohnet, Frederick L.-- TWA: Bolton, Harvey F.-- TWA: Bontrager: C.M.-- UAL: Borchers, Arian-- PAA: Bowen, J.E.-- TWA: Bowen, Lewis L-- BA: Brandon, James L.-- UAL: Brand, W.J.-- AA: Briggs Francis W.-- AA: Brigman, R.M.-- AA: Broghton, D.E. -- UAL: Brown, D.W.-- UAL: Brown, H. Babcock-- NEA: Brown, W.C.-- PAA Brunk, Paul S.-- PAA: Bucher, C.L.-- PAA: Bucklin, Fred PCA: Bullis, R.L.-- PAA: Burks, J.A.-- UAL. Carpenter, Bayard A.-- AA: Chamberlin, Cassius B.-- NW: Christian, I.J., Jr.-- NWA: Clark, F.N.-- Continental: Clayton R.C.-- C& S: Cohn, Hanley G-- WAS: Cole, D.C.-- UAL: Cooper, D.I-- AA: Cope, alonzo-- Marine Airways: Cox, Floyd-- Ludington. Dace, Frank E.-- WAL: Daliy, Benjamin H.-- TWA ICD: Davis, Alfred W.-- UAL: Davis,Douglas-- EAL: DeCesare, Frank-- Panagra: De Cesare. joseph G.-- UAL: Diltz, H.C.-- TWA: Dietz, Stuart G.-- EAL: Dietze, R.H.-- AA: Dixon, Andrew Jr.-- DAL: Dryer, Dale F.-- AA: Dunn, S.M.-- Panagra: Dyjak, R.J.-- NWA. Eitner, R.G.--AA: Elzey, Fobert M.-- PAA: Enger. F.E.-- NWA. Fey, Howard-- UAL: Fields, Glenn T.- AA: Fisher, John F.-- NW: Fortner, W.F.--EAL: Fuller, Ray E.--AA. Gambree, H. T.--TWA: Gay, R. A.--AA: Gardner, Gordon W. -- Panagra: Gentry, J. N.--PAA; George, Hal--TWA; "Gill. D. N.--TWA-ICD; Gillette, Morgan A.--TWA; Golden, Glenn--AA; Gower, Vernon I,--DAL; Grover, R. Boyd--UAL. Hald, Arthur A. -- NW; Hale, S. H. --EAL; Hallgren, W. A.--AA; Hart, John F. -- NW; Hedenquist,W. A. -- TWA: Herndon, J. T. -- UAL; Hill, George W.--AA; Helbrook, Clyde M.--AA; Holsen beck, W. M.--PAA; Holstrom, A. E.--TWA; Howell, P. P.--TWA; Hunt, E.--AA -- Inman, Rodger R. -- TWA-ICD;Inman, W. B. -- EAL; Ireland, Baxter L. -- Continental; Jackson. W. -- TWA; Jameiller, Stanley E. -- CA: Jamieson. W. L.--EAL; Jones, H. H.--PCA; Jones, Loyd E. -- UAL: Jesselyn. John -- PCA:*Jones, W.H.--UAL; Judd. O. K.--PAA. *Kelley, R. A., Jr.--EAL; Kelsey, H. J.--AA; Kincanon, Ted N.--AA; King, G.B.--PAA; King, J. O.--EAL; Kemdat, A. C.--EAL; Kreeger, J. H.--PAA. .. . Lamb. Charles S.--UAL; Lewis, Harry C.--TWA; Livermore, Joe -- NW, Leeffler, Edward J. -- WAL; Lucas, AI -- WAS; Lucas, Verne--Ludington, Lynn, John B.--C&SAL. McAfee, William--PAA; McCauley, J.R.--AA; *McLaughlin, J. J. --AA; MeMickle, Harold--Panagra: Majors, R. R.--AA: Mallick, Forrest E.--UAL: Mamer, Nick B.NW; Marshal, Gerald V.--AA: Merrifield, Austin S.--UAL;Martin. Karl R.--NWA: MILLER, B. D.--AA Colonial; *Miner, Willard H. -- UAL; Mitchell, J. W., Jr. -- EAL; Montee, Ralph--TWA; Montijo, John G. -- VAT; Morgan, H. R.--TWA; Morgan, H. W.--PAA; Mossman, Russell C.--C&SAL. Neff. Harold--UAL: Noe. Earl J-TWA Norby, Raymond B -- NW; Nordbeck, H. T.--NEA *Obri, Fred--PAA: *O'Brien, W. E.--PCA: Odell, M. T.--AA: *Olsen, Kenneth S.--NW: *Onsgard, Alden--NWA: Owens, Clifford P.--WAE Parker, A. N.TWA-ICD; Paschal, A.--P; Pedley, Charles F.--AA: Perry. J. A.--EAL: Person, Addison G.--PAA: Pickup, Christopher V.UAL; Pielemeier, Harold E.--AA; Potter, Norman W.--UAL: Proebstle, R. -- NWA; Pursley, C. H.--Panagra Quale. R. J.--AA. Radoll, R. W.--UAL; Raley, R. J.--NW: *Repack, W. T.--PCA; *Rhew, Jesse N.--C&S; Riggs, Russekk S.--AA: Robbins. Wm. J. B.--AA; Rose, John A.--KLM: Rousch, Chas. W.--NW; Rust. F. H.--AA, Sallsbury, Hervey M. -- TWA; Sandblom, J. V.--CP; Sandegren, Thomas E.--UAL; Sauceda, J. M.--PAA; Scott, P. T. W.--TWA: Scott, Philip C.--UAL; Screggins, Lowell V.-- PCA; Shank, Eugene S. --NWA: Sharpnack, J. W.--UAL; Sheets, Don K.--Panagra: Sherwood, George C.--WAE; Smith. G. E.--TWA; Smeet, C. H.--Braniff; Snowden, J. P.--TWA; Stiller, Harry A.--AA: J. E. Stroud--AA: Supple, Robert E.--Panagra. Tarrant, Harold R. -- UAL: Terletzky, Lee--PAA: Thomas, L. E. -- EAL: Thompson, A. R.--UAL: *Turbyne, Robert--Panagra Underwood Sanford L.--AA. Vance, Claire K. -- UAL; Vanderbusoh, R. E.--NWA Wagar, G. K.--UAL; Waldron, Joe-AA; Walker, M. A. -- PAA; Wallace, Clyde W.-TWA; *Wasil, Nicholas A.--TWA; Watkins, E. C.--AA; Weatherdon, Edwin--AA: West, F. W.--NW; Whidden, R. G.--NEA; Wieselmayer, Otto-PAA; Wilson, W. C.--AA; Williams, Wayne C.--TWA; Williamsen, P. B.--EAL; Worthen, J. A.--WW: *Wright, J. S.--TWA. Young, George E.--UAL. ZEIER, Carl F.--C&SAL Natural Blomgren, Lloyd I.--AA; Chiappine, L. J., TWA-ICD; Cochran, Robert M. -- UAL: Colton, Ray--UAL; Currier, C. L.--TWA; Fife, John A. -- CA; *Gambee, Harley T.--TWA; Gilbert, Paul L. -- PAA: Hohag, R. J.--NW; Jamieson, Leland S.--EAL; Jaster, Frank B.--EAL; Knight, J. H.--UAL: Little, R. J.--AA: Maguire, R. C.--AA; McConaughey Ira M.--AA: Peterson, J. M.--NWA; Phelps, Henry T.--PAA; Schier, Tip--Delta: Swanson, Axel--AA: Taylor, V. W. -- NWA; Wittenberg, F. E.--UAL. Inactive Anderline, Frank W.; Ashford, Ted; Barr, Julius; Brown. W. Craig: Burford, Dean W.; Caldwell. G. Q.: Drayton, Chas. M.: Fisher, Alfred O. F.; Hulsman, Herbert W.; Hunter, Lewis W.; Lwak, E. L.; Jackson. L.A.; Judy, H. R.; Kerwin, J. J.; McMarkin, Richard A.; Mills, Arthur: Mitchell, R. L.: Neyes, Dewey L.; O'Brien, Forrest E.; Ormsbee, F.; Riddle, Glenn L.; Roulstone, J. J.; Rousch, Usher E.; Shelton, Boyd M.; Squire, J. P. L.; Stark, Howard C.; Tinkle, Howard A.; Van Alstyne, Hugh, Jr,; Veblen, E. H.; Walbridge, Donald C.; Warner, Roy: Wheaton, Harold H,; Whittemore, Fred W.; Wolf, John F.; Willey, Sidney L.; Zimmerman, Harry J. Waiting List Brock, Wm. S.; Clark W. H.; Kiser Daniel; Langmack, David F. Unemployed Downs, Lloyd; Hays, George L.; Keadle, Floyd E.; Miner, R. I.; Rhiner, L. R. Honorary Brisbane, Arthur; Greene, Dr. Ralph; Kelley, Hon. Clyde; Rogers, Will. ----- *Apprentice Member ------------------------------------------------------------------------ March, 1947 The Air Line Pilot Three Word to the Wise: Fill Their 'Tummies' First {{Photo Caption: Note to chairmen: Here's how to fill those empty seats at council meetings... fill their stomachs first. You an take that on the word of Jack Holst, enterprising chairman of Local Council No. 52, UAL New York, whose council luncheon meetings have been registering 100 per cent turnouts. "Not many years ago," Holst says, "Council No.52 would have one or two meetings a year and let it go at that. Now we have one every three weeks with a 100 per cent turnout." Pictured above at one of the typical meetings are (standing, l. to r.) R.D. Black, G.N. Seaman, R.D. Wright, J.E. Carroll, J.J. Purchla, B.R. Baldwin, Clayton Stiles, A.J. Tucker, and J.F. Thomas: (seated l.r.) V.H.Webb, C.H. Smith, P.E. Brohme, Jack Holst, R.J. Dawson, W.H. Lippincott, R.H. Nelson, J.H. Smith, J.F. Cranston, and A.R. Littlefield. P.S..... just in case you're wondering who foots the bill, its a 'Dutch treat.' The 'Light Around the Edges' Continued from Page 1, Col.5 launched an all-inclusive and objective program which included: (1) A vigorous renewal of efforts to close all open employment agreements, which made a large dent in ALPA's backlog of employment agreements, through virtually continuous negotiations throughout the month. (2) Election of new master executive councils as a prelude to formation of the new Executive Board, which replaces the Central Executive Council, is scheduled to hold its first meeting in May. (3) Preparation of the basic groundwork relative to establishment of the new ALPA field offices on the East and West Coasts. (4) Advancement of the pension plan to air line pilots to the point where it is virtually ready to go to an expert for writing prior to the legislative stage. (5) Preliminary steps necessary to placing ALPA's revised dues assessment and collection procedures into effect during the third quarter. (6) Processing of all convention resolutions, numbering in excess of 100, in order to effect complete compliance at the earliest possible date. Employment Agreements Armed with convention clarification of what the majority of air line pilots desire incorporated in their employment agreements, headquarters in March was embarking upon an intensive program of "spring house-cleaning" of all open employment agreements, with the result, that one major agreement was signed, seven more were in a state of rapid and normal progression, one original agreement was culminated and action was imminent on all others that remained. As a result of March's concerted employment agreement activity, that took ALPA representatives from coast to coast, early fulfillment of ALPA headquarters prediction, that all open agreements would be cleaned up rapidly, was moving to reality. Action on the employment agreements, many of which had been in a state of flux, because of the trend of events during the past year, and also because Headquarters had no clear mandate on which to work previously, bore out convention statements of Mr. Behncke in which he declared: "We swept a terrific amount of confusion out of this picture and we are now in a position so we can go ahead. It has been the result of the postwar effort of certain air carrier officials against the pilots, but the atmosphere is clearing. There is light around the edges and we are going to be able to go ahead and, with a reasonable amount of luck and with Providence on our side, clean up all our differences and employment agreements in rapid-fire fashion. We are going to clean them up on our open agreements on the basis of an individual negotiation with every carrier, and not one of those sort of deals like the airlines negotiating Conference tried to put over." Conclude A-2231 and A-2423 The "light around the edges" was becoming more evident with the signing of an amendment to the American Airlines pilots' employment agreement on March 24, 1947. This brought to a close the lengthy proceedings involving much direct negotiation and mediation on National Mediation Board AA Case A-2231 and AA Case A-2423. The final disposition of these cases in New York on March 24 brought to an end a long series of on-again, off-again direct negotiations and mediation that began originally in Case A-2423 on October 22,1946, and in Case A-2231, February 4, 1946. The final series of mediation conferences resulting in signing of the agreement were held in New York from March 11 to March 24 at the Lincoln Hotel and were followed by direct negotiations with the company, from March 25 to March 28, for the purpose of discussing proposed changes in the rules section. Pilot conferees at the AA conferences were W.H. Proctor, chairman, E.P. Reed, L.C. Dober, D.T. Harris, and F.J. Schwartz, of Local Council No. 39, AA-Chicago: W.J. Hunter, of Local Council No. 35, AA-Memphis; H.B. Cox, of Local Council No.31, AA-Burbank: C.S. McCall, chairman, and G.W. McHam, of Local Council No.19, AA-Southern: and Gus Konz, chairman J.F. Bledsoe, and R.J. Lyons, of Local Council No.2 2AA-New York. Headquarters was represented by President David L. Behncke and K.H. Ulrich, of the Employment Agreement Department. The company representatives were C.A. Hodgins, chairman L.P. Morrison, E.W. Goular, J.M. Rosenthal, John Deator, T.L. Boyd, J.L. Robinson, and A.L. Traxel, of the Airlines Negotiating Conference: plus the following air line officials who sat at the conference tables at various times as members of the so-called Airlines Negotiating Committee: R.S. Damon, president of American Airlines: L.G. Fritz, vice-president of operations, AA: Paul Richter, executive vice president, TWA: J.H. Carmichael, Vice-president, PAC: S.L. Shannon, vice-president, EAL: J.A. Herlihy, vice-president of operations, UAL: Potter Stewart and W.E. Stevenson, attorneys. Four Mediators Mediator in AA Cases A-2423 and A-2231- the fourth one to enter during more than a year and a half in which they have been in progress-- was J.J. Noonan. Predecessor mediators in the cases were Judge F. P. Douglass, chairman of the National Mediation Board, Ross Barr, and E.C. Thompson. The history of AA Case A-2243 ran the typical gamut of company procrastination, hesitating and broken promises and the usual periods of 'suspended mediation.' Here, briefly, is the history of AA Case A-2423: After considerable stalemated direct negotiations, the case went into mediation on October 22, 1946, with Judge Douglass presiding, but was later turned over to Mediator Thompson due to Judge Douglass' entry into the TWA strike on governmental assignment. Meetings were held in Washington from November 1, 1946, to November 7, 1946, under the direction of Mr. Thompson, but was later switched to New York and assigned to Mediator Ross Barr on November 27,1946. Meetings were resumed on that date and continued until December 16, 1946, when the company informed the mediator that no one would be available to negotiate with him or the pilots' negotiating committee during the week during December 16, 1946. Due to the company's failure to meet with Mr. Barr or the pilots' negotiating committee and the annual meeting of the National mediation Board, the case was recessed and remained in a state of 'suspended mediation' until the March 11-24, 1947, mediation conferences at which the agreement was signed. Case A-2231 is Lengthy Case A-2231 had a much longer record. Mediation was invoked on January 7, 1947, and it would take book length report to describe interim happenings. The most striking part of this battle was the startling and regrettable repudiation by the company of its written word that the Douglas Skymaster DC-4 first pilots and copilots would receive pay retroactively back to the beginning of operations of this equipment. This amounted to some legal jogging on the part of the company, based on the pure invention and fiction, but nevertheless, was a different repudiation of their word, which was given by the president of the company to all AA pilots on December 23, 1945. On that date, the AA pilots were told: "In order to place four-engined aircraft into operation as promptly as possible and to do so without harming the rights of either party, we will expect our pilots to fly such equipment under the pay rates applicable in our domestic pilots' agreement during negotiations, and we pledge the settlement of the question of pay for pilots of four-engined aircraft retroactive to the date such aircraft were first placed into scheduled operation." The primary issues involved in AA Case A-2423 were for a raise in pay for all American Airlines first pilots and copilots regardless of the equipment to which they were assigned. March was a much traveled month for ALPA's President. He made a trip to Kansas City, two trips to St. Paul, and two to New York. TWA MEC Meets On March 5, Mr. Behncke went to Kansas City to attend a TWA Master Executive Council meeting on the matter of placing into effect the mandate of the Ninth Convention relating to the seniority of copilot navigators. The convention's action in this case culminated a long and involved series of happenings which had their origin during the early days of the Intercontinental Division of TWA. In the spring of 1944, a number of copilots were hired and trained as navigators. This set off a long series of bitter pro and con argument and finally became so pressurized that the TWA councils and other field machinery of ALPA were unable to cope with it, and it was referred to the annual convention for a determination. The convention ruled that the copilot navigators should have full seniority from the date of employment as copilot navigators and not from the date they began functioning exclusively as copilots. The position of Headquarters took at the Kansas City MEC meeting was that the mandate of the Ninth Convention must be adhered to irrespective of what any prior to or post convention arguments might be. Northwest Agreement On March 6 and 7, Messrs, Behncke and W. C. Clifford went to St. Paul to resume negotiations on the amendments to the Northwest Airlines pilots' agreement. This was the first time the Association had a mandate from a convention to negotiate for all equipment that was either being flown, or on the property of the company, or which is being flown elsewhere and for which rates of compensation have been established. These negotiations were, for unavoidable reasons, short-lived and conferences were postponed. On March 11, 12, 13, and 14, Messrs. Behncke and W. C. Clifford, of the Employment Agreement Department, and R. L. Oakman, of the Statistical and Research Department, went to New York and started negotiations with Eastern Air Lines. The equipment discussed were Douglas DC-3's, Martin 202's, Douglas Skymaster C-54's, and Lockheed Constellations. Good progress was made. One of the outstanding highlights of this series of conferences was the staunch stand taken relative to copilots by Mr. Behncke, who headed the pilot conferees. Plea for Copilots Special consideration should be given the copilots, Mr. Behncke told the company, for four important reasons which he said were (1) copilots are a vital and important part of the pilot-copilot team; (2) they are in the status of copilots for a much longer period of time now than formerly; (3) the copilots have had too little pay (Continued on Page 4, Col. 1) [image] FIRST FLIGHTERS Captain George D. Beck and First Officer Wallace A. Tallos, both made Pan American Airways inaugural flight from LaGuardia Field, N. Y., to Karachi, India, on March 7. D. Beck and first officer Wallace A. Tallos; Paul R. Ridley, second officer, and Walter T. Decker, third officer; Harry J. Calvin, flight engineer, and Birkett G. Warren, assistant engineer; Fred L. Van Vorhees, flight radio officer, and Rocco V. Angellilo, assistant radio officer; Katerine J. Hinman, stewardess, and Jerry T. Smrstik, purser.