Capt. Jason Ambrosi, ALPA’s president, welcomes attendees to the Secretary-Treasurers Conference as Capt. Wes Clapper, ALPA’s vice president–finance/treasurer, looks on.

ALPA’s Secretary-Treasurers Conference brought together more than 60 pilot volunteers from 23 U.S. and Canadian pilot groups at ALPA’s McLean, Va., offices on March 18–19. Attendees included master executive council (MEC) and local executive council (LEC) officers, ranging from those who were brand-new to experienced representatives looking to learn even more.

Capt. Jason Ambrosi, ALPA’s president, welcomed attendees and shared his past as a former secretary-treasurer at both the LEC and MEC levels. He highlighted the Association’s recent financial and administrative advances, ones he said are “setting our great union up for those in the future,” and thanked the pilots for stepping into an often-thankless position.

Capt. Wes Clapper, ALPA’s vice president–finance/treasurer, hosted the event with input from Capt. Sean Creed, the union’s vice president–administration/secretary. Clapper stressed, “What you do is important,” and explained how the conference would assist attendees in learning the many duties and requirements of being a secretary-treasurer.

Clapper encouraged the officers to make the conference their own, emphasizing the need for conversation and collaboration. “Network with each other; meet the staff,” he urged. “Learn the answers to all those ‘Who do I reach out to for…’ questions.”

The topics covered during the conference were widespread and far-ranging. “It’s no coincidence that so many MEC chairs have the secretary-treasurer position in their background,” Clapper commented. “This position touches just about everything within ALPA and provides a great foundation of knowledge.”

Creed—a former secretary- treasurer for his pilot group—took the pilots through the administrative side of the position, explaining the steps in planning and preparing for MEC and LEC meetings and providing a primer on Robert’s Rules of Order. “Being in this position really shows you how ALPA operates,” he stated. Creed highlighted ALPA’s governing documents and bodies, explaining the interplay between the various bodies that govern the Association. At its core, he said, “ALPA is a bottom-up organization,” guided by the pilots.

Creed also stressed the need for documentation and record-keeping. “Create a legacy and a record for the next person,” he advised. “It’ll really pay dividends for your pilot group.”

Capt. Sean Creed, the Association’s vice president–administration/secretary, provides a primer on how to plan and prepare for running a meeting.

In addition to hearing from Clapper and Creed throughout the event, attendees received an introduction to and instruction from their staff support in the Finance, Membership, Legal, IT, HR, and Government Affairs Departments. They also were able to receive hands-on training in many of ALPA’s reporting tools during breakout sessions.

The plenary presentations included a discussion of the budget process, a review of spending policies at both the MEC and LEC levels, a look at the online membership application and portal (along with the importance of keeping those records up to date), Major Contingency Fund (MCF) and Operating Contingency Fund allocations and rules, and flight pay loss policies and procedures.

Attendees also received guidance from staff regarding IT needs such as laptops and software, processes and timelines for purchasing swag for their pilot groups, available travel and hotel assistance, member insurance offerings from ALPA, and governmental reporting needs for expenses and for lobbying activities.

The training, conducted during lunch to allow the pilots to break into small groups and attend multiple breakouts during the two days, included hands-on Pilot Compensation System training, a review of Tableau budget and membership reports, INFOR training for expense reports and approvals, and the opportunity to meet one-on-one with their council services representatives from Balloting & Local Council support.

In addition to providing the pilots with the tools they need to achieve success, the conference also included a look forward at a few items that may impact attendees.

Beth Robinson, director of the Association’s Finance Department and its CFO, reviewed last year’s offer to return dues to prepare attendees for future similar offers, including the timeline and updates made to ALPA’s Administrative Manual at the 2024 Board of Directors meeting. She shared lessons learned from last year and prepared attendees for anticipated questions from their members so that they can assist with the education process.

Clapper discussed the work of ALPA’s Structure, Services, and Finance Review Committee, the body responsible for many of the recommendations that have helped update ALPA’s financial and administrative policies and procedures over the past few years. He reviewed the committee’s past work and some of the current discussions regarding future updates.

“This conference is a great opportunity to meet your colleagues and the staff,” said Clapper in closing the event, “and to learn why we do certain things.” He emphasized that the union has 42 pilot groups and that it’s likely at least one of them has experienced—or is currently experiencing—a similar issue to just about anything that might come up. Clapper reiterated the importance of collaborating, stating, “Find out what works and what you can use.”

“A Day in the Life”

One of the highlights of ALPA’s Secretary-Treasurer Conference was the panel discussion “A Day in the Life of an ALPA Secretary-Treasurer” that closed the first day. Moderated by Capt. Wes Clapper, ALPA’s vice president–finance/treasurer, the panel consisted of three longtime secretary-treasurers:

• Capt. Louis-Eric Mongrain (Air Transat), the current ALPA Canada vice president–administration/finance and former secretary-treasurer for his pilot group.
• Capt. Chris Boziel (Spirit), the current secretary-treasurer for his pilot group.
• Capt. Rick Meier (Piedmont), the current secretary-treasurer for his pilot group who also previously held multiple positions at ExpressJet.

Clapper, left, leads a panel discussion on “A Day in the Life of an ALPA Secretary-Treasurer” along with, from left, Capt. Louis-Eric Mongrain (Air Transat), Capt. Rick Meier (Piedmont), and Capt. Chris Boziel (Spirit).

Together the group revealed insights from their time in the position, sharing their hard-earned knowledge and providing real-life examples from their experiences. Topics covered in the wide-ranging and illuminating discussion included

• The most challenging and most enjoyable aspects of the position.
• What they say no to the most as secretary-treasurers.
• What they would tell someone brand-new to the position.
• Advice for the budgeting process.
• The favorite administrative change implemented by the current officer team.

The group spoke about the importance of flexibility, of looking for ways to say yes to requests, making use of the knowledge and support that ALPA staff can provide, and the financial support available from the Association above and beyond pilot group budgets.

“Let’s find a way to say yes,” Clapper said. “You might end up having to say no when it comes down to it, but try to find a yes.”

The panelists recommended that the secretary-treasurers encourage a proactive approval process within their pilot groups. “A lot of people will check with me now before acting,” explained Meier, stating that this prior approval helps tremendously in working to find a way to say yes.

Boziel concurred, saying that he doesn’t have to say no very often. “But we sometimes have people asking for approval late or forgetting to request approval,” he said. Clapper reiterated that it’s much easier to find a way to work within ALPA’s processes by asking first. “‘Beg forgiveness, not permission,’ isn’t a good policy when it comes to finances,” he remarked.

The group also reviewed the financial support ALPA is able to provide pilot groups, tying it to their own experiences. Mongrain discussed the recent update to the Major Contingency Fund (MCF) to provide for contract implementation grants postsigning. “This has been the best investment in Canada for our union,” he noted. “We’ve made more advances than ever before thanks in part to this use of the MCF.”

The entire panel emphasized throughout the discussion the importance of using ALPA’s resources provided to them all. “Talk things through with the pilots you’ve met here this week,” said Boziel. “Talk things through with staff.”

The group also provided advice to newcomers on the all-important task of secretary-treasurers to create a budget. Meier advised attendees that the best way to plan for the following year’s budget is to keep the current year accurate and up to date.

Clapper closed the discussion by noting that budgets can change, but they still must have a plan to be responsible stewards of the pilots’ money. “Plan for the plan,” he said. “Don’t plan for the unknown.”