Release #: 24.31
December 05, 2024

ALPA Applauds Proposed Bankruptcy Reform Legislation

Durbin/Hawley Bill Will Help Protect Workers Against Management Abuse of Bankruptcy Process

WASHINGTON— Capt. Jason Ambrosi, president of the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), issued the following statement today after Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) introduced the bipartisan Protecting Employees and Retirees in Business Bankruptcies Act.

“Airline workers know far too well the devastating effects corporate bankruptcies have on the lives of hardworking Americans. Following 9/11, pilots, including myself, made enormous financial sacrifices to help save our airlines, only to have tens of billions of dollars taken from us in wage, pension, and benefit cuts, with court-dictated terms and conditions lasting years longer than required to reorganize and to return to profitability.

“We are grateful to Sens. Durbin and Hawley for their leadership in bringing forth this comprehensive reform legislation that will prevent a repeat of that sad chapter in our history, provide much-needed transparency to the bankruptcy process, and benefit U.S. workers.

“A key provision of this reform bill would prohibit airlines from using the bankruptcy process to gut collective bargaining agreements. Airlines have abused this process, despite clear evidence that Congress never intended this outcome. As a result, after 9/11, airlines were able to use the courts to squeeze $84 billion in wage and benefit reductions, the dissolution of nearly every defined benefit pension plan, and in some cases dictate 50 percent pay cuts and seven-year contracts in order to cement long-term employee losses. These draconian cuts would have never been achieved at the bargaining table, were grossly disproportionate in substance and duration, and did not reflect economic circumstances.

“ALPA pilots stand in strong support of this important legislation that will provide vital protections for all workers. Airline employees are still feeling the devastating effects corporate bankruptcies have on the lives of hardworking Americans and are still feeling the effects of that last round of bankruptcies that stripped them of their hard-earned pensions, salaries, and work rules.”

Founded in 1931, ALPA is the largest airline pilot union in the world and represents more than 79,000 pilots at 42 U.S. and Canadian airlines. Visit ALPA.org or follow us on Twitter @ALPAPilots.

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CONTACT: ALPA Media, 703-481-4440 or Media@alpa.org