Inside ALPA’s Dues-Reconciliation Process

By Kevin Cuddihy, Contributing Writer

In return for the vast resources and unparalleled expertise and services that ALPA provides, every member is required to pay dues on any income that’s deemed “duesable income.” This includes salary but also items such as overtime; new-hire, contract-signing, or retention bonuses; back-pay awards; etc. The dues amount is set by ALPA policy and is currently 1.85 percent for “Active” and “Executive Active” members.

Certain items are considered nonduesable income, specifically singled out as “Income Exempt from Dues” in Article IX, Section 4 of ALPA’s Constitution & By-Laws. Examples include, but aren’t limited to, amounts that employers contribute to moving expenses, furlough income, per diem, and more. The full list is included in the Constitution & By-Laws.

This dues income funds the Association. ALPA member dues are used to pay for contract negotiations, legal fees, and general operating expenses, as well as salaries for its staff of communications, safety and security, technical, financial, and legal experts. Dues income is also provided directly to master executive councils (MECs) and local executive councils via a calculation detailed in ALPA’s Administrative Manual after certain off-the-top expenses are set aside.

Dues Checkoff vs. Estimation

If it’s available at their airline, a pilot can elect to have their dues automatically withdrawn from their paycheck throughout the year and sent to ALPA by the company. The dues checkoff (DCO) remittance method is optional in the United States unless directed by a pilot group’s collective bargaining agreement but is mandated by law in Canada.

ALPA highly recommends DCO to its members for a variety of reasons. It saves the Association administrative expenses, automates collection efforts, removes a monthly bill from the pilot’s to-do list, and results in fewer pilots in bad standing.

If DCO isn’t available to a pilot group, or a pilot opts not to participate, the pilot will be billed based on estimated earnings. This calculation is done annually on an estimate provided by the pilot of their annual earnings or, if not provided, an estimate of the prior year’s earnings. The pilot is provided monthly billing statements and required to submit payment by check or through their bank’s online bill-pay system.

For example, if a pilot’s estimated annual duesable income is $120,000, that amount is broken down into a monthly income of $10,000. That monthly income is multiplied by the 1.85 percent dues rate, and the pilot is billed $185 each month.

Dues Reconciliation

“Why am I getting a bill from ALPA? I already paid my dues.”

ALPA’s Membership Department administrators are asked this question annually, and the answer is that sometimes a pilot’s estimated or expected duesable income and actual duesable income aren’t the same. This is much more common for pilots who use the estimated dues method instead of DCO, but it can occur even for those who use DCO.

To ensure that all pilots are correctly invoiced for their annual dues obligation, ALPA conducts a yearly dues reconciliation to review earnings information. ALPA requests and reviews the actual, year-end income statements from airlines, calculates the dues amount that should have been paid based on those actual figures, and compares that figure to the total dues the pilot paid throughout the year.

For pilots who participate in DCO, a dues-reconciliation adjustment billing could be the result of an off-cycle check or a company calculation error. For those on a monthly billing plan, a reconciliation is typically the result of a pilot underestimating their earnings.

Few pilots will receive a dues-reconciliation notice. Typically, about 4 to 5 percent of pilots will owe more in dues each year, and less than 1 percent will be owed a refund. Though rare, refunds typically occur when a pilot is required to pay back a bonus (on which they previously paid dues) or if dues were mistakenly withheld from nonduesable income by the company.

Settling Up

ALPA receives earnings statements from airlines for the previous year in order to perform the dues reconciliation. Depending on the company, ALPA typically receives these statements around April for the previous calendar year but can sometimes receive them as late as August. Staff conducts the reconciliation process by pilot group as the data is received.

Once calculated, ALPA e-mails a notification of a pending dues-reconciliation charge/credit to applicable members prior to distributing the monthly statement that would show the amount needed to reconcile the previous year’s dues obligation. For example, a pilot would receive notification in late May that their June statement will include an additional amount owed or credited.

For an amount credited, ALPA issues a check to the pilot and mails it through the U.S. Postal Service. For amounts owed, a pilot needs to send in a check or set up an online payment through their bank’s bill-pay system.

For significant amounts invoiced by the Association, a pilot may request to set up a payment plan, referred to as an arrangement plan. This amount can be added to their monthly billing statement or the pilot can, if available at their company, sign up for an Arrangement Plan Checkoff to have the amount deducted automatically from their paycheck until the debt is settled.

Any amounts billed through the dues-reconciliation process are legitimate ALPA dues and must be paid for the member to remain in good standing and maintain their rights and privileges within the Association (such as voting privileges and access to the website, Air Line Pilot, ALPA insurance, etc.).

Payments remitted to the Association are applied to dues obligations first. This means that any payments remitted for assessments, ALPA insurance, or other miscellaneous charges will be applied to any outstanding dues until that obligation is fulfilled.

If a pilot remains delinquent on their dues-adjustment obligations—or on their regular dues payment as well—a lengthy process referenced in the Constitution & By-Laws requires multiple notifications and attempts to promote payment over the course of many months, involving ALPA’s Membership Administration, the vice president–administration/secretary, the vice president–finance/treasurer, the Legal Department, and the pilot’s MEC and local council representatives.

This process includes a series of warning and delinquency letters; the member being placed in bad standing with the resultant loss of privileges; potential expulsion from the Association; and, in extremely rare cases, a discharge from their company. Per the provisions of the Railway Labor Act, pilots are obligated to pay union dues as a condition of employment under their collective bargaining agreement.

However, ALPA’s goal is not to have a pilot discharged from their company—which may happen once in a generation, if then. ALPA’s aim is to ensure that every pilot pays their fair share for the support and protection they’re provided by the Association.

Sign Up for DCO

The best way to avoid receiving an unexpected bill for a dues reconciliation is to sign up for DCO, should your company offer it. If you’re not signed up and would like to be, you can access the forms on ALPA’s website. Once logged in, click on Pilot Resources and then select Membership Resources under the Benefits section. You’ll find the applicable DCO forms as well as any available Assessment Checkoff and Insurance Checkoff forms.

Paying dues allows ALPA to provide its members with unrivaled representation and resources. The dues-reconciliation process simply ensures that everyone is accurately invoiced for their Association obligation.

This article was originally published in the May 2023 issue of Air Line Pilot.