Delta Air Lines’ Pilots Union Elect Lee Moak Chairman

Aug. 28–Delta Air Lines’ pilots union moved to replace its chairman Friday, giving the union a new leader as the airline makes last-ditch efforts to avoid a bankruptcy reorganization that could usher in another round of concessions talks.

The Air Line Pilots Association said Lee Moak, a Boeing 737 captain who is based in Atlanta but lives in New Orleans, was elected Friday to a two-year term as the new chairman of the union’s Master Executive Council.

His election came on a 7-5 vote of the union’s regional representatives. As council chairman, Moak becomes the public leader of Delta’s 6,600 pilots and has heavy influence on union strategies.

Moak, who takes office Oct. 1, replaces current Chairman John Malone, who headed the labor group since 2003. His term was dominated by protracted negotiations that ended last year with pilots giving up $1 billion in annual concessions to help Delta stave off a bankruptcy filing.

Since then, however, rising fuel costs and debt have offset gains realized from the pilot deal.

Now some analysts think Delta will have to seek more concessions, whether or not it seeks bankruptcy court protection. The union and the company say no such discussions have started.

Moak, a former Marine fighter pilot, had previously been the union’s executive administrator during the term of Malone’s predecessor, William Buergey. Moak declined to comment, saying he would be in ALPA’s Atlanta offices Monday.

In a statement, he said, “I am sincerely humble at being elected the Delta pilots Master Chairman. … The team of officers elected will lead with professional strength. I look forward to working for and with all Delta pilots as we move through these difficult and trying times. I recognize we have a tremendous challenge on the horizon, but as the strong unified body we are, we will be prepared to meet that challenge.”

Malone could not be reached for comment.

There was “a lot of discontent” among pilots over the slow pace and secrecy around last year’s concession talks, said Jim Gray, a retired Delta pilot and former union official who now heads DP3, a group of retired Delta pilots.

Malone had been the union’s negotiating committee chief for a lucrative contract signed in mid-2001 that made Delta pilots the industry’s best-paid. Gray said Malone was associated with the more hard-line members of the union initially but became “much more moderate over time.”

After the recession and 9/11 sent Delta into a financial nose dive, the airline first sought pilot givebacks in April 2003. A deal didn’t come until last fall, when Delta was within hours of filing for Chapter 11.

“I totally do not blame John for the pace of negotiations. I think that ALPA wanted a deal all along,” said former ALPA Chairman William Buergey, whose term ended in 2003.

Buergey said he expected Moak to avoid a “top-down” approach as chairman.

“Lee’s leadership style is very inclusive, and I think he will look (for) information from a variety of trusted individuals,” said Buergey. “I always found he had a lot of fresh ideas. His organization skills were superb.”

Gray said Moak “is a man of very high integrity, high conscience, a strong work ethic and a pragmatic guy.”

It became increasingly apparent that Malone’s re-election was in trouble when the union decided to postpone the election two weeks ago, citing allegations that Delta had tried to influence the outcome of the election by closing its pilots base in Dallas a month earlier than scheduled.

Malone was based in Dallas. Closure of the base took Dallas representatives off the union leadership council that elects the chairman.

Delta denied timing the closure to affect union matters, and the union said Friday its investigation found “no direct evidence of the alleged interference.”

ALPA spokesman Kingley Roberts, who was elected the group’s new secretary-treasurer Friday, said the election wasn’t a referendum on Malone’s handling of concession talks.

“It’s more a matter of timing than anything else,” he said, suggesting it was Malone’s misfortune to preside over the painful concessions agreement.

“I think it’s about a slightly different style in how we deal with the problems ahead,” he said. “I think their (Malone and Moak’s) goals are the same. They just have slightly different ways of getting there.”

Also elected Friday was Tim Canoll, an Atlanta-based B-737 captain, as vice chairman.

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