American Airlines planes taxi and park at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago in February 2025. . (Photo by Audrey Richardson)

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The Air Line Pilots Association board on Friday approved a resolution to reduce dues, even as the board of the union representing American Airlines pilots seemed to move towards a vote on whether American pilots should join ALPA.

American’s 16,000 pilots are members of the Allied Pilots Association, while ALPA represents about 80,000 pilots at 42 airlines in the U.S. and Canada. For at least four years, American pilots favorable to ALPA have been seeking to move to the larger union.

Leadership groups at both unions met separately this week.

On Friday, ALPA’s executive board approved a resolution to reduce dues to 1.55% from 1.85%. Pending approval from the directors, it would take effect next year. “This change is years in the making, and it reflects exactly the kind of responsibility we owe to our members,” ALPA President Jason Ambrosi said in a letter to members.

“Our union continues to have enviable advocacy, negotiations, and safety resources available for our members, and due to responsible financial planning and strong contracts, we are also running a sizable surplus,” Ambrosi wrote, noting that since he took office in 2023, ALPA has returned more than $150 million of dues payments to members.

Meanwhile, the APA board on Thursday agreed to ask members to alter its “merger ratification vote threshold.” With the alteration, instead of requiring 50% plus one of all pilots to approve a union merger, the requirement would be for 50% plus one of the pilots voting

The current threshold mirrors the National Mediation Board standard for changing union representation.

Establishment of the new threshold is seen as favoring voters who are strongly committed to ALPA, who theoretically would be more likely to vote. “That would mean an engaged majority would be dictating what the union is, instead of a majority of the class and craft,” Ed Sicher, a Miami pilot who was APA president for two years, said on Wednesday.

Reduced ALPA dues could lure APA pilots. However, they currently pay lower dues than they would in ALPA, but receive what DCA Chairman Chris Wachter described in a February letter to members as “robust high touch services APA provides,” particularly an aeromedical department that assists pilots who need medical certification as well as analysis and information on benefits, scheduling trip trading and safety measures.

“If we increased dues for American Airlines pilots by 40% (to a 1.4% rate), the American Airlines MEC will still operate at a $16 million deficit – roughly 43% of our required operating budget,” Wachter wrote.

American pilots currently pay annual dues $57.5 million, or 1% of their pay. Even if ALPA dues were to be 1.4%, which is lower than what ALPA would offer, American pilots would pay $80 million annually. Of that, $43 million would go to ALPA, leaving just $37 million available for the APA services, potentially meaning dramatic cuts would be required.

The APA board voted was counted on the basis of represented pilots rather than board member voting, giving bigger domiciles including Charlotte and Dallas more influence. Thus, the approval for the altered merger ratification vote threshold was counted as 11,991 to 4,375, while the board member count was a narrower 11-to-9 favorable vote, according to an American pilot who asked not to be named. For approval, board member voting would have required a two/thirds majority.