Pilots Follow Through on Threat to Picket Airports

Airline pilots on Thursday followed through with their threat last week to picket at 13 major U.S. airports, hoping to even more attention to their frustration with airline delays and cancellations

Members of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) have been as stymied as passengers over a spring and summer filled with disruption. Pilot schedules have been changed, pilots have picked up extra flights where needed leading to fatigue issue, and pilots have been grounded.

Those were just a few of the salient points that the union tried to get across on Thursday with pickets.

According to a story in The Hill, off-duty pilots from six airlines picketed outside at airports across the country to start the last big travel weekend of the summer. The picket was only expected to be held on Thursday so as not to further hamper disrupt Labor Day Weekend and the rampant chaos taking place at airports across the world.

“When ALPA pilots stand shoulder to shoulder in support of shared goals, people notice — our airlines notice,” the union said in a statement. “That’s why on September 1, we’re asking all ALPA pilots to join us for an ALPA-wide informational picket to show the public, our lawmakers and our airlines that all airline pilots stand together in support of the profession-wide goal of improved working conditions and benefits.”

The union planned pickets at airports that included:

Midway in Chicago

BWI in Baltimore

Love Field in Dallas

Newark-International in Newark, N.J.

Harry Reid in Las Vegas

John F. Kennedy in New York City

Lambert Field in St. Louis

Reagan National in Washington D.C.

Orlando

LaGuardia in New York City