American Airlines Pilot Union Votes to Ease Merger Process
Members of the American Airlines pilot union have approved a new vote threshold aimed at streamlining the process for a potential merger with a larger union.
According to a post on X by Philip Johnson, Secretary-Treasurer of the Allied Pilots Association (APA), the union’s members backed a motion that lowers the threshold for merging with other unions. This decision comes after a history of tension within the APA membership and leadership, particularly regarding efforts to merge with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA).
APA Secretary-Treasurer CA Philip Johnson announced these referendum results today: R2026-02, “Union Merger Provisions,” was approved; R2026-05 Rev 1, “Merger Ratification Vote Threshold,” was approved; and R2026-21 Rev 3, “Executive Administrator to the President,” was defeated. pic.twitter.com/h8eBUcpoiI
— Allied Pilots (@AlliedPilots) June 3, 2026
The APA represents about 16,000 pilots at American Airlines, whereas ALPA serves more than 80,000 pilots across 42 airlines in the U.S. and Canada.
Some American pilots had shown interest in merging with ALPA, particularly after the “AA Pilots for ALPA” initiative was established to investigate the merger possibilities. The APA board had contemplated merging with ALPA or remaining independent but faced a tie vote that didn’t meet the needed threshold for dissolving the union.
The recent vote potentially reignites discussions among APA members about merging with ALPA.
Leadership from APA, ALPA, and American Airlines did not respond to requests for comments.
Historically, APA leadership has had frequent disagreements with American Airlines executives. For instance, they utilized union dues to publish an open letter in regional newspapers, addressing CEO Robert Isom directly and attributing delays and baggage problems to him, along with issues surrounding employee contracts.
A letter from March 2022 pointed out that many conditions in the pilots’ current contract—like total compensation and scheduling—were inferior compared to other airlines, suggesting that these gaps might undermine American Airlines’ competitiveness in attracting new pilots.
Since then, it seems that American Airlines has addressed most of APA’s concerns. The subsequent contract provided a 21% immediate pay increase for pilots and enhanced long-term disability, life insurance, and retirement benefits, as noted in an APA press release from August 2023. Around 95% of the union’s members participated in the vote on the contract, with 72.7% supporting it.
Shortly after this approval, a group favoring the merger with ALPA removed former APA President Ed Sicher from his position, as he had opposed the merger.
“Some pilots credited ALPA with improvements in contract negotiations. But I disagree; it was simply the timing,” Sicher reportedly said. He noted that after exploring the merger in depth, it became apparent that fees might increase while services would decline if ALPA took over.
On May 7, APA decided to lower the merging vote threshold to just over 50%. The very next day, ALPA announced a reduction in its annual dues from 1.85% to 1.55%, effective next year. Whether this will be enough to regain support from APA members, who currently pay 1.00% in dues annually, remains uncertain.
