Stewardesses, Airline

AFA Chicago/Rosemont: McDonald v. UAL Case Records

srafferty — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 16:50:28 -0500

McDonald v. UAL was part of a series of legal cases involving United Air Lines (UAL), their former flight attendants, and the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA). The cases centered around flight attendants who lost their job due to UAL’s no-marriage policy of the 1950s and 1960s in which the company insisted that their female flight attendants remain unmarried. If a stewardess married she had to transfer to a ground job, was forced to resign, or was fired. Previous cases against UAL included Mary Sprogis and Carole Romasanta, but these only involved flight attendants who had been fired or had filed a grievance. In 1977, Liane Buix McDonald filed another class action, this one to include all stewardesses who were fired, resigned, or transferred from the flight attendant position due to the no-marriage ruling. The collection includes court documents, UAL marriage grievances from the mid-1960s, lawyer’s correspondence, class membership lists, and research. It also includes individual cases to determine class membership. These cases include attorney notes, statements of claimants, questionnaires and answers, AFA and UAL responses, and documents provided by the claimant.

AFA Washington, D.C.: McDonald v. UAL Case Records

srafferty — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 16:44:44 -0500

McDonald v. UAL was part of a series of legal cases involving United Air Lines (UAL), their former flight attendants, and the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA). The cases centered around flight attendants who lost their job due to UAL’s no-marriage policy of the 1950s and 1960s in which the company insisted that their female flight attendants remain unmarried. If a stewardess married she had to transfer to a ground job, was forced to resign, or was fired. Previous cases against UAL included Mary Sprogis and Carole Romasanta, but these only involved flight attendants who had been fired or had filed a grievance. In 1977, Liane Buix McDonald filed another class action, this one to include all stewardesses who were fired, resigned, or transferred from the flight attendant position due to the no-marriage ruling. These records originated from the AFA’s Washington, D. C. Legal office and cover the period of 1980-89 and include court documents, correspondence, research and UAL seniority lists.

ALPA President's Department Records

mstepaniak — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 09:42:42 -0400

The President's Department records are arranged in three parts.

Part I: The Air Line Pilots Association was formed in secret in 1930 by a group of “Key Men” from each airline, they formed openly and affiliated with the American Federation of Labor in 1931. In that same year David Behncke was elected president of ALPA, an office he held twenty years, until being recalled in 1951 (and off and on through 1952 during his legal battle with ALPA). His successor, Clarence Sayen, held office eleven years from 1951-62 and was replaced by Charles Ruby from 1962-70. These three president’s tenures make up part 1 of the President’s Department records. The collection is divided by each president’s term of office, with some overlap in election years, and some overlap between Behncke and Sayen from 1951-52 during the court battles and periodic switches in president. The collection is further divided into: correspondence (external, internal, and with airlines) and the supporting documentation, subject files, and governing bodies and committee records for each president’s tenure. Some of the subjects include: Psychological Testing, Medical Testing, Pilot Benefits, Hijacking, Flight Engineers Jurisdictional Dispute, Crew Complement, Age 60 Rule, United Airlines Class and Craft Dispute, American Airlines Secession, ALPA/ALSSA Split, Behncke Recall, Washington Move, and Technological Innovations.

Part II reflects the office's activities, primarily under J.J. O'Donnell, in coordinating the activities of ALPA local offices and in speaking on behalf of its members in the media and before various government bodies. Predominately correspondence and reports, these records cover subjects such as airline mergers & strikes, airport security, bomb threats, hijacking, and terrorism. Important correspondents include J. Edgar Hoover and George E. Hopkins.

Part III focuses on the careers of the fourth, fifth, and sixth presidents of the Association, J.J. O’Donnell (1970-82), Henry Duffy (1982-90), and J. Randolph Babbitt (1990-98). One of the major issues the presidents from this era had to contend with was deregulation, which completely changed the landscape of the airline industry and the way unions functioned in that system. All three presidents struggled in the aftermath of unforeseen problems and challenges to ALPA pilots including Alter Ego airlines, Chapter 11 union-busting tactics, and the introduction of a B-scale. Other issues they faced include Hijacking, Crew Complement, Age 60 Rule, Cabatoge, Drug and Alcohol Testing, and Strikes at Continental and Eastern Airlines. Part III includes correspondence with government departments, industry organizations, and ALPA members; presidential statements; governing bodies minutes; department files; and committee meetings and reports.

Part IV consists of records from the Southern Airways strike of 1960-1962. The collection largely contains correspondence, including communications regarding matters that weren’t settled until long after the strike ended.

ALPA Steward and Stewardess Division Records

srafferty — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 17:39:41 -0400

The Steward and Stewardess Division was created by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) Board of Directors in 1960 after ALPA and the Air Line Stewards and Stewardess Association (ALSSA) separated in 1959. Following the same basic structure as ALPA, the division had its own Board of Directors, Executive Committee and Executive Board, and national officers of Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. Initially consisting of 20 airlines and around 3,580 stewardesses, by 1969 the S&S Division represented approximately 10,000 stewardesses through Local Executive, and Master Executive Councils on each of their airlines and assisted them with negotiations, grievances, sex and age discrimination, air safety and equal employment issues. In 1973 the stewardesses signed a charter of affiliation with ALPA and formed the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA). The Steward and Stewardess Division Records contains Office Records, Correspondence, Governing Bodies Minutes, MEC/LEC Records, Publications, Negotiations, Agreements, and Constitutions and By-laws. The subjects covered include: Air Safety, Crew Complements, Organizing, Uniforms, Contract Negotiations, Seniority, Negotiations, Bidding, Scheduling, Sex Discrimination, Marriage Rules, Age Discrimination, Maternity Leave, ALSSA/ALPA Dispute, Strikes, Age 32/35 Policies, and Women’s Rights.

ALPA Contracts: Flight Attendants

srafferty — Thu, 11 Sep 2014 17:16:05 -0400

The ALPA Contracts: Flight Attendants collection is made up of flight attendant, steward and stewardess, and air hostess contracts from various U.S. airlines from the 1940s to the 1970s. Included are contracts, letters of agreement, side letters, memorandums of understanding, and other negotiations, negotiated by the Air Line Pilots Association, the Canadian Air Line Flight Attendant’s Association, the Air Line Stewards and Stewardesses Association, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and the Transportation Workers Union of America. Contracts are ALPA unless otherwise noted.

ALPA Photographs

bbealmear — Tue, 27 Aug 2019 15:44:41 -0400

ALPA Photographs is a collection of photographic prints and negatives produced and compiled over decades. The materials came to the Reuther from what is currently known as the Communications Department; previous names of the department include Publicity and Public Relations, and ALPA Publications. The images collected appeared in the union’s publications, including the Air Line Pilot, and in conjunction with various public relations tools, such as news releases. The prints and negatives document various events, individuals, subjects, and organizations related to ALPA. The collection is strong in images of ALPA officers, pilots, and flight attendants.

Flight Attendants and the Air Line Pilots Association

srafferty — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 10:40:47 -0500

It was 1973, and the Air Line Pilots Association was rife with tension. Things hadn’t been working out for a while between the Steward and Stewardess and Pilot Divisions of ALPA. It was clear to both that “the Problem” (as the relationship between the Pilot and S&S Division was being referred to) needed to be fixed. But a solution, one which would work for both divisions, ensuring pilot control over ALPA and stewardess autonomy, proved elusive. While “the Problem” was first brought to the fore in 1970, it took one convention, four study groups, and countless meetings, proposals and counter proposals, for the two divisions to work out a solution and bring the Association of Flight Attendants into being. read more »

(29718) Portrait, Kelley Rueck

srafferty — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 10:01:10 -0500

A portrait of Kelley Rueck.