H.D. Fechtelkotter v. Air Line Pilots Association, International

The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) appeals from the district court’s judgment setting aside fines ALPA assessed against six of its member pilots.

FACTS

During September of 1977, flight attendants, employed by Transamerica Airlines, Inc. (Transamerica) and represented by the Teamsters Union, went on strike in a dispute over new contract terms. ALPA, the exclusive bargaining representative for Transamerica pilots, decided to honor the Teamster picket line. In the weeks that followed virtually all of Transamerica’s more than 300 pilots refused to fly, grounding almost all of its commercial flights. After a month of support for the flight attendant’s strike, ALPA began negotiating with Transamerica and reached a back-to-work agreement under which the pilots returned to work in November, 1977. The agreement included the following clause:

After the pilots returned to work, ALPA instituted disciplinary proceedings against pilots who had flown during the sympathy strike and fined them the amounts they had earned by such flying. The pilots refused to pay the fines and brought this action in federal district court, alleging that by disciplining the pilots the union had violated the…