Union leaders from the seven pilot groups, all represented by ALPA, formalized an alliance– the US Airways Express Pilots Alliance (USEPA) – by electing officers to spearhead their efforts and prioritizing critical issues they will address in the coming year. USEPA members include ALPA pilots from Air Wisconsin, Colgan, Mesaba Airlines, Mesa Air Group, Piedmont Airlines, PSA Airlines, and Trans States Airlines.  

Specifically, the pilots are working to promote, coordinate, and maintain the highest level of safety in the US Airways Express brand, improve pilot contract standards, and protect jobs for pilots who fly for US Airways Express carriers. The alliance was built on existing levels of cooperation and would allow each pilot group to be more effective in areas of safety, security, collective bargaining, and job preservation. Members of USEPA established a governing structure and elected the following pilots to serve as the group’s officers:  

First Officer Marcin Kolodziejczyk will serve as chairman of the alliance. He has spent the past five years as a Phoenix-based CRJ pilot for Mesa Air Group. F/O Kolodziejczyk currently holds the position of chairman of the ALPA unit at Mesa Air Group. In addition to his executive role as the pilots’ chairman, he serves as the first officer representative for pilots based in Phoenix and Hawaii. He has also served as the pilots’ vice-chairman, executive administrator, and on several ALPA committees.

Capt. Richard Swindell was elected to serve as vice-chairman. Capt. Swindell is currently a Washington, DC-based CRJ200 pilot for Air Wisconsin Airlines, where he has been employed for seven years. He is currently the vice-chairman for the ALPA unit at Air Wisconsin and had previously served as the pilot group’s communications chairman.