New York Times, May 20, 2001

Michael Geissinger for the New York Times Capt. Duane E. Woerth, president of the Air Line Pilots Association, in his office in Washington.

WASHINGTON -- From his eighth-floor office window here, Duane E. Woerth can see airplanes descending over the Potomac River on their final approach to Reagan National Airport. If a jet is too far above the dome of St. Matthew's Cathedral, a few blocks south of him on Rhode Island Avenue, he says, then it is coming in too high and the crew will "have an interesting landing."

That is about as close to flying as he gets these days. A 747 captain for Northwest Airlines, he has taken leave to run the Air Line Pilots Association, the world's largest pilot union and one of the country's richest and most influential labor groups.

It is a job that may be more pressure-packed than a difficult landing at National.

Pilots at Comair are in a protracted strike that may kill the regional airline. Pilots at Delta Air Lines, which owns Comair, are about to vote on an agreement that could make them the highest paid in the industry, or could lead to a strike if it is rejected.

Last year, pilots at United Airlines won huge gains after a work slowdown that forced the airline to cancel thousands of flights, sending it to the bottom of the industry's on-time rankings. Later in the year, Delta pilots tried the same tactic, leading to more cancellations.

The Bush administration has taken a militant stand against organized labor in the airline business, delaying a strike by Northwest mechanics and promising to prevent other strikes.

Then there is the looming consolidation of the major airlines, uproars in Congress about poor service and air traffic congestion, and a brewing battle with the industry over the government's rest requirement for pilots.

If anybody is up to the challenge, fellow pilots and airline executives say, it is Captain Woerth. Only the seventh president of the union since its founding in the 1930's, he is admired for his vision and ability to rally fractious members.

"Duane is a very astute labor leader," said John H. Dasburg, the former chief executive of Northwest, who served with him on Northwest's board for more than five years. "He listens very carefully to his members."

Capt. Mark Innerbichler, leader of the Minneapolis-based pilots at Northwest and a member of the union's board, marvels at Captain Woerth's skill in winning over pilots. "Nobody gets angry the way pilots get angry," Captain Innerbichler said. "I have seen it when pilots have the tar bubbling and they have the ropes out ready to hang him. But after Duane talked for 20 minutes, they were carrying him out on their shoulders."

Last month, pilots at Continental Airlines voted to merge their independent union with the Air Line Pilots Association, adding 6,500 members to the association's roster of 59,000. It was a victory that had eluded Captain Woerth's predecessor and is part of his plan to increase the association's influence by recruiting as many of the independent pilot groups as possible.

The 3,800 pilots at FedEx will join the association by October, Captain Woerth said in an interview. And 11,500 American Airlines pilots, who left the union in the 1960's, are considering a return. "The United and Delta contracts are the best organizing tool you can get," he said, referring to increases that enable many senior pilots to earn more than $300,000 a year and retire with a seven-figure nest egg plus a hefty pension.

Bringing the Continental pilots into the association was controversial, because their union contains many members who crossed the picket line in the 1980's after Frank Lorenzo, then the chief executive, put Continental into bankruptcy court and abrogated its union contracts.

"Nobody wants scabs in your union," said Captain Innerbichler, who had opposed the merger before Captain Woerth appealed to his sense of duty. "He said, `Mark, you don't leave people on the battlefield,' " said Captain Innerbichler, a former Marine pilot. "That hit my button, and at that point I started to see the benefits."

Union activism is not in Captain Woerth's blood. He grew up in Scribner, Neb., a farming town of 800 people, where his family still raises corn, soybeans and hogs on the original homestead. "Where I grew up, people thought well of Franklin Roosevelt," he said, "but he was the last Democrat they liked."

With his unassuming manner, half-moon hairline and bushy mustache, Captain Woerth, 52, could pass for the local insurance agent or John Deere dealer.

In the Vietnam War, he flew a modified Boeing 707 as an Air Force pilot; that led to a job flying for Braniff. But in 1982 Braniff went out of business. It was a "life-changing event," he said. Because a pilot's pay and schedule are determined by seniority, he was not only out of a job but starting over, at the bottom.

"It made you think of yourself for the first time as a working person," he recalled. "I thought to myself, `Maybe I have to look at life differently and at workers' rights and how naked you are out there.' "

He soon joined Northwest and became involved with the union. In 1986, Northwest merged with Republic Airlines. The two pilot groups were soon at odds. But when forced to choose one union leader, they selected him.

In 1993, after Northwest's unions won three seats on the board in exchange for economic concessions, Captain Woerth was chosen as the pilot representative. He says his stint, which ended when he became head of the association two years ago, was "the best business education."

Mr. Dasburg said Captain Woerth was a model director who always did his homework and played a crucial role in many decisions. "As soon as he joined our board, he began to make an impact," Mr. Dasburg said.

Captain Woerth helped establish a consulting firm owned by the union that has helped train pilots at foreign airlines to negotiate contracts. He wants similar work rules for all pilots so his North American members will be protected in international alliances or mergers.

Asked to justify some pilot salaries that exceed $400,000 a year, he was unapologetic, arguing that the job had become vastly more demanding over the years. "If you can bargain for it," he said, "you should get it."

What really angers him are contentions by airline executives that the industry's unions have become too powerful and should not be allowed to strike. He accuses the executives of hypocrisy because they say there is more than enough competition to allow major airlines to merge.

"If labor has gotten too big," he said, "then it means that the companies have gotten too big as well and maybe we shouldn't allow any more mergers."