As a US Airways pilot for two decades, Richard Obermeyer endured years of pay cuts, a terminated pension program and the possibility of losing seniority after the carrier combined with America West Airlines.But he's never dealt with frustration like this. His union, the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), is tearing itself apart. Many of his fellow pilots believe it has failed them, and emotions are boiling over as an election approaches Thursday to replace it with another group.

Pilots say ALPA supporters have clashed with their rivals at the upstart US Airline Pilots Association (USAPA). They've engaged in at least one shoving match, shouted profanities at each other in airport terminals and called each other to the parking lot to settle their arguments.



Meanwhile, ALPA has kicked out union reps accused of supporting USAPA, and pilots on the West Coast have asked management to negotiate a separate contract just for them.

"All of this is just pure frustration," Obermeyer said. "Frustration with how the pilot's career has gone. Frustration with things that were completely out of their control."

Obermeyer, who is an ALPA communications chairman on the East Coast, saw the frustration for himself last week when he attended an informal USAPA meeting at a hotel in Philadelphia. He said the group's supporters pushed him out of the room and tried to rip a notepad from his hands.

"I've been doing work for the Air Line Pilots Association for 16 years, and this is the first time anyone has ever touched me out of anger," Obermeyer said.

ALPA representatives in Charlotte later sent an e-mail to pilots warning of "thugs in the neighborhood." They said ALPA members have been accosted at airports for not wearing the yellow USAPA lanyards. They also mentioned that a USAPA supporter sent a picture of a Ku Klux Klan rally to another pilot.

On Tuesday, ALPA President John Prater sent a letter to US Airways Chief Executive Doug Parker demanding that the carrier take action to prevent any intimidation of pilots.

Company officials told The Associated Press they're investigating whether a US Airways pilot sent a picture of the KKK rally. "As we have demonstrated in the past, US Airways has zero tolerance for workplace harassment of any kind," company officials said in a statement.

USAPA spokesman and US Airways Capt. Scott Theuer said his group hasn't organized any hostility toward the incumbent union.

"We have no knowledge of the alleged actions that took place, and we certainly would not condone them," Theuer said.

He added that his group estimates that 93 percent of US Airways pilots on the East Coast want a new union.

Analysts say the US Airways pilot dispute has become a prime example of the pitfalls of industry consolidation. Delta Air Lines Inc. and Northwest Airlines Corp. are waiting for their pilots to agree on seniority before they move forward with any combination plans.

Pilots at Tempe, Ariz.-based US Airways Group Inc. were thrown together in 2005 when the company combined America West with the former, Virginia-based US Airways. Their unions started working together on a joint salary and benefits contract, but both sides started to squabble over which pilots would get more seniority.

Seniority is extremely important for pilots, determining which planes they fly, what routes they take, and whether they work during the holidays.

An independent arbitrator was called to decide the seniority list last year, but the pilots from the former US Airways, who are known internally as "East" pilots, disagreed with the ruling and are asking a Washington, D.C., court to set it aside.

East pilots later walked away from formal negotiations on a joint pilots' contract and demanded immediate pay raises before they return. Management refused.

Meanwhile, some East pilots formed the USAPA to oust the existing union and replace it as the collective-bargaining group. The federal National Mediation Board called an election to decide the matter.

On April 17, the board will tally the votes and determine which group has collective bargaining rights for all 5,300 pilots in US Airways' system.

While the election proceeds, pilots from the former America West hope that management will agree to work with them separately on a contract.

"They're under a legal obligation to do so," said Tania Bziukiewicz, a US Airways pilot and ALPA representative. "If USAPA were to win the election, they're still required under the Railway Labor Act to negotiate the contract" with the pilots from America West.

But US Airways has refused to deal with only some of its pilots. The carrier already has reached joint labor contracts with its flight dispatchers, simulator engineers, flight crew training instructors, and its passenger service and reservations agents.

"We believe it to be in the best interest of US Airways and all of our employees to focus on joint negotiations for single labor agreements," US Airways officials said in a statement.

"We are now one company."

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On the Net:

US Airways: http://www.usairways.com

Air Line Pilots Association: http://www.alpa.org

US Airline Pilots Association: http://usairlinepilots.org/

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