Page 22 - InterPilot 2018, Issue 4

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Founding “6 pence per member,

(roughly one Euro today),
would be paid to IFALPA annually.”

From the minutes of IALPA Council Meeting April 1948
MAs: IALPA

FIRST IFALPA CONFERENCE
LONDON 1948

IRISH AIR LINE PILOTS’ ASSOCIATION

When we were asked to write some- used during the war and the authori-
thing on the occasion of IFALPA’s 70th ties, anticipating the development of
Anniversary, our thoughts naturally significant peacetime transatlantic op-
turned to the IALPA pilots who had erations, built Shannon Airport.
been party to the decision to found
the Federation. Those pilots all worked After the war, Aer Lingus re-com-
for Aer Lingus and some had been air- menced operations and war surplus
crew in the recently concluded Second DC3 aircraft were purchased. Routes
World War. to London and other UK cities, as well
as continental Europe, were opened.
Ireland had remained neutral during New pilots were hired to crew the
the war and Aer Lingus, which had expanding operation and they came
commenced operations in 1936, had from the Irish Army Air Corp as well as
run a very limited service, mostly be- the mostly-Irish pilots who had served
tween Dublin and Liverpool or Man- in the Royal Air Force during the war.
chester. However, while Aer Lingus
was limited in its operation, the coun- The ex-RAF pilots had significant con-
try itself was conscious of its strategic tacts with their ex-service colleagues
position in the developing transatlan- who were now with British airlines.
tic aviation market. Although a small After IALPA was founded there were
and (at the time) poor country, Ireland many contacts and much advice
had a significant role to play in the de- sought from the British Air Line Pilots’
velopment of transatlantic flights and Association (BALPA). It is notable that
routes because of its location. the First President of IALPA was Capt 3 March 1948, it was decided to accept an invitation from BALPA and that, “two delegates would be sent to the interna-
P.W. “Darby” Kennedy, who had been tional meeting in April.” It was subsequently recorded in the minutes of the April Council Meeting that IALPA was by then
Shortly before the war, transatlantic a pilot with Imperial Airways pre-war part of IFALPA and that “6 pence per member,” (roughly one Euro today), would be paid to IFALPA annually.
operations had commenced from the and who had also been a founding
UK to the USA and the flying boat base member of BALPA. The third IFALPA conference was held in Dublin in 1949, and the council minutes record some detailed planning around
at Foynes, near the present-day Shan- the social events and interactions with the media. Reviewing the conference afterwards, the council minutes note, “…
non Airport, was a vital part of that At one of the first meetings of the it was considered that it had been satisfactorily dealt with.” It was also noted that the IALPA delegates had incurred
operation. Foynes continued to be Council of the newly formed IALPA on expenses of around 50 pounds but that they would bear the cost themselves. The minutes record that “the meeting
expressed appreciation,” - and well they might, as that is equal to about EUR 2,000 today!

It is interesting to note in the IALPA meeting minutes how in those early years the role of IFALPA became ever more
important to IALPA and, we imagine, every other association. In May 1949, for example, IFALPA informed IALPA about an
upcoming strike by the French pilots. Later that year, as IALPA itself was preparing to strike to have a pension scheme
BY CAPTAIN TED MURPHY, Former IFALPA President put in place, they wrote to both IFALPA and US ALPA notifying them of this proposed action. Leading up to this strike,
a discussion is recorded in the minutes about bringing Mister Dennis Follows, secretary of IFALPA, to Dublin to act as a
and CAPTAIN NEIL JOHNSTON conciliator in this dispute.