40th Anniversary United Airlines Pilots Strike

United pilots stand shoulder to shoulder for 29 days to protect the airline piloting profession.

Forty years ago, on May 17, 1985, the pilots of United Airlines did something that would define their legacy for generations. They stood shoulder to shoulder, grounded their aircraft, and walked off the job in the face of a direct assault on their profession. They did it not just for themselves, but for the pilots who’d come after them. They knew that if they allowed the company to divide them with a two-tier pay system, the bonds of unity that held their profession together would begin to erode.

For 29 days, they stood firm. They endured uncertainty, economic hardship, and the fear of an unknown future. They also endured betrayal. While most of their colleagues held the line, a few did not. Those wounds ran deep, and some of the scars still linger. But the United pilots of 1985 didn’t back down. They fought for fairness, for unity, and for the future of their profession. And they won.

They earned their ALPA Battle Star pins.

At an ALPA special meeting in 1985, Capt. Henry Duffy, then the Association’s president, standing at the podium, discusses the situation at United Airlines.

The strike was triggered by United management’s insistence to implement a “B-scale” pay system first started by American Airlines in 1983. Under this structure, new pilots were hired at significantly lower wages than those already flying for the carrier—same aircraft, same training, same responsibility, but half the pay. It was a brazen attempt to divide the pilot group. Capt. Roger Hall, then the Master Executive Council (MEC) chair for the United pilots, remarked, “I think [the CEO of UAL Corporation Dick] Ferris’s goal was just to slash pilot costs, but it became clear that he eventually concluded that he could crush the entire union structure at United, with ALPA being the first to go.” Management underestimated just how fiercely United pilots would fight back.

Capt. Pat Palazzolo (United, Ret.) described the situation in From Wooden Wings as one that management personnel thought they could control. Ferris believed that the pilot group was disorganized and unprepared. He figured United’s pilots would fold.

He was wrong.

Instead, Ferris faced a pilot group that had learned from the past mistakes of the 1983 Continental pilots’ strike. The United MEC Strike Committee, led by Capt. Rick Dubinsky, built a foundation of preparation, communication, and solidarity. When the moment came, United pilots were ready. They picketed outside the Westin Hotel in Rosemont, Ill. They stood together outside Chicago O’Hare International Airport and systemwide. They wouldn’t let their careers be devalued or their group be divided.

United pilots speak with a reporter to make their message known to the flying public.

Despite the hardship, the sacrifice paid off. The pilots returned to work with a tentative agreement that included a modified version of the two-tier wage scale. It wasn’t perfect. Full parity would take nearly five years to achieve. But the strike sent a clear message: United pilots wouldn’t allow themselves to be divided. And any attempt to weaken their unity would be met with strength, strategy, and resolve.

The strike showed an entire generation of pilots what unity really means. It taught them that a contract reflects the value pilots place on themselves and their profession. And it taught management that this pilot group wasn’t easily pushed around.

In the decades since 1985, the airline industry has changed in countless ways. Pilots have seen deregulation, bankruptcies, mergers, 9/11, and a global pandemic. They’ve seen pensions get ripped away, CEOs rise and fall, and management schemes dressed up as corporate strategy. Through it all, the lesson of 1985 remains clear: when pilots stand together, they win.

Today, those who stood firm are honored—those who walked off the job and onto a picket line and said enough is enough. Their courage, their sacrifice, and their foresight are praised. Without them, the piloting profession wouldn’t be what it is today. These pilots fought for the principle that no pilot should be worth less just because they were hired later. They knew that divided pay equals divided unity. And divided unity is a threat to every future negotiation.

Their legacy lives on in every ALPA contract, in every Family Awareness event, and in every Pilot-to-Pilot^® conversation. It lives on in every pilot who knows the value of solidarity and the danger of division.

At the heart of their strike center, the pilots work around the clock to keep their operations running.

As current airline pilots face new challenges, they must remember what United pilots taught fellow aviators. Management may wear different suits and use more polished language today, but the tactics are familiar. Divide and conquer—within the pilot group and between other unions on the property. Spread misinformation. Make offers that sound good on the surface but weaken the group long term. The playbook gets reused. So does pilot resolve.

Forty years ago, United pilots faced a test of unity. They passed that test with dignity and conviction. Today’s airline pilots stand on the foundation they laid. Let’s honor them and continue to show up, speak out, and stand together. Because one truth endures above all else: a unified pilot group can’t be broken. Not then. Not now. Not ever.

This article was originally published in the June 2025 issue of Air Line Pilot.