United Airlines pilots to picket hedge funds headquarters

The United Master Executive Council of the Air Line Pilots Association (MEC), which represents more than 12,000 pilots at United Airlines, has announced a picket to take place April 6 at the headquarters of PAR Capital and Altimeter in Boston, to protest the attempt of the hedge funds to gain control of the board of directors of the carrier. In a letter from the MEC to its members, the union accuses the firms to “have made disturbing statements in an attempt to force many changes within United’s Board of Directors.” The hedge funds proposed a 6-member shareholder slate, headed by former Continental CE Gordon Bethune. Todd Insler, chairman of the MEC, alleged that the proposal is “being done for their own benefit and without publicly stating their intentions for the future of the airline.” <br/>