Chapter 13 (Part 1)-”The National Airlines Strike of 1948”

Fresh off the TWA Pilots’ strike of 1946, ALPA had another battle looming with the management of National Airlines. In the minds of the pilots of National Airlines, the strike of 1948 was like World War II—a good fight, a just cause, an evil foe. George T. “Ted” Baker, founder of National Airlines and its president during the strike, was the villain while ALPA President Dave Behncke was the heroic champion of justice. Learn why ALPA’s National Airlines pilots felt this way about their “unscrupulous” owner and what events led up to the longest and costliest strike at ALPA to that point.