Association of Professional Flight Attendants
Elections and Member Control
The procedural mechanics that generate legitimacy: eligibility, candidacy, balloting, certification, and compliance constraints.
Why Elections Are the Control Surface
In APFA’s governance model, elections are not a periodic formality — they are the mechanism that renews authority across both the national leadership layer and the base representation layer. Because APFA is a single-carrier union with compact constitutional bodies, election procedures are the primary “member control surface” for legitimacy, accountability, and policy direction.
The Administering Body: National Ballot Committee
APFA’s elections and balloting are overseen by the National Ballot Committee (NBC). In practice, this provides a defined internal institutional actor responsible for procedures, communications, and the certification of results.
- Scope: Oversees elections and balloting functions across the organization (national offices and base elections).
- Operational design: Uses an independent balloting agency for election administration.
- Transparency signal: Publishes election-related updates and provides access to past balloting results.
Eligibility: “Good Standing” and the Ability to Vote
Election legitimacy depends not only on how votes are counted, but on who is eligible to vote. APFA publicly communicates that arrears can affect eligibility and access — a reminder that “member in good standing” is an enforceable condition, not just a label.
- Eligibility posture: Voting is restricted to members in good standing under governing rules.
- Practical implication: Dues/arrears status can operate as a gating mechanism for ballot participation.
- Member control implication: Maintaining eligibility becomes part of participation, not merely membership identity.
Candidacy: Willingness-to-Serve and Candidate Procedures
APFA’s election process emphasizes procedural formality: candidates submit Willingness-to-Serve (WTS) notifications and follow published timelines and election rules. Election communications routinely include items such as address verification, voting method, candidate forums, transfers between bases, and candidate booklet distribution.
- Willingness-to-Serve (WTS): A formal step initiating candidacy for elected roles.
- Administrative dependencies: Correct member address and contact data are treated as ballot-critical.
- Uniformity goal: Central procedures reduce base-by-base variance in how elections are run.
Voting Rules: Majority Thresholds and Runoff Mechanics
For national officer elections, APFA uses a majority threshold model: a candidate must receive a majority of valid votes cast to be deemed elected. If no candidate reaches a majority, APFA conducts a runoff between the top two vote-getters.
- Winning threshold: Majority (50% + 1 of valid votes).
- Runoff trigger: If no candidate reaches a majority, a runoff election is held.
- Governance signal: Ensures national officers are majority-supported rather than plurality-elected.
Certification and Publication of Results
APFA’s election architecture includes formal certification by the NBC and public reporting of results (including results by base). This creates a traceable legitimacy record and helps the membership verify that outcomes were computed and finalized through a known process.
- Certification: Results are certified by the NBC.
- Results visibility: Results are communicated in member-facing updates and can be published by base breakdown.
- Auditability: “Certified results” language supports clarity on when results become final.
Federal Compliance Constraint: LMRDA and the Election Cycle Change
APFA’s election governance is not solely internal. APFA reported that the Department of Labor’s OLMS instructed APFA to comply with Title IV union officer election requirements applicable to “local unions,” requiring secret ballot national officer elections open to all members in good standing on a three-year cycle rather than a four-year cycle.
- Constraint source: LMRDA Title IV union officer election requirements.
- Cycle change: Three-year national officer election cycle (replacing a four-year cycle).
- Structural implication: External regulatory classification can override internal election cadence preferences.
Structural Implications
- Centralized election administration: NBC + independent balloting reduces variance and strengthens procedural legitimacy.
- Eligibility is operational: “Good standing” status functions as a real participation gate, reinforcing dues compliance.
- Majority legitimacy: Majority + runoff mechanics reduce low-support outcomes for national offices.
- Regulatory override: LMRDA/OLMS requirements can reshape election timing and compliance obligations.
- Transparency posture: Certification language and published results build a verifiable legitimacy record over time.