Captain Frederick "Rick" Dubinsky is an aviation legend, having served an unprecedented seven years as chairman of the United Airlines Pilots’ Master Executive Council of the Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA). He was elected to that office on four separate occasions, during which he was the chief executive officer of the union that represented United’s more than 10,000 pilots at its peak. His background in ALPA affairs was unusually broad and spanned nearly his entire airline career. He held numerous elected or appointed union positions, including having organized the successful United pilot strike in 1985, as well as serving as a member of ALPA’s board of directors and executive board. His many years of tireless service to his fellow pilots, his union, his profession and his airline were exceptional, and have distinguished him among his peers, nationwide.

From 2000 to 2001 Capt. Dubinsky was a member of the board of directors of UAL Corporation, the parent company of United Airlines. Additionally, in the late 1980s he served as the executive vice-president, secretary and member of the board of directors of the United Employee Acquisition Corporation. Following UAL’s bankruptcy filing in 2002, he was one of the founding board members of the United Retired Pilots Benefit Protection Association, which sought to protect the pensions, health insurance and other benefits of United’s retired pilots that were at risk in the bankruptcy proceedings.