Associated Press 10.21.08, 2:25 PM ET

WASHINGTON - The Air Line Pilots Association, the union that represents pilots at various carriers, spent $330,000 lobbying the federal government in the third quarter, according to a disclosure form filed this week.

The group lobbied on issues including Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization, aviation safety, the air traffic control system, flight operation quality assurance programs, and a proposed airlift agreement between UPS (nyse: UPS - news - people ) and DHL, according to the form posted online Monday by the House clerk's office.

UPS Inc. announced on May 28 that it was seeking to work out a contract with DHL that would mostly involve the transport of DHL packages between airports in North America - not the pickup or delivery of DHL packages to customers. UPS has said the deal, which it hopes to complete by the end of the year, is similar to its existing agreement with the U.S. Postal Service.

Some lawmakers and officials in Ohio, which could lose thousands of jobs if the UPS-DHL deal is finalized, have criticized the proposed agreement. UPS and DHL have defended the potential deal. DHL is the struggling U.S.-based express shipping unit of German postal service Deutsche Post AG.

ALPA President John Prater said in a statement Sept. 16 that the deal would result in job losses if DHL shifted to UPS the air business it currently gives to two other vendors. He said the deal should be scrutinized by Congress and the federal government.

Prater also said he believes that DHL's problem in North America is not the cost or effectiveness of its air operations, but rather that it can't compete with UPS and FedEx (nyse: FDX - news - people ) on the ground. He said DHL can't solve its problem by handing business to its competition.

ALPA is the largest airline pilot union in the world and represents nearly 55,000 pilots at 40 U.S. and Canadian airlines. Founded in 1931, ALPA is chartered by the AFL-CIO and the Canadian Labour Congress.

Besides Congress, the union lobbied the departments of Transportation and State, and the National Transportation Safety Board in the July-September period.