A description of the nature and operation of four and five-member boards in the airline industry and the circumstances in which use of bipartite boards is considered appropriate. Treatment of bipartite board decisions as final and binding arbitration by the courts is viewed favorably. Collective-bargaining agreement provisions for mandatory use of bipartite boards, as opposed to optional use at the request of a union or a grievant, are viewed as anachronistic, particularly in the context of deregulation.