Union Urges Congress to Maintain Pilot Experience Requirements

As the U.S. airline industry braced for the onset of the busy Fourth of July travel weekend and the long and tensely-awaited kickoff of the 5G wireless era, Congress is poised to pass legislation by which aviation safety may be diminished, flight delays and cancellations increased, and the rights of American workers undermined—or... so states the Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA).

ALPA president Captain Jason Ambrosi set forth in a 29 June statement:

“While all eyes are on this weekend’s holiday travel and efforts to mitigate 5G interference with aircraft safety systems, we cannot lose sight of the fact that Congress is poised to pass legislation that contains multiple anti-safety provisions that would introduce even more risk into the U.S. aviation system. Recent flight delays and cancellations are a reminder that the industry is still recovering from the pandemic, and we must remain vigilant in maintaining safety.

“Flying is the safest mode of transportation in the world, thanks largely to the highly-trained, skilled, and experienced pilots who are at the controls of every airline flight, as well as landmark safety legislation enacted more than a decade ago that raised the bar on airline pilot safety training. Despite a 99.8-percent reduction in fatalities, some special interests are trying to change the law to lower the bar on pilot training, which would introduce even more risk—and potential disruptions. Now is not the time to lower safety standards or arbitrarily change the retirement age for highly-skilled aviators.

“We are calling on all Americans who rely on safe and efficient air travel to join our Call to Action. Reach out to your elected officials and tell them to oppose the anti-safety, anti-worker provisions that are being considered in the pending Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization.”

The veracity of ALPA’s position—as framed by Captain Ambrosi—is compellingly substantiated by the stone-cold fact the union, by arguing against proposed measures to lower pilot certification standards for purpose of hastily filling voids in air-crew staffing, subtracts substantially from its own membership roster and bottom-line.

Should special-interest groups prevail in pressuring lawmakers to lower pilot training requirements and experience standards, such legislation would impact commuter/regional air-carriers primarily—carriers populated by lower-time, lower-experience pilots working to build flight-time and flight-deck acumen in hopes of moving on to major airlines.

More so than most, certainly more so than Congress, ALPA’s leadership understands the devastating, industry-wide impact wrought by high-profile aircraft accidents the likes of Colgan Air Flight 3407, American Eagle Flight 4184, CommutAir Flight 4821, Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 2254, and Comair Flight 3272—all of which befell commuter/regional air-carriers and were determined to have been caused by the errors of relatively low-time, low-experience pilots.

Founded in 1931 and representing over 74,000 pilots in the employs of 42 U.S. and Canadian airlines, the Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA) is the world’s largest and most influential pilot union.

FMI: www.alpa.org