Air Line Pilot Magazine March 2023

Safety Starts With Two

The airline pilot workforce is strong and resilient in the United States and Canada. More than enough qualified and experienced pilots are available to meet current demand in the United States—and the industry is off to a strong start for producing pilots in 2023. Yet despite these numbers, special interests continue to spread misinformation about pilot supply in an attempt to cut back on safety to increase their profits. As always, ALPA pilots are holding the line.

During the pandemic, some airlines made the decision to park aircraft, as well as to displace, furlough, and place pilots on inactive status. With the industry’s recovery, these choices have created a temporary backlog in training programs that will resolve itself in time as training catches up. Rather than acknowledging that the system is working as intended—producing record numbers of pilots and maintaining the highest safety standards—some are trying to exploit the current backlog as an opportunity to profit by cutting safety.

For example, some airlines are seeking to avoid current first officer qualification, experience, and training requirements that have helped create the safest era in U.S. aviation history. Others suggest that pilots should be removed from the flight deck altogether. Airline safety relies on having at least two pilots on the fight deck at all times—and recent events have proven this (see page 17). In addition to our advocacy in the United States and Canada, ALPA is working with the European Cockpit Association and the International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations on a joint “Safety Starts with Two” campaign to reach the international community and broader aviation industry with this message (see page 10).

In these ways and others, ALPA pilots are always working to enhance safety. In March, I was invited to participate in the FAA’s Call to Action Safety Summit to identify opportunities to strengthen the system in response to a series of operational incidents (see page 29). ALPA followed up on the important discussion with an ALPA Safety Alert reminding airline pilots to continue to be vigilant regarding safety issues.

ALPA is also urging governments to reject the misuse of employer-sponsored visa programs to permit airlines to hire foreign workers at cut-rate salaries, forcing pilots to feel beholden to management and risking undue pressure on pilots’ safety-related decision-making. Based on ALPA’s policy supporting a mandatory airline pilot retirement age of 65, which was reaffirmed unanimously by our elected union representatives at the Board of Directors meeting in October 2022, we’re also opposing the latest attempts to raise the pilot retirement age (see page 8). Concerns including worsening the training backlog, introducing potential safety risks, and raising airline training costs may be among the reasons that major airlines and a significant majority of pilots and passengers also oppose any change.

As passengers return to flying, many airlines are hiring pilots, which means individuals are leaving less-attractive positions for more-promising careers at other employers. Like so many other Canadian and U.S. workers, including those in Michigan, which became the first state in 58 years to repeal antilabor policy that made unionizing more difficult for workers, airline pilots recognize the value of union representation and collectively bargained contracts.

Our work to promote unionism achieved another key milestone when ALPA and the Air Canada Pilots Association reached an agreement in principle regarding a potential merger of our two unions (see page 11). If the proposal is ratified, our combined union will have greater strength in negotiating collective agreements in Canada and advocating for safety-first initiatives before Parliament.

Even as ALPA pilot groups continue to ratify strong working agreements at both mainline and regional airlines, considerable work remains for many of our members. Our international union is focusing resources on supporting the nearly half of our pilot groups that are currently in bargaining while ensuring that management complies with contracts at other pilot groups. At ALPA’s Industry Bargaining Roundtable (see page 33) as well as informational picketing events held by pilots at FedEx Express, WestJet, and United, airline pilots’ unity is visible to all.

For ALPA pilots in the United States and Canada, our solidarity stands more than 67,000 strong and counting.