Supporting Each Other

A Message from Capt. Jason Ambrosi
President, Air Line Pilots Association, Int'l

The past few weeks have been extremely challenging for our industry and our union family. It is difficult enough to deal with the tragedy of PSA Flight 5342 and the Endeavor accident in Toronto, but on top of that, there have been attacks on our members and rampant speculation about the causes of these accidents. Our professionalism has been unjustly called into question, and that impacts us all.

Every pilot knows firsthand that we do not cut corners in our training and experience. All ALPA pilots—regardless of background—are held to the same regulatory experience qualifications and are trained and evaluated to the same uncompromising standards. Not only would we not tolerate anything less as safety professionals, but it is mandated through laws that our union helped pass and defended in the last FAA reauthorization battle. Any assertion to the contrary is false and undermines the experience that each pilot has worked hard to earn.

We rarely comment publicly during ongoing investigations both to avoid inadvertently contributing to the speculation circus and to preserve our status in assisting investigative authorities. The truth is that fair and impartial investigations save future lives, and we take this responsibility seriously. With social media and a 24-hour news cycle, the public expects answers within minutes, not months, but investigations can’t work that quickly.

When an accident occurs, our union steps up immediately to support everyone affected. Following the accident in Toronto, we deployed all our resources again to support the crew and assist in the investigation. We are grateful that there were no fatalities and that, as of this writing, everyone has been released from the hospital, but we know that scars from an accident like this are never only physical. We have been providing hands-on support for the crew involved through our CIRP and staff resources. The crew will need all our help through this investigation and the recovery from this jarring accident. Our CIRP peers are providing one-on-one support to the crew, ALPA is working closely with Endeavor/Delta and the Transportation Safety Board to fight false and hateful speculation about the crew within the structure of the investigation, and we will be with the crew every step of the way.

ALPA pilots support each other. Attacks on our members or the high standards that we are held to are simply not acceptable. Our union must stand behind and support each other because an attack on one is an attack on all.

I’d like to personally thank the many pilot volunteers and staff who have gone above and beyond to assist our brothers and sisters at PSA and Endeavor. We will continue to stand together through tragedy and difficult times. Our solidarity is our strength, and it is what will continue to allow us to move our profession forward together, even in trying times.