ALPA: Trained for Life

News from the Flight Deck

		Capt. Ambrosi: There Is No Shortcut to The Flight Deck. Rigorous Pilot Training Standards Keep Our Skies Safe
		
	

	At airports on flights across the country, many passengers may be wondering: Is flying still safe? The answer is yes - thanks to rigorous pilot training standards that serve as the foundation of aviation safety.

Learn More

Capt. Ambrosi: Planes Don’t Fly Themselves — And They Never Should

	Some of the world’s largest aircraft manufacturers seem convinced that adding new technologies and increasing automation will allow airlines to reduce the number of pilots on the flight deck. For them, it is a question of when, not if.

Learn More

Capt. Jason Ambrosi: Removing Two Pilots from the Flight Deck is Dangerous

	You’re flying 34,000 feet over the Atlantic, finally taking that dream trip to Europe. Then you hear a commotion and realize there is an issue with the flight. Your mind zeroes in to who is at the plane’s controls. Your assumption would be that two pilots are at the helm. But what if only one pilot was on the flight deck?

Learn More

1 2 3 … 7 Next »

Show More News

5 Unintended Consequences of Raising the Pilot Retirement Age

As policymakers work toward a May 10 deadline to pass a new FAA reauthorization bill, special interest groups are lobbying to raise the pilot retirement age to 67, a change that the FAA doesn’t support and that will needlessly complicate air travel just as record numbers of passengers take to the skies.

Learn More

Americans Deserve Reliable Air Transportation

The Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), along with more than 30 other labor unions, opposes any increase to the mandatory pilot retirement age in the United States, including a House-passed provision that would allow airline pilots between the ages of 65 and 67 to return to flying.

Learn More

Congress: Don’t Let Airlines Cut Corners

Some airlines claim the only way to ensure a robust pilot pipeline — one that can adequately serve small and rural communities — is to reduce the country’s commitment to maintaining the highest aviation safety standards in the world. Instead of coming to the table with real solutions for expanding the aviation talent pool, these airlines want to cut corners and take the easy way out by lowering pilot training qualifications and safety standards.

Learn More

		Capt. Jason Ambrosi: Raising the retirement age for pilots puts America’s aviation system at risk
		
	

Our country’s current approach to aviation safety is clearly working — the U.S. is the gold standard for aviation safety around the world. Despite this achievement, lawmakers working on the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill are considering introducing new risk and rolling back safety regulations just as passengers are returning to the skies.

Learn More

Congress: Prioritize Safety in FAA Reauthorization

Congress must pass a new FAA reauthorization bill before the current law expires on Dec. 31. The stakes for air safety couldn’t be higher, as special interests lobby lawmakers for changes to the law that would weaken training requirements, increase the retirement age and attempt to reduce pilots on the flight deck.

Learn More

		Colgan Families Join Efforts Pushing Congress to Maintain Current Pilot Training Requirements
		
	

Families who lost loved ones in the 2009 crash of Colgan Air Flight 3407 joined ALPA President Capt. Jason Ambrosi and U.S. Reps. Nick Langworthy (NY-23) and Brian Higgins (NY-26) last week to press lawmakers to maintain the regulations responsible for making the U.S. aviation system the safest in the world.

Learn More

Capt. Ambrosi to Congress: Keep Air Safety Standards in Place

At a recent congressional hearing, ALPA President Jason Ambrosi told lawmakers that higher safety standards implemented under the Airline Safety Act of 2010 are working and Congress should exercise caution in making changes. “We’re at the safest period in aviation history right now and a lot of that is because of these very rules,” he said. Watch the full clip here.

Learn More

Why are some airlines trying to lower safety standards? We asked a real pilot.

Using false claims of a “pilot shortage,” some airlines are trying to drastically cut the training and qualification requirements that keep our skies safe. But the fact is, higher safety standards are working. Since new regulations were implemented in 2010, airline fatalities have dropped 99.8 percent in the U.S. We sat down with Paul Ryder, a United Airlines pilot, to talk more about this important issue.

Learn More

Why did airlines invent a pilot shortage? We asked a real pilot.

There’s much more to the fake narrative than you might think. Amid all the travel chaos this summer with delayed and canceled flights, passengers repeatedly heard one excuse from the airlines: There’s a pilot shortage. But the truth is, there is no pilot shortage. In fact, there are not only more than 1.5 pilots for every job but there are actually more pilots flying today than before the pandemic. We sat down with Paul Ryder, a United airline pilot, to set the record straight.

Learn More

Air Safety Forum Focuses on 1,500 Training Hour Rule

Transportation safety authorities and industry leaders speaking at ALPA's 2022 Air Safety Forum last week made one thing clear: Efforts to reduce pilot training due to a fake pilot shortage narrative are misguided. These officials rejected calls to reduce the 1,500-hour pilot training rule.

Learn More

1 2 Next »

Safety First and Always.

Pilots Are Trained for Life

Advancing Aviation through Advocacy

Training Requirements

Two Pilots on the Flight Deck

ATC Modernization

Extended Minimum Crew Operations

Pilot Supply

Secondary Flight Deck Barriers

News from the Flight Deck

Capt. Ambrosi: There Is No Shortcut to The Flight Deck. Rigorous Pilot Training Standards Keep Our Skies Safe

Capt. Ambrosi: Planes Don’t Fly Themselves — And They Never Should

Capt. Jason Ambrosi: Removing Two Pilots from the Flight Deck is Dangerous

5 Unintended Consequences of Raising the Pilot Retirement Age

Americans Deserve Reliable Air Transportation

Congress: Don’t Let Airlines Cut Corners

Capt. Jason Ambrosi: Raising the retirement age for pilots puts America’s aviation system at risk

Congress: Prioritize Safety in FAA Reauthorization

Colgan Families Join Efforts Pushing Congress to Maintain Current Pilot Training Requirements

Capt. Ambrosi to Congress: Keep Air Safety Standards in Place

Why are some airlines trying to lower safety standards? We asked a real pilot.

Why did airlines invent a pilot shortage? We asked a real pilot.

Air Safety Forum Focuses on 1,500 Training Hour Rule

A history of being more than ready