Act now: Tell congress safety is at stake
ALPA is asking all pilots to join our Call to Action urging Congress to maintain the current minimum first officer qualification rules to ensure safety for the U.S. airline industry.
The best and most important safety feature of any airline operation is a well-trained, highly experienced, and qualified professional pilot. With a solid foundation of training and experience, pilots are essential in maintaining the safety of our system and ensuring that aviation safety continues to advance. Several regional airline accidents from 2004 to 2009 identified numerous training and qualification deficiencies that ultimately led to Congressional action (P.L. 111-216) and regulatory changes that significantly improved aviation safety.
Some industry representatives who had initially been very supportive of the regulations have since become critical and are now arguing that they have created a pilot shortage and, worse, are urging Congress to take action that would weaken, or eliminate altogether, many of the key components of the first officer qualification and training rules issued in 2013—reverting back to an environment that contributed to 31 airline accidents cited by FAA. That is not in the public's interest.