The monthly “Code of Ethics” series in Air Line Pilot was developed last summer to combat the public scrutiny of our profession. It was meant as a way to honor all ALPA members who carry out the duties and responsibilities of airline pilots with the highest respect for the safety of their passengers and crew. Most importantly, ALPA intended to highlight a pilot’s approach to upholding the professional values in our Code of Ethics that this Association has held sacred for almost 80 years. While it might be easy to abandon this series due to a recent mischaracterization, we cannot ignore the fact that the vast majority of our nearly 53,000 members demonstrate the highest level of professionalism in their jobs and in their cockpits as they interact with other crewmembers, employees, and passengers. Frankly, there are just too many positive examples among our professional members not to share the stories, the viewpoints, and the personal attitudes that exemplify what it is to be an airline pilot and motivate others to achieve high professional standards.

After making adjustments to the selection process, we hope to feature members who positively showcase our profession. ALPA is committed to ensuring that all future pilot profiles will truthfully represent the core values that are contained in ALPA’s Code of Ethics.

After the April magazine was printed and mailed, we were made aware that information in the pilot profile was inaccurate. We immediately asked the pilot if the information regarding his military activity for the New
Jersey Air National Guard was correct, and he assured us that the information in the magazine was factual. However, when checking with the 177th operations group commander, he informed us that the information
was false—the pilot was neither a member of the 177th Fighter Wing nor the 119th Fighter Squadron. When given the assignment to interview the candidate selected for the “Code of Ethics” role model, we used the
nomination form as the basis for the interview with the pilot and for the text in the article. Conversations with this pilot disclosed a lot about his life, and it was his choice to release such a significant amount of information on his life outside of his ALPA professional flying career and his union volunteer work.

It is not our practice to fact check ALPA members because we do not work from the premise that our members are giving us misinformation. We don’t know the extent to which this pilot fabricated facts about his life;
however, this incident will lead to changes in our review procedures because we are committed to providing only facts, not embellishments or misstatements.

Air Line Pilot staff
Fraternally,
Capt. Chuck Hogeman
Chairman, ALPA Human Factors & Training Group
Capt. John Rosenberg
Chairman, ALPA Professional Standards Committee
Capt. John Sluys
Chairman, ALPA Professional Development Group