March 25, 2020

ALPA pilots,

The power of collective action and the strength of this union were on full display as the U.S. Congress and the White House agreed early this morning to bipartisan legislation to stabilize the airline industry and protect the jobs of pilots and other aviation workers. The bill contains many of the pilot-partisan measures for which ALPA has been fighting—and you played a tremendous role in making it happen. Collectively, our union sent Congress more than 135,000 letters and thousands of social media messages calling for lawmakers to put workers first in any airline relief package—and they listened.

As ALPA made clear in our news statement, the legislation reflects our policy principles. We’re especially pleased to see included in the package grants for worker payrolls to immediately stabilize the industry, protective language to ensure that negotiated collective bargaining agreements are not abrogated, furlough limits, and restrictions on executive compensation, as well as a prohibition on stock buybacks for companies that receive federal aid.

In Canada, the government has also reached agreement on broad economic relief in response to COVID-19. ALPA Canada is engaged with the Prime Minister’s Office and various federal ministries to promote ALPA’s priorities to stabilize the Canadian airline industry and protect frontline aviation workers.

While a congressional relief package in the United States is welcome news, I know that these times are deeply unsettling for ALPA pilots—both on the line and in our living rooms. In this new COVID-19 reality, each of us is struggling to keep ourselves healthy and protect those we care about, while also confronting the disease’s ramifications on our industry and our careers.

If we were facing this situation alone, the pressure might seem overwhelming, but the fact is that ALPA pilots are shouldering this burden together, united as one. In the United States and Canada, ALPA is taking on this challenge from three angles: protecting your health, preserving your career, and strengthening our profession.

As union brothers and sisters, ALPA pilots are helping each other stay healthy on the flight deck and across the United States and Canada. In a message yesterday, Capt. Bob Fox, ALPA first vice president and national safety coordinator, catalogued the resources that Air Safety Organization pilot leaders and staff experts are providing, including late-breaking news on issues such as the FAA’s oxygen mask requirements and medicals and regular updates on our union’s Coronavirus Information for Flight Crews.

Even as the COVID-19 pandemic evolves, ALPA pilots are adhering to the high standards of professionalism that we demand of ourselves—and that our passengers and shippers expect. The pilot-in-command is the final authority over the safe operation of our flights. In a recent Air Safety Organization Safety Alert for pilots, our union underscored that pilots are trained to recognize the warning signs of a reduction in the level of safety for any reason, including mental distraction or illness, and to respond appropriately.

In this current environment, ALPA’s national officer team understands that pilots are being asked to accept flights without an assurance that every passenger on board is free of the virus. If you do not feel safe regarding a flight operation in the context of this outbreak, you’re entitled to make that judgment as the pilot-in-command and, more basically, as a pilot. I urge you to remember the FAA’s IMSAFE Checklist: Illness, Medication, Stress, Alcohol, Fatigue, and Emotion. Before we take off, airline pilots attest to the safety of our flight and our fitness for duty when we sign for the aircraft. As the pilot-in-command, we’re responsible for determining when it’s safe to fly—and when it’s not safe to fly. Now and always, ALPA will defend any member who chooses, in good faith, to exercise pilot-in-command authority or to decline to operate a flight out of legitimate safety concerns, including immediate health concerns for you and your crews.

As our global industry experiences flight reductions, reduced work schedules, hiring freezes, furloughs, and shutdowns, our union members in the United States and Canada are working to develop new measures to preserve jobs, salaries, and benefits. Unfortunately, we do have ALPA members who are experiencing furloughs. Our union is doing everything possible through ALPA’s Furloughed Pilots Support Program and across our organization to help those affected create financial plans, manage debt, secure assistance, and identify alternative employment. We’re also making ALPA’s resources accessible for our furloughed members well into the future.

We may have difficult days before us, but now and always, ALPA pilots stand together.

In unity,

Capt. Joe DePete
ALPA President