This week, the Partnership for Open & Fair Skies launched an industry-funded advertising campaign urging the Obama administration to enforce Open Skies agreements with the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. These full page ads, running in The Washington Post, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, call on the President and administration officials to ensure that these countries abide by the terms listed in our bilateral air service agreements. 

The Open Skies system can only work if all sides abide by the agreements they sign.  Unfortunately, Qatar and the UAE are violating our Open Skies agreements by pumping billions of dollars in government subsidies and unfair benefits into their state-owned carriers in an effort to dominate the global airline industry. These direct violations harm the U.S. economy and threaten tens of thousands American jobs.

By Capt. Chuck Hogeman, ALPA’s Air Safety Organization Safety Chair

Providing airline pilots with the highest standards of training has played no small role in making North American airline transportation the safest mode of mass transit in history. Part of that training should ensure that pilots demonstrate their ability to serve as pilot-in-command at multiple stages of their career. Passengers and the shipping public expect nothing less—in fact, they count on U.S. and Canadian airline pilots’ receiving the training and experience they need to perform their jobs.

I recently represented ALPA at the Gulf Aviation Training Event (GATE) in Dubai, and participated on a panel about pilot training. GATE is held annually to discuss the challenges of meeting the demand for pilots and maintenance personnel in the Middle East.

Participating in this event is just the latest example of how ALPA works not only across the continent, but also around the globe, to shape and secure the training standards and philosophies that we believe are necessary for airline pilots to meet safety challenges in today’s complex environment. Our union also constantly engages with regulators and industry to seek out opportunities to predict future challenges and identify ways to advance safety through enhancements to existing training programs.

The all-cargo airline environment is fast-paced, dynamic, and faces numerous unique risk-management challenges. On November 5, ALPA is hosting a one-day Air Cargo Symposium, “Outside the Box: Better Ideas for Air Cargo Safety and Security,” where we will explore ways to improve safety and security for this vital segment of the transportation industry.

Today, ALPA is excited to announce the launch of “Ask a Pilot” - a new reoccurring segment of the union’s blog Leadership from the Cockpit.  

Through this new segment, blog followers can submit aviation-related questions for a chance to have it selected for posting on Leadership from the Cockpit, along with a response from one of ALPA’s airline pilots. 

How to participate? 3 Simple Steps:

1) Send your aviation-related questions to Media@alpa.org.

2) Type “Ask a Pilot” in the subject line of the e-mail.

3) If selected, one of our pilots will respond to your question in a future “Ask a Pilot” segment.

On Saturday, September 26, ALPA and the world’s aviation community celebrated Girls in Aviation Day, an international event sponsored by Women in Aviation International.

From Atlanta, Ga., to Ypsilanti, Mich., ALPA pilots were front and center in commemorating the day. Girls in Aviation Day is designed to give girls an opportunity to connect with other girls and women who are interested in aviation, explore careers in the aviation and aerospace industry, and experience firsthand what it’s like to be a pilot or other aviation industry professional.

As airline pilots, most of us felt the passion to fly from an early age—we knew we wanted to fly almost before we could walk. But understanding how to follow that passion required information and role models to show the way. Events like Girls in Aviation Day provide girls of all ages with the opportunity to meet pilots and other aviation professionals to learn about their real-word experiences and to ask questions in an encouraging environment.