ALPA

Leadership From the Flight Deck

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.

Categories: Advocacy


By Philip Prada, First Officer, Spirit Airlines

Over the last decade, three state-owned carriers in the Middle East (Emirates, Qatar, and Etihad = ME3) have received more than $42 billion in subsidies and other unfair benefits. On the surface, it’s easy to see why my fellow pilots who fly for low cost carriers don’t believe this issue impacts them. The initial thought is that this only impact international flying at American, Delta, and United. But, the tie is much more closely linked to low cost carriers and regionals. Let me tell you why as a Spirit pilot, I am highly concerned about the impact on the low cost carrier market.

While U.S. airlines compete fairly in our free market, the ME3 carriers are cheating the system and playing by their own rules. They want to dominate the American market – the largest, most lucrative air service market in the world – and are cheating to win. The schemes that the governments of Emirates, Qatar and Etihad use to infuse money into their airlines so they never have to show a profit come in the form of direct capital injections and interest free loans that have no repayment schedule. Of the $42billion, $3.3 billion was spent for the construction of terminal 3 in DXB, Emirates new, exclusive use A380 hub.

Categories: Advocacy, Pilot Partisan


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.


Categories: Events, International, Industry


On this Veterans Day and Remembrance Day, ALPA is proud to recognize the men and women who have served in the United States and Canadian military. Throughout these nations’ histories, servicemen and women have helped to safeguard our countries and their citizens’ freedom and the democratic way of life.

While veterans grant security to every citizen in Canada and the United States, the military is strongly connected with the airline industry. Many airline pilots like myself learned to fly while serving in the armed forces. After their service, many military pilots elect to apply their skills and experience as airline pilots flying passengers and cargo for commercial airlines.

Even while working in the U.S. airline industry, many pilots proudly support the U.S. military through their airlines’ participation in the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) program. Today, many airlines with ALPA-represented pilots commit to help our nations and fellow citizens by providing airlift when needed to support humanitarian and defense missions, both internationally and domestically.

Categories: Events
Tags: Canada


By Capt. Joe DePete

Today, I had the privilege of helping to host ALPA’s Air Cargo Symposium. This one-day event provided a rare opportunity to hear from experts from across aviation’s all-cargo sector on ways improve safety and security for this vital segment of the transportation industry. 

Along with ALPA President Capt. Tim Canoll, we welcomed FAA Administrator Michael Huerta and National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Christopher Hart who addressed attendees, and those viewing the live webcast, on collaborative and innovative efforts to increase cargo safety and productivity.

Categories: Events
Tags: Cargo


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