WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA) reached a record 8,900 school students during the 2015–2016 academic year as the union celebrates more than 30 years of reaching new audiences to encourage men and women to consider becoming airline pilots.

“ALPA’s commitment to inspiring the next generation of airline pilots has been on proud display for eight decades, but never more clearly than this year, when we reached a record number of individuals of all ages to invite them to consider becoming an airline pilot,” said First Officer Richard Swindell, ALPA’s Professional Development Group chairman.

Throughout the union’s 85-year history and at the formal direction of ALPA’s Board of Directors since 1985, ALPA has reached out to a range of audiences to inspire individuals to learn more about the piloting profession. ALPA’s volunteer outreach team includes more than 1,300 mainline and regional pilots who fly both passengers and cargo in the United States and Canada.

“ALPA’s pilot volunteers can be seen in school classrooms from Seattle to Daytona Beach,” said First Officer Mark Haley, ALPA’s Education Committee chairman. “Connecting young people with the airline piloting profession is just one element of ALPA’s decades-long commitment to helping create the largest possible pool of qualified pilots for the future.”

Pilot volunteers visit grade schools to encourage pre-K through high school students to learn more about aviation and pilots’ work. During the 2015–16 academic year, ALPA members reached more than 8,900 students, leading interactive discussions about flying and life as an airline pilot as well as age-appropriate activities and lesson plans. In addition to classroom visits, the union’s volunteers also participate in events for school-aged children such as Girls in Aviation Day and the Aviation Education & Career Expo.

At universities across the United States, ALPA is supporting professional development and mentoring programs for post-secondary aviation students. In 2010, the union signed its first agreement to launch a university-level professional development and mentoring program—called an ACE Club––with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

In the six years since then, ALPA has established alliances with a total of nine universities to create professional development and mentoring programs that offer aviation students the opportunity to network, ask questions of airline pilots, and take behind-the-scenes tours of airliners and airports. In addition to formal programs and ACE Clubs, union members also regularly attend university career fairs and talk with students about the profession.

Internationally, ALPA recently became a partner with the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Next Generation of Aviation Professionals Initiative to “ensure that enough qualified and competent aviation professionals are available to operate, manage, and maintain the future international air transport system.”

ALPA’s outreach work doesn’t stop with schools. The union also participates in a broad range of community events and air shows in association with the National Gay Pilots Association, the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals, Women in Aviation International, and other organizations.