Leadership From the Flight Deck
Thank you to Leadership from the Cockpit followers for submitting great questions for our new “Ask a Pilot” segment. The topic today is unmanned aircraft systems (you may know them as “drones”)—a hot issue on Capitol Hill and in news headlines across the country. Capt. Tim Canoll, ALPA’s president, provides the answers to three interesting questions from followers.
Earlier today, I testified before the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee's Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) Subcommittee and discussed the urgent need to address all aspects of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) operations in order to protect the safety of the U.S. national airspace system.
This was the second time this month that ALPA was called to Capitol Hill regarding this important issue, allowing us the opportunity to reiterate the importance for Congress to direct the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to regulate all operations of UAS, including recreational and hobby use.
While ALPA supports advancing America’s competitiveness through the use of UAS, safety is paramount. Recently, we launched a four-part action plan to safely integrate UAS with focused efforts on education, registration, technology, and penalties, and enforcement.
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.
By Capt. Dan Adamus, ALPA Canada Board President
In yesterday’s federal elections, Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party of Canada won a decisive victory. On behalf of the ALPA Canada Board, we congratulate Canada’s next prime minister and look forward to working with our new government in furthering our mission as a forceful advocate of the airline piloting profession.
Among our top priorities for this new government is the repeal of several anti-labour laws, including C-377 and C-525, both of which would adversely affect labour unions, including ALPA.
Today, I joined Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx and various stakeholders in announcing the launch of a new task force assigned to streamline a registration process for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS).