ALPA Advocacy

The Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA) is the world’s largest airline pilot union, representing more than 79,000 professional airline pilots at 42 airlines in the United States and Canada. ALPA is also the largest nongovernmental aviation safety organization in the world with expertise and resources in flight crew training, crew management and human factors, airline and air traffic operations, airline design and certification, accident investigation, aviation security, air cargo, international aviation, and environmental factors.

Our Top Priorities

Oppose Reduced-Crew Operations

The most important safety feature on any commercial aircraft is two well-trained, well-rested professional pilots. Ample evidence—including more than a decade of study by NASA and the FAA—confirms that the safety risks associated with single-pilot operations far outweigh any potential benefits. ALPA supports innovation and the introduction of new technology on the flight deck to enhance safety and improve pilot situational awareness, but some foreign manufacturers are pushing single-pilot aircraft, including so-called “extended minimum crew operations” (eMCO), for the purpose of removing a pilot from the flight deck. This creates unacceptable risk and is inconsistent with decades of U.S. and international safety regulations.

Do Not Raise the Pilot Retirement Age

ALPA supports the current pilot retirement age of 65 for U.S. commercial airline (FAR Part 121) operations. This is consistent with international standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Some stakeholders have claimed that the United States should unilaterally raise the retirement age due to an insufficient number of pilots to support today’s operations and future travel demand, but such claims are false. The facts point to the opposite: Seven airlines have frozen pilot hiring, several airlines—both major and regional—have furloughed pilots, and many more have offered early out buyout packages to reduce headcount. All of this suggests a glut, rather than shortage, of pilots. The alleged “pilot shortage” was a temporary post-COVID matter of captain attrition driven by mainline carrier growth, which has ended. Raising the retirement age would not increase pilot supply, but rather would create massive disruption to air carrier operations, as some categories of pilots may not be able to fly at all and more senior pilots (who could no longer fly international routes) would be forced to retrain in order to fly domestic-only flights (bumping less senior pilots). Such a change would force a cascading and costly training event that would reduce the number of available pilots.

Maintain First Officer Qualification Standards

Pilot training and qualification regulations are critical to aviation safety, and there is no shortcut to the flight deck. Pilots spend numerous hours each year training, refining their skills, and preparing for the unexpected. To receive the Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) certificate, which is required to fly a commercial airliner, first officers must have logged at least 1,500 hours of flight time. However, under law, the FAA allows first officers (or “copilots”) to have as little as 750 hours of flight experience based on the rigor and method of their flight training. There is no need to change these qualifications. Proposals to weaken pilot training and qualification requirements to manage pilot supply are inappropriate and unsafe. ALPA has supported changes in the treatment of student loan programs to help ease the expense and burden of pilot training, rather than undermining the safety of the industry by reducing pilot training and qualification standards. U.S. pilots meet the highest qualification requirements in the world, and we are proud that with 45,000 flights a day transporting nearly 3 million passengers, the United States has the safest skies in the world.

Protect U.S. Pilots and Aviation Workers in International Aviation Agreements

For more than a decade, ALPA has fended off “flag of convenience” airlines from spreading in the United States. These foreign carriers typically structure their operations in atypical ways and “forum shop” for the lowest wage, regulatory, or tax laws. These practices, if allowed to continue, will undermine the stability of the U.S. airline industry, put aviation safety at risk, and cost U.S. jobs. International aviation should not be a race to the bottom for worker wages and benefits, and the United States should do more to promote and protect its airline workers and its airlines. The Department of Transportation should prioritize U.S. workers as part of the standard public-interest analysis when evaluating foreign and domestic airline certification and joint ventures between air carriers.

Ensure Safety Is the Top Priority for New Entrants to the Airspace

ALPA embraces technological advances that can improve safety and efficiency. New entrants such as Uncrewed Aerial Systems, drones, Advanced Air Mobility platforms like “flying taxis,” and commercial space launches are becoming increasingly common in the nation’s airspace. However, all users must meet the high level of safety, scrutiny, and oversight that is demanded of commercial aviation. ALPA is committed to working collaboratively with industry, regulators, and other stakeholders to open the national airspace to additional users, but this integration must not introduce risk that could negatively affect safety for commercial aviation and the flying public.

Pilot Mental Health

Airline pilots must undergo thorough vetting and medical exams throughout their career, and ALPA supports these rigorous standards. ALPA has been a leader in development and implementation of programs that support pilots’ mental health, including building our own pilot peer support program, which is available to pilots 24/7. However, Congress and the FAA can do more to improve the lengthy aeromedical review process and encourage pilots to seek treatment when needed. ALPA supports implementation of the provisions in the 2024 FAA reauthorization bill to create an aeromedical working group and a medical portal modernization task group. ALPA also supports the Mental Health in Aviation Act, which would require the FAA to improve the review process and implement the consensus recommendations of the Mental Health Aviation Rulemaking Committee.