On the night of Feb. 12, 2009, Colgan Air Flight 3407, operating as a Continental Connection flight, crashed on approach to Buffalo, N.Y. Fifty people were fatally injured that night, including all four crewmembers, the 45 passengers, and one individual on the ground.

The crash was the last in a series of four high-profile fatal airline accidents over a six-year timeframe in the United States, and the ensuing investigation introduced serious questions regarding numerous safety issues within the airline industry. As a result, several notable safety advancements were enacted in the wake of the Colgan crash, including an increase in pilot training, qualifications, and experience requirements.

For more than 80 years, the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) has advanced aviation safety and security on behalf of pilots, crewmembers, and the flying public. During the early days of air travel, pilots lacked many basic safety provisions. That’s why ALPA’s founder and first president, Capt. Dave Behncke, brought pilots together with one goal in mind—to advance aviation safety. And that goal remains the core of our mission today. ALPA is the largest airline pilot union in the world, growing to more than 63,000 #TrainedforLife pilots at 35 airlines in the United States and Canada.

Worldwide, one of the biggest threats to the aviation system are atypical employment models, such as the ones being used by Ryanair in several countries in Europe.  Employers—through a variety of schemes—use atypical employment to dissolve their direct relationship with their pilots and cabin crews. These arrangements, which may include misclassifying pilots as self-employed or independent contractors, are meant to undermine the right to collectively bargain and otherwise dismantle the traditional employee-employer relationship related to pay, benefits, and working conditions

This week, aviation safety experts throughout North America are gathering for the American Association of Airport Executives’ 2019 North American Bird Strike conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia. As a long-standing advocate for reducing the number and severity of bird strikes, ALPA safety representatives joined other industry stakeholders to share information on ways to reduce wildlife hazards and promote awareness on advancements in detection and warning technologies.

Each day, the Association’s safety representatives work with individual airports through ALPA’s Airport Safety Liaison program to give managers and officials the line pilot’s perspective on ways to improve wildlife-mitigation programs. However, while numerous prevention practices are at work, bird strikes still occur. And when one does happen, a report is normally filled out, and what remains of the struck bird is gathered by ground crews and mailed away for expert analysis. Find out what else happens after a bird strike here.

Yesterday, bipartisan legislation was introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives that, if passed, would defend U.S. trade deals, promote fair competition for U.S. airlines, and protect the jobs of airline pilots and other airline workers in the United States.