Every four years, a leap year occurs to help sync the calendar year with the solar year. As we mark the first leap year in this new decade, it’s more important than ever that we help sync fatigue rules for U.S. cargo pilots with those pilots who fly for passenger airlines.

For decades, ALPA has advocated for One Level of Safety for the simple reason that a tired pilot is a tired pilot, regardless of payload. However, in 2011, when new fatigue rules were being implemented, airline financial interests and political pressure caused cargo pilots to be excluded from the regulations, creating a substandard level of safety. Despite this “cargo carveout,” there is no scientific basis for the separation of pilot duty and rest rules based on the type of operations they fly. Cargo pilots fly the same aircraft types, over the same routes, in the same airspace, and into the same airports as pilots of passenger airlines, and substandard levels of safety in regulations put the traveling public at risk.

To correct this situation, Congress recently introduced the Safe Skies Act that would apply the same flight, duty, and rest rules to cargo flights as commercial airlines to prevent the dangers posed by fatigued pilots. On the day it was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, ALPA stood shoulder to shoulder with cargo pilots from across the industry, as a united force with one united voice in support of the bill.

ALPA has been committed to achieving One Level of Safety for all for decades and will not stop until these science-based rules apply to all airline pilots. Join us in promoting One Level of Safety for all airline pilots and stress the importance of the Safe Skies Act by reaching out to your Member of Congress now to ask them to cosponsor S. 826/H.R. 5170.

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 decades, ALPA has advocated for One Level of Safety for one simple reason: a tired pilot is a tired pilot, regardless of payload. However, when new fatigue rules were implemented in 2011, a flawed cost-benefit analysis of the regulations excluded cargo pilots. Despite this “cargo carveout,” there is no scientific basis for the separate pilot duty and rest rules based on the type of operations they conduct. Cargo pilots fly the same routes, in the same airspace, and into the same airports as pilots of passenger airlines, and inconsistencies in regulations put the traveling public at risk.

The Association’s 63,000-plus members routinely travel to the four corners of the world. From the crowded Los Angeles, Calif., air corridor to the sparse tarmac of Resolute Bay Airport serving Resolute, Nunavut, ALPA pilots safely transport passengers and cargo on thousands of flights per day—all while sharing the airspace with commercial space operations and unmanned aircraft systems.

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.