No one is more committed to ensuring we have enough qualified and experienced pilots than ALPA. The good news is that the FAA continues to issue more airline transport pilot licenses to pilots in the United States than there are jobs available for new airline pilots. The great news is that air travel is the safest mode of transportation in the world due to our commitment to schedule with safety.
In 2016, more than 9,000 pilots earned their ATP licenses, and as they entered the marketplace in 2017, they were competing for 4,500 available airline pilot jobs, according to recent airline hiring data. The reality is that airlines offering competitive wages and benefits, reasonable working conditions, and a solid career path are having no problem attracting qualified applicants.
Unfortunately, as ALPA continues its work to ensure that we have a healthy future supply of pilots, some special-interest groups in Washington, D.C., are arguing we need to weaken life-saving air safety rules so their members can pay pilots on the cheap. In response to these disingenuous arguments, ALPA recently filed comments with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) imploring regulators to resist any proposed changes to the pilot-qualification requirements called for in the Airline Safety and FAA Extension Act of 2010. There is no question that the safety title of that act has made our skies safer. In fact, since passage of the measure, there has not been a single airline passenger fatality on a U.S. Part 121 carrier. Over the two decades prior to this law’s enactment, more than 1,100 people were killed in such accidents.
Skilled pilots are the backbone of the aviation industry. Without them, commercial aviation could not exist. ALPA has long maintained that, as an industry, we can address pilot-supply issues without weakening air safety rules or jeopardizing the flying public. ALPA’s unrelenting efforts to improve airline safety are highlighted in our ongoing "Trained for Life" campaign, which is geared to remind passengers, cargo shippers, airline management groups and executives, and industry influencers of the commitment to training that airline pilots demonstrate every day to maintain our skills—and keep our skies the safest in the world.