Last week, ALPA hosted its 65th Air Safety Forum in Washington, D.C., with three days of private Air Safety Organization (ASO) committee, council, and group meetings followed by a full-day public session with speeches, in-depth discussions, and the annual awards banquet.
ALPA's president, Capt. Joe DePete, welcomed attendees to the Forum and highlighted the Association's history: "Learning from the danger that early aviators faced, airline pilots have helped lead North America to safer skies today." There has been loss along the way, unfortunately, but "we've turned pain into progress." And that progress continues. DePete reviewed an impressive list of successes ALPA has achieved and to ALPA's volunteers he said, "Thanks to you, humankind is and will forever be changed."
Bringing together pilot subject-matter experts, industry personnel, and government officials, the Air Safety Forum provides an essential step toward the successes of tomorrow—with casual conversations often sparking the first light of a solution. All told, the week epitomizes what Capt. Bob Fox, ALPA first vice president and national safety coordinator, referred to as "winning through collaboration."