Capt. Jason Ambrosi, ALPA’s president, addresses the Aero Club of Washington, urging cooperation among aviation stakeholders.

Capt. Jason Ambrosi, ALPA’s president, addressed members of the Aero Club of Washington at a luncheon on May 24, delivering a strong message about pilot unity, citing ALPA’s recent merger with the Air Canada Pilots Association, and the need to prioritize safety as Congress reauthorizes the FAA. This was Ambrosi’s first opportunity to speak before the group since beginning his term as ALPA’s president. He urged cooperation among aviation stakeholders, particularly airline managements and pilots, saying that the industry is stronger when they all work together.

“After only five months on the job, I’ve been proud to walk the informational picket line with pilots at WestJet, FedEx, and United,” said Ambrosi. “At these events and in many other ways, airline pilots stand together as one. We stand together in support of safe skies. We stand together in support of a strong aviation industry and a qualified and experienced pilot workforce. And we stand together to help our companies succeed. When airline managements recognize pilots as long-term stakeholders and respect their contributions with contracts that reflect their success, they’re better able to grow their operations, while attracting and retaining the finest aviators.”

But Ambrosi acknowledged that achieving cooperation hasn’t always been easy and pointed to areas of concern that have hindered efforts to work together. In particular, he addressed some of the rhetoric that airline managements have been pushing about a lack of pilots and the need to lower first officer qualification requirements. Ambrosi emphasized that recent statistics indicate there are more than enough certificated pilots to fill airline jobs and any talk of lowering standards only threatens safety.

“There’s no excuse for multiple attempts to weaken the safety standards that make flying the safest form of transportation,” he remarked. “Promoting false claims about pilot supply as justification to roll back safety is also unacceptable. These efforts are dangerous, particularly when it comes to first officer qualification, experience, and training requirements.”

Ambrosi suggested that this disregard for safety was the result of management decisions to focus on profits instead of upholding standards that have been proven effective for maintaining the highest levels of safety. He noted that some within the industry are currently working to reduce the number of crewmembers required on the flight deck.

“Some special interests are actively working to not only reduce safety training, but also to remove pilots from the flight deck altogether,” Ambrosi observed, highlighting efforts in Europe to introduce extended minimum-crew operations (eMCO) for some long-haul flights. “If reduced-crew operations such as eMCO take hold in one country, it threatens all of us, including U.S. passengers on international flights. For that reason, any effort to reduce crews on airliner flight decks anywhere in the world must be stopped.”

Ambrosi referenced a February 4 close call in Austin, Tex., in which a FedEx Express cargo airplane on approach and a Southwest Airlines passenger aircraft departing the same runway narrowly avoided collision, separated by only 115 feet. A potential catastrophe was averted when an alert FedEx pilot, F/O Robert Bradeen, recognized that the Southwest airplane hadn’t yet taken off. Bradeen attended the luncheon with Ambrosi as a guest of ALPA.

“F/O Bradeen can tell you firsthand that airline safety depends on having at least two highly qualified, appropriately trained, and well-rested pilots on the flight deck at all times.”

Ambrosi also voiced ALPA’s support for the Saracini Enhanced Aviation Safety Act of 2023, which would require a retrofit of secondary flight deck barriers on existing Part 121 aircraft as well as the installation of primary flight deck doors for all-cargo operations. He also called for the required availability of aircraft rescue and firefighting resources during all-cargo operations.

During the luncheon, the Aero Club presented scholarships to several students who are pursuing studies related to aviation and aerospace. Ambrosi suggested that there were a number of ways attendees could make a career in aviation more accessible to the next generation of pilots, including providing student loans for flight training programs, establishing grants to build flight training and education degree programs at minority-serving institutions, and making the Women in Aviation Advisory Board a permanent advisory committee to the FAA.

The Aero Club of Washington was founded in 1909 as a social organization to foster interest in aviation and educate the public about aviation issues. The club hosts monthly luncheons in Washington, D.C., providing a venue for prominent aviation and aerospace leaders to engage with policy makers, regulators, and other industry stakeholders.

“Every person and stakeholder organization gathered here today is part of the solution for the U.S. airline industry to be stronger together,” said Ambrosi. “Together, we can keep flying as extraordinarily safe as it is now while cultivating a strong pilot pipeline for the future. As an industry, we’re stronger together.”