ALPA in the States

With only a handful of state legislatures still sitting, let’s take a look at the wins ALPA achieved at the state level this year. Several states made changes to their existing sick- and family-leave programs in 2025. The Association used the state legislative process to fix accrual issues that can diminish the benefit for or exclude flight crews entirely from paid-sick-leave benefits and other leave benefits.

Typically, state paid-sick-leave laws include an hours-accrual formula that requires employees to work a certain number of hours either weekly, monthly, or annually to be eligible for employer-paid sick leave. The typical hours-accrual formula provides that an employee will accrue a certain number of hours of sick leave per work week, with the work week measured as anywhere between 30 and 40 hours, depending on the law in question. This results in a diminished or totally inaccessible benefit for flight crews as federal law limits pilots to 32 hours of flying in a week and no more than 1,000 hours in a year.

In Michigan, a split legislature sought to make modifications to the Earned Sick Time Act. Initially, the Michigan House of Representatives appeared prepared to completely carve out flight crews at the urging of the airline industry. However, through the union’s affiliation and engagement with the Michigan AFL-CIO, and the efforts of Capt. Ryan Breznau (Delta), ALPA’s state labor representative; Michigan-based pilots; and ALPA’s Government Affairs team, the Association defeated airlines’ efforts to exclude flight crews. On February 21, House Bill 4002 was modified and signed into law amending the Michigan Earned Sick Time Act to not only continue to include pilots and flight attendants in the state’s sick-leave benefit but to create a new special-accrual process so that Michigan-based pilots can more easily access state sick leave.

In Oregon, the legislature amended its family leave law, the Oregon Family Leave Act, at the urging of ALPA to enable flight crews to access benefits. Oregon’s law had included an hours-accrual requirement that made it hard for pilots to qualify for the state’s leave benefits. Government Affairs worked with the Oregon AFL-CIO and business stakeholders to reach an agreement on a new special-accrual formula for pilots. After the Association’s engagement, state legislators changed the provision in the legislation to allow flight crews to use the maximum leave benefit. The bill was signed into law on May 14, with the new flight crew accrual formula taking effect on September 26.

Earlier this year, the Vermont legislature sought to update its unpaid-leave statute to expand the allowable uses of the leave benefit. Vermont’s underlying leave program included an hours-accrual requirement of 30 hours worked per week to qualify, thereby excluding flight crews. The union worked with the AFL-CIO and directly engaged with the Vermont legislature to provide a legislative remedy to correct the exclusion. In May, legislation that included ALPA’s remedy passed both chambers, and the governor signed the legislation, allowing flight crews to avail themselves of the full benefit.

In addition to these legislative victories, the Association has worked to address and defend issues in California. Several California-based members have experienced problems with the state’s short-term disability program. California-based pilots are required to pay into the short-term disability program; however, there have been cases in which pilots are wrongfully denied when using the benefit. ALPA worked with the California AFL-CIO to explain the issue to the California Employment Development Department (CA EDD). Collaborating with the CA EDD, the union was able to provide examples of denials, which the CA EDD used to reverse engineer the claims and pay out the appropriate benefit.

Additionally, the Association has successfully pushed back against the airline industry’s attempt to persuade California to exempt pilots and flight attendants from its wage statement law. California’s labor code requires that employers provide a written, itemized wage statement with each paycheck. The statement must include total hours worked, gross wages, and all rates of pay, among other requirements. The law gives California-based pilots information to ensure they’re being paid correctly. Airlines contended they were unable to comply with the law and thus needed a special exemption to no longer have to report different rates of pay, among other requirements.

ALPA worked with the California governor’s office to demonstrate that airlines are capable of complying and that exempting them would leave pilots without the ability to verify if they’re being paid correctly. Ultimately, the governor’s office understood that such a special-interest carveout for airlines was both needless and contrary to the law’s purpose so flight crews continue to be protected under the wage statement law.

To defend these successes, ALPA needs to know if members are being denied benefits and where the system is working. The union has multiple departments and committees coordinating state-leave issues. If you’re experiencing issues with state benefit programs, reach out to any of these resources: your Government Affairs Committee chair or GovernmentAffairs@alpa.org, your Family Assistance Working Group representative or FamilyAssistanceGroup@alpa.org, or your Retirement & Insurance Committee representative.

This article was originally published in the August 2025 issue of Air Line Pilot.