Air Line Pilot Magazine October 2025

Moving the Needle Forward on Safety and Security

Our commitment to safety is the foundation for everything our union does and the reason ALPA members collaborate with others to advance our industry and our profession. I’m extremely proud of our members’ efforts across the Association and the industry to achieve progress and keep our skies safe.

These past few weeks have been a testament to our collective efforts. In yet another government shutdown in the United States, we’re urging Congress to reach a deal to reopen the government with stable long-term funding, especially for the government’s critical aviation safety system. Earlier this month, an ALPA delegation attended the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Assembly to ensure that safety was at the forefront during aviation discussions. Priority issues included our strong opposition to proposals seeking to remove pilots from the flight deck and unstudied proposals to increase the international pilot retirement age. In both cases, the ICAO Assembly supported ALPA’s position.

In September, the Association hosted our 69th Air Safety Forum in Chicago, Ill., to celebrate our members’ hard work (Link to Air Safety Forum Awards) and ALPA’s commitment to collaborating and engaging with industry and government stakeholders to advance safety and security. As you’ll read in this issue, Jennifer Homendy, NTSB chairwoman; Yoan Marier, Transportation Safety Board of Canada chair; and Dr. Susan Northrup, the U.S. federal air surgeon, joined us, along with representatives from the FAA, manufacturers, labor unions, airlines, and the media. ALPA has ensured that the role of pilots in advancing safety extends beyond the flight deck and into the halls of government, meetings with management, and discussions with manufacturers. We must play an active role in the decision-making process affecting the airline industry and our careers.

At this year’s forum, I spoke about the Association’s past victories as a reminder that progress can take time, especially in an industry as regulated as aviation. Over our almost 95-year history, ALPA has championed safety initiatives that have sometimes taken years and decades to enact. Our efforts require persistence, as we’re often up against political motivations, corporate interests, and regulatory inertia. But our tireless work has paid off time and again, bringing about enhanced aircraft systems, modernized industry processes, and robust government regulations that have saved countless lives. We’ve helped create the safest transportation system in the world.

Our recent 9/11 remembrance ceremony also compels us to reflect on the significance of our work. We’ve seen what can happen when aviation security is compromised; and earlier this year, we saw the first U.S. passenger airline major fatal accident in 16 years. To honor the lives of those lost in every aviation tragedy, we remain committed to making our industry safer and more secure.

While we were gathered in Chicago, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Mental Health in Aviation Act. The bill requires implementation of the consensus recommendations of the Mental Health and Aviation Medical Clearances Aviation Rulemaking Committee, which the Association co-chaired. This legislation represents years of effort by ALPA pilots, both as safety experts who crafted the recommendations and as policy influencers who advocated for their inclusion in the bill. The legislation acknowledges that a pilot’s psychological well-being is just as important as their physical health. We stand ready to continue to work closely with our congressional champions in the Senate and are committed to seeing the bill become law.

Health, safety, and security combine with our concentration on strong representation to serve the needs of our members. We’re addressing the challenges our members are facing through the fierce defense of Spirit pilots as their company faces financial challenges and through focused bargaining for our members at Air Transport International, FedEx Express, Frontier, and Western Global who’ve been in negotiations for way too long. We continue to work closely with Air Wisconsin and Ravn Alaska pilots as they navigate their airlines’ reduction in operations. The Association, with its vast resources, remains fully engaged in protecting pilots’ contract rights and helping members secure future flying opportunities.

ALPA is successful because we’re a team of dedicated individuals who commit our talent, expertise, and time to supporting our members and their careers. Together, we identify gaps, watch for threats, and advance solutions. Nothing happens without the dedication and efforts of our volunteers; and one step at a time, we continue to get the job done. I’d like to personally thank Capt. Wendy Morse, ALPA’s first vice president and national safety coordinator, for leading the Air Safety Forum and all our pilot volunteers and staff who made the forum a success.

This has been a tough year. But every step we take advances our safety mission, and together we’ll keep moving aviation forward.