Multiplying Engagement—Pursuing Industry and Labor Partnerships to Achieve Shared Goals

Editor’s note: In celebration of ALPA’s 95th anniversary this year, this nine-part Air Line Pilot series revisits some of the union’s “wins”—successful campaigns, projects, and products that make public air transportation safer and more secure and that improve the working lives of the union’s members.

ALPA Wins, Part 4: Multiplying Engagement

Throughout its history, ALPA has established strategic coalitions and collaborative partnerships with like-minded organizations to influence crucial policy decisions. Capt. Jason Ambrosi, the Association’s president, has commented that “ALPA members are stronger when we work together.” The same holds true for instances when the Association joins forces with airline industry and labor peers. The resulting affiliations increase stakeholders’ collective authority and influence and improve the chances of achieving shared goals. Global coalitions can leverage collective strengths, including varied expertise and broader networks, to more effectively address complex issues.

Out of Many, One

As communities around the world began to realign and rebuild after World War II, airline pilots were no different. In April 1948, ALPA, the Canadian Air Line Pilots Association, and 11 other pilot unions founded the International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA) to build a strong and unified coalition at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the newly created aviation branch of the United Nations. International commercial aviation was expanding rapidly, and the rules governing it were about to be written. Airline pilots knew they needed to be part of the process. For more than seven decades, the federation has ensured that those who actually fly the aircraft have meaningful input on the standards and policies that govern their profession.

Originally based in the UK, IFALPA relocated to Montréal, Qué., in 2012, a thoughtful move to establish roots steps from ICAO’s headquarters where decisions are made. Today, the federation represents more than 160,000 pilots (including ALPA members) in over 70 countries; holds permanent observer status at ICAO’s Air Navigation Commission and ICAO Council; and participates on numerous panels and task forces, shaping everything from aircraft design criteria to global aviation safety policy.

ALPA members hold prominent leadership roles within IFALPA. Capt. Ron Hay (Delta) serves as IFALPA’s current president, joined by Capt. Stacey Jackson (WestJet) as executive vice president of Technical & Safety Standards and Capt. Gregg Hurley (Delta) as executive vice president of the Caribbean & North America. (For coverage of this year’s annual meeting, see “ALPA at the World Stage: IFALPA’s 80th Annual Conference,” at the end of this article.)

Aligning with Business Partners

When airlines began forming global alliances in the late 1990s, airline pilots were paying attention. Carriers were joining forces to offer expanded routes and shared loyalty programs and to develop joint marketing campaigns, and pilot unions recognized quickly that these same alliances could be used as leverage against them in labor disputes. As a result, pilots built alliances of their own.

Today, the three major airline alliances each have a corresponding pilot coalition. The Associations of Star Alliance Pilots (ASAP) is comprised of pilots from Air Canada, United Airlines, and 24 other carriers. The Oneworld Cockpit Crew Coalition features pilots from Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines. The SkyTeam Pilots Association includes pilots from Delta Air Lines.

These pilot alliances have been successful. When Lufthansa pilots engaged in several strikes in March 2026, ASAP members, including the pilots of Air Canada and United, ensured that their carriers didn’t interfere or take unfair advantage of the circumstances created by the Lufthansa pilots’ work stoppage.

Threat to the Profession: A Business Decision Disguised As Innovation

In Europe, aircraft manufacturers Airbus and Dassault approached the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) with a proposal to remove one pilot from the flight deck. Under the banner of new technology and progress, EASA deemed the idea worthy of a Safety Risk Assessment study in 2021, commissioning what was called the “Extended Minimum Crew Operations–Single-Pilot Operations” study.

The proposal had two phases. The first, extended minimum crew operations (eMCO), would allow a single pilot to manage the flight deck during the cruise phase while the other pilot rested elsewhere on the aircraft. The second phase would introduce single-pilot operations (SPO) in which one pilot flies a commercial airliner with occasional remote assistance from a ground-based operator.

The safety implications of this scheme are profound. The two-pilot standard exists for good reason: aviation safety demands redundancy, shared decision-making, and human judgment under pressure. Removing one pilot isn’t innovation; it’s slashing a safety net for a profit. Airbus pitched these ideas as part of a disguised effort to market aircraft models intended for these operations.

ALPA and pilot unions around the world have been unequivocal in their opposition. The fight against reduced-crew operations (RCO) is about the safety of every cargo and passenger airline flight.

“Safety Starts with 2”

On March 27, 2023, an alliance of the world’s largest pilot organizations came together and drew a line in the sand for safety. Pilot representatives from ALPA, IFALPA, and the European Cockpit Association (ECA), along with the three pilot alliances, launched a massive public relations campaign to expose this “profit-driven scheme that poses a significant safety risk.”

“Safety Starts with 2” was the message and the campaign title. White papers, social media and newspaper ads, videos, websites, press conferences, and government lobbying efforts were just some of the tools the pilot organizations used to communicate that the most important safety feature on any airliner is having two well-trained, well-rested professional pilots at the controls of the aircraft.

Individual IFALPA groups like the Lebanese Airline Pilot Association ran an online campaign with more than 150,000 views on Instagram, 130,000 views on TikTok, and 145,000 views on YouTube, culminating in over 425,000 views throughout the Arab world. The campaign’s message was clear: while airline pilots welcome innovation and the introduction of new technological developments, any changes must provide the crew with better situational awareness and not attempt to replace it.

ALPA sent a letter on Aug. 5, 2024, to Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury that outlined why the manufacturer should
reconsider the pursuit of RCO, highlighting a recent disruption to the airline industry and the risks of placing too high a reliance on automation. The letter noted, “The lesson here is the certain fallibility of technology and the necessity of technology as an assistant to human professionals and monitored airline operations rather than replacement.”

In 2025, EASA’s Safety Risk Assessment ended. The agency’s conclusion was that “an equivalent level of safety
between eMCO and the current two-crew operations can’t be sufficiently demonstrated.”

“Thanks to the extraordinary pressure brought to bear by airline pilots across the globe, European aviation regulators are retooling their review of RCO,” Ambrosi observed “While this is a step in the right direction, whether it’s branded as a ‘smart cockpit’ or eMCO, removing pilots from the flight deck is a dangerous idea.”

Labor Support

ALPA has long understood that the strength of any union is amplified by the company it keeps. In the United States, the Association is an affiliate of the AFL-CIO as well as a member of its Transportation Trades Department (TTD), a coalition of 39 member unions, including millions of workers in every mode of transportation in both the private and public sectors. Former ALPA president Capt. Randy Babbitt served as the TTD vice president. ALPA Canada holds active membership in the Canadian Labour Congress, ensuring that Canadian pilots are equally involved in their national labor community.

These relationships are more than symbolic. They ensure that when airline pilots need support, whether in a contract fight, a safety battle, or a legislative push, they can draw on the solidarity of organized workers.

On the global stage, ALPA is affiliated with the International Transportation Workers’ Federation, which represents 16.6 million transportation workers in 150 countries who are members of more than 760 transport unions. The scale of that network ensures that ALPA’s voice carries weight far beyond the aviation industry.

“Deny NAI”

Take the fight against Norwegian Air International (NAI) as a case in point. More than a decade ago, Norwegian Air Shuttle devised an elaborate workaround to operate low-cost flights across the Atlantic using an Irish subsidiary—Norwegian Air International (NAI).

The airline sidestepped regulatory scrutiny because its aircraft never landed in or took off from Ireland, where the carrier was based, but from elsewhere in Europe. In addition, NAI pilots were hired with individual employment contracts through a Singapore employment firm and based in Thailand.

ALPA’s work with the ECA set the stage for transatlantic opposition. Together, the Association and the ECA successfully advocated for the U.S.-EU Air Transport Agreement to include a labor clause, something no other U.S. air transport agreement had. The clause provided that labor laws and standards wouldn’t be undermined by the new types of flights the agreement made possible, including the ones NAI sought to operate. ALPA and the ECA criticized NAI for operating under a flag-of-convenience business model, raising countless concerns regarding safety and the undermining of established labor practices. In a 2014 USA Today op-ed, the union laid out exactly what was happening: “Why would a company go through so much trouble? By registering in Ireland, instead of Norway where its parent and sister companies are based, NAI can avoid Norway’s employment, regulatory, and tax laws and is able to use this convoluted business scheme, which wouldn’t be allowed in Norway.

“NAI’s sister airline, Norwegian Long Haul (NLH), based in Norway, already flies to the United States with ‘low fares’ that U.S. consumers are free to choose now. Did ALPA launch an opposition campaign against NLH? No. Because ALPA isn’t opposed to competition—in fact, we welcome it—when the competition adheres to the rules.”

What followed was an incredibly coordinated labor campaign. The Association, the TTD, other U.S. labor groups, and even airlines, joined forces and launched an aggressive advocacy initiative urging the U.S. federal government to put an end this chicanery. Efforts included a White House picket, radio advertisements, and banners on Capitol Hill newspaper websites and Navy Yard-Ballpark Washington, D.C., Metro station billboards.

In addition, an ALPA whiteboard video and a #FinishTheJob social media campaign clearly explained the impropriety
of allowing NAI to operate flights to the United States. Plus, nearly 35,000 pilots and other campaign supporters participated in ALPA’s Call to Action urging Congress to stand in opposition to NAI’s foreign air carrier application.

“NAI is a rogue business model that shouldn’t receive the blessing of our government to violate the U.S.-EU air services agreement and eviscerate labor standards here and in Europe,” said then TTD President Edward Wytkind in a public statement.

After nearly three years, the public campaign and the legal fight at the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) came to an end. Unfortunately, under European pressure, the DOT ultimately authorized this elaborate arrangement. Nonetheless, the campaign made its mark and set an effective template for what a united labor force can accomplish, one that ALPA and its partners would carry into every fight that followed. The fight that a united labor team mounted became a cautionary tale about what happens when pilots, unions, airlines, and lawmakers refuse to look the other way. Moreover, not long afterward, NAI changed its business model and ceased its flights across the Atlantic.

The Deny NAI campaign proved that the goals of organized labor are best achieved together. What anyone organization might have struggled to achieve alone, a united coalition can accomplish—and that lesson continues to be relevant today.

ALPA at the World Stage: IFALPA’s 80th Annual Conference

More than 75 countries gathered in Istanbul, Turkey, in April for the 80th Annual Conference of the International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA). Capt. Jason Ambrosi, ALPA’s president, represented the union, IFALPA’s largest member association, during some of the week’s most critical discussions.

Safety Culture: On a featured panel exploring how pilots can influence safety culture regionally and globally, Ambrosi’s message was straightforward: “Stay engaged, ask for help, don’t give up.” The conference reinforced what ALPA has long championed—that punitive responses to safety reporting suppress the very information that prevents accidents. IFALPA called on operators and regulators worldwide to make nonpunitive reporting not just practice, but policy.

Reduced-Crew Operations (RCO): ALPA’s position on RCO is clear, and the Istanbul conference was an important opportunity to say so on the world stage. “No business case justifies reducing the crew on the flight deck,” Ambrosi stressed. “Safety isn’t a cost to be optimized.” With regulatory discussions on RCO actively under way at the International Civil Aviation Organization, ALPA’s voice matters.

GNSS Interference: The meeting also sounded the alarm on the growing threat of GPS jamming and spoofing. Driven largely by military and geopolitical activity, these incidents are increasing in frequency and reach, compromising the navigation systems modern aircraft depend on. IFALPA called for urgent action from states, regulators, and manufacturers.

The conference concluded on World Pilots’ Day—a fitting close for a week defined by collective advocacy.