Unparalleled Expertise and Experience

The highest levels of safety and security aren’t achieved by one individual or action. They’re a shared responsibility built on the dedication, expertise, and collaboration of individuals, groups, and systems working together. ALPA pilots play a critical role in aviation safety and security while operating thousands of flights every day. And they’re not alone.

From the moment our members leave home for a trip until they return, the Association’s aviation professionals work to make every part of their job safer and push for continuous improvements across the aviation system. Beyond the flight deck, the union’s Engineering & Air Safety (E&AS) Department works alongside ALPA’s Air Safety Organization (ASO) representatives and collaborates with government agencies and industry stakeholders to enhance airline safety and strengthen security. Together, they help ensure that air travel remains the safest mode of transportation for our members, the passengers they serve, and the cargo they carry.

For many of our members, the full scope of the aviation experience and expertise supporting them each day through the Association’s E&AS team remains unseen unless they’ve worked directly with the department, participated in pilot trainings or meetings, attended the Air Safety Forum, or called ALPA’s Accident/Serious Incident Hotline or the Pilot Peer Support line. E&AS staff, most having pursued aerospace education and training to support their chosen careers as aviation safety and security professionals, partner with ASO pilots and various committees to effect change and bring the airline pilot perspective to all aspects of the aviation industry. We provide resources and foster information sharing so that each of the union’s pilot groups can align behind shared safety and security goals set forth in ALPA’s strategic plan.

Our people are the department’s greatest asset in the union’s efforts to safeguard every facet of the aviation system and drive meaningful change in support of airline pilots. E&AS leverages the team’s vast experience and expertise by

• Calling for accountability when cost and profit compete with airworthiness issues;
• The prevention of aircraft systems interference;
• Avionics upgrades that improve safety;
• Staving off changes to pilot training, aeromedical, airport environments, or security that do not meet today’s standards;
• Holding the line when stakeholders want exemptions from regulatory requirements that maintain safety, when new entrants don’t meet the same safety rigor in shared airspace or when efficiency is at the expense of safety, or when proposals promote using safety data for unintended purposes;
• Protecting system integrity when certification shortcuts are considered, when desires for answers exist before investigations are complete, or when stakeholders suggest the human role in safety can be diminished;
• Promoting change when regulations haven’t kept pace with today’s airline industry, when data predicts how to prevent an accident or incident, when cargo aircraft and operations are not provided the same level of protection; and
• Prioritizing pilot well-being.

The highest levels of safety and security are not accomplished by one individual or action. They are accomplished by ensuring that the line-pilot perspective is considered in every decision through direct involvement in rulemaking, advisory and technical committees, investigations, every analyzed dataset, standards development, and hundreds of public comments filed annually. At ALPA, they are accomplished in partnership with leadership, the ASO, and E&AS staff who proudly support the world’s largest pilot union.

Who We Are

• Pilots in Parts 121, 135, and 91 operations, flight instructors, and flight attendants;

• Air Force loadmaster and air traffic controller who mastered aircraft maintenance, engines, and systems;

• Aviation weather specialist;

• Harrier flight control engineer;

• GPS/flight management systems and ACARS modernization program lead;

• ALPA pilot Central Air Safety Committee volunteer;

• FBI agent with aerial surveillance expertise;

• NTSB and Transportation Safety Board of Canada investigators;

• FAA Flight Standards leaders with expertise in aviator and operator oversight, rulemaking, flight operations, nextgen, navigation technologies, aircraft certification, and engine continued operational safety;

• Transport Canada inspector and NAV CANADA procedure designer;

• Naval Air Systems Command engineer;

• Aerospace and electrical engineers;

• Aviation security and cybersecurity specialists;

• Safety program and data experts;

• Former airline personnel with experience in flight safety, technical operations, certificate integration, and investigations;

• Public-health communication specialist who helped launch the Aeromedical Safety Coalition;

• Human factors expert with flight deck design and evaluation experience;

• Airport operations and environmental specialists;

• Occupational health and safety specialist;

• Airspace operations expert;

• Reliability analyst specializing in maintenance optimization and corrosion analysis;

• Artificial intelligence specialist;

• Aviation attorney with expertise in regulations, technology, and operations; and

• Exceptional administrative professionals who ensure that our department and more than 60 annual pilot trainings and meetings run smoothly.