ALPA welcomes House passing of Fair and Open Skies Act

WASHINGTON, D.C., 2019-Sep-23 — /Travel PR News/ — The Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), the world’s largest pilots union, issued the following statement today (September 19, 2019) after the U.S. House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee passed the Fair and Open Skies Act (H.R. 3632). The bill now goes to the floor of the House for consideration.

“The more than 63,000 pilots of ALPA are grateful to Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Aviation Subcommittee Chair Rick Larsen (D-WA), Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL), and Rep. Sharice Davids (D-KS) for their bipartisan leadership in protecting American jobs and fighting for fair competition for airline pilots and other U.S. airline workers.

“The Fair and Open Skies Act enables the Department of Transportation to prevent airlines with flag-of-convenience business models and other atypical employment practices from serving the United States. These venue-shopping efforts allow airlines to undermine workers’ pay, benefits, and work rules. In addition, they also threaten to erode the proactive safety culture that we have fostered here in the United States.

“Currently, pilots across Europe are fighting back against these schemes and it’s more important than ever that we defend a fair and free marketplace for U.S. airlines and their employees, as well as maintain safety.

“ALPA calls on Congress to put a stop to these business schemes that undermine labor rights, safety, and the competitiveness of the U.S. airline industry and pass the Fair and Open Skies Act to help level the playing field and keep our skies safe.”

Founded in 1931, ALPA is the largest airline pilot union in the world and represents over 63,000 pilots at 35 U.S. and Canadian airlines. Visit the ALPA website at alpa.org or follow us on Twitter @WeAreALPA.

CONTACT:

ALPA Media
703-481-4440
Media@alpa.org

Source: ALPA