Release #13.01
January 2, 2013

ALPA Congratulates FAA Administrator Huerta
Confirmation Sets Stage for Action to Ensure U.S. Airlines Continue to Set World Standards

WASHINGTON – Capt. Lee Moak, president of the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), issued the following statement regarding yesterday’s announcement of the U.S. Senate’s confirmation of Michael P. Huerta as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) administrator.

“The confirmation of Michael Huerta as administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, together with a stable source of long-term funding, puts the FAA in a powerful position to safely build capacity and foster airline growth in this country.

“Mr. Huerta’s formidable transportation policy experience has already enabled him to achieve remarkable progress during his tenure as the FAA’s acting administrator. ALPA is eager to continue this positive action at an accelerated pace to ensure the United States maintains a world-class air transportation system.

“Our industry needs strong leadership from our government partners to ensure that we continue to move forward and position ourselves in a global economy. We need to take the gold standard in regulations and safety practices in the United States to the International Civil Aviation Organization to raise the safety bar for the world’s aviation community and ensure that U.S. airlines are not disadvantaged internationally.

“While ALPA was gratified by the FAA’s release of new science-based flight- and duty-time limits and minimum rest requirements for airline pilots, we will continue to work with Administrator Huerta and his team to advocate in the strongest possible terms for applying the new rules to all airline pilots, regardless of whether they carry cargo or passengers.

“We are also dedicated to advancing NextGen, which will improve safety and increase efficiencies while decreasing costs to the airlines. In addition, ALPA is intensely focused on maintaining safety as the first priority in efforts to integrate unmanned aircraft systems into the national airspace system and on putting in place regulations to ensure the safe shipment by air of hazardous materials, including lithium batteries. We look forward to continuing to work with Mr. Huerta on these, as well as many other, ALPA aviation safety priorities.

“With superbly qualified leadership and stable long-term funding, the FAA could not be more strongly positioned to engage with industry and labor to enhance the U.S. transportation system infrastructure and give U.S. airlines and their employees the opportunity to compete and prevail in the global marketplace.”

Founded in 1931, ALPA is the world’s largest pilot union, representing nearly 51,000 pilots at 35 airlines in the United States and Canada. Visit the ALPA website at www.alpa.org.

###

CONTACT: ALPA Media, 703/481-4440 or media@alpa.org