Release #13.43
July 18, 2013

F/O Wolfgang Koch Receives ALPA’s Aviation Security Award
Merritt Island, Fla. Pilot Recognized for Leading Efforts to Secure Skies

WASHINGTON—The Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l. (ALPA) will recognize Delta Air Lines First Officer Wolfgang Koch for his outstanding efforts in strengthening the integrity of our nation’s aviation security system. F/O Koch will be presented with the Aviation Security Award for 2012—the Association’s highest security honor—today at the 59th Air Safety Forum in Washington, D.C.

F/O Koch has led the Association’s efforts in recent years to preserve and promote the Federal Flight Deck Officer (FFDO) program—whereby volunteer pilots are trained and deputized to protect the flight deck. He serves as the FFDO subject matter expert on the ALPA Aviation Security Group, and as the ALPA representative on the Transportation Security Administration’s FFDO stakeholder working group.

“Strengthening the security of our flight decks, our aircraft, and our skies is a top priority, and we applaud F/O Wolfgang Koch for his efforts in leading the charge. The FFDO program adds a valuable layer of security to our transportation system and is critical to its overall effectiveness,” said Capt. Lee Moak, ALPA’s president.

His expertise goes beyond security of the flight deck, and he has more than a decade of experience in the field. He has been involved in several security-advancement projects, including the development of CrewPass (the precursor to the Known Crewmember Program) to provide an advanced screening method for flight crews, and secondary flight deck barriers to prevent a hostile takeover of the cockpit.

His ALPA career began in 2002, when he joined the Northwest Airlines pilots’ Security Committee. F/O Koch was elected to serve as the committee’s vice chairman in 2004, then as its chairman from 2005 to 2009. Over the next two-and-a-half years, from April 2009 to October 2011, he served as ALPA’s Aviation Security Group’s Director of Information and Communications. In addition to promoting the FFDO program at the national and international levels, Koch also serves as the Security Committee chairman for the ALPA pilots at Delta Air Lines.

Founded in 1931, ALPA is the world’s largest pilot union, representing more than 50,000 pilots at 33 airlines in the United States and Canada.

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