ALPA president Capt. John Prater took ALPA’s policy priorities to Wall Street investors on March 9 as a speaker at the J.P. Morgan 2010 Aviation, Transportation and Defense Conference. The conference drew more than 1,000 institutional and credit investors from around the globe.

The by-invitation-only agenda for the New York City event featured presentations by more than 20 airline industry stakeholders, including Jeff Smisek, Continental Airlines chairman, president, and CEO; and Edward Bastian, Delta Air Lines president. United Airlines, AirTran Holdings, Southwest Airlines, American Airlines, and Alaska Airlines were also among the companies invited to participate.

In his remarks, Prater laid out the government policy that ALPA pilots believe is necessary to make our industry healthy and stable in the future—to the benefit of employees, our customers, and our economy. He described a five-point foundation to ensure that our national policies promote opportunities for U.S. airlines and jobs for U.S. workers, and allow our businesses to compete effectively and profitably with foreign airlines. The foundation includes:

• Create a national-level aviation policy that is part of a U.S. transportation policy;
• Establish a single, high level of safety and security for all passenger and cargo airlines;
• Develop and maintain the best trained, most competent pilot workforce in the world;
• Modernize the National Airspace System and build the Next Generation Air Transportation System; and
• Forge a U.S. international aviation policy that provides an effective balance among economic, security, airline, consumer, and worker interests.

In his presentation to the hundreds of investors gathered, Prater discussed the need to protect workers as airlines participate in international joint ventures. “The current rules also address an important concern of U.S. airline workers—that U.S. airlines receive a fair share of international flying opportunities so the best-paying jobs aren’t outsourced to other countries’ airlines,” he said. “There’s also no question that we need aviation policies that protect U.S. aviation jobs.”