Release #10.015
June 9, 2010

ALPA Presses Obama: Push FAA Reauthorization, Pilot Fatigue Rule
Administration and Congress Must Act

WASHINGTON – In a letter sent to President Barack Obama this week, the president of the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA) stated that a “strong FAA reauthorization law and updated fatigue regulations are essential to ensure the safety of airline operations” and called on the president to make clear to Congress the need to take swift action on both issues.

In the June 8th letter, Capt. John Prater noted that the pending FAA reauthorization provides a critical down payment toward airspace modernization. He emphasized that long-term stable funding of the nation’s airspace and air traffic control infrastructure is essential to enhancing safety and reducing aviation’s greenhouse gas emissions, as well as to making gains in air transportation system capacity and efficiency. The reauthorization also includes support for long-standing ALPA priorities, including pilot screening and training, runway safety, and critical research on wake turbulence and weather such as volcanic ash and icing.

Modernizing outdated flight- and duty-time limits and minimum rest requirements stands as an equal priority for airline pilots. In the letter, Prater cited the cooperation among ALPA, government, and industry partners through the formation and work of the Flight/Duty Time Aviation Rulemaking Committee and the progress made toward the common goal of a new, updated set of regulations based on science. “I fail to understand why a final rule—or even a proposed rule—has not been published,” said Prater.

Founded in 1931, ALPA is the world’s largest pilot union, representing nearly 53,000 pilots at 38 airlines in the United States and Canada. Visit the ALPA website at www.alpa.org.

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CONTACT: Linda Shotwell, 703/481-4440 or media@alpa.org