Release #10.027
August 31, 2010

American Eagle Pilot Named ALPA’s Airport Safety Liaison of the Year
Volunteer Represents Pilots’ Safety Concerns at LaGuardia

WASHINGTON – The Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), has named American Eagle Captain Alexandro O. Fotopoulos its 2009 Airport Safety Liaison of the Year for his tireless work in representing airline pilots’ perspectives at LaGuardia Airport and in helping make the nation’s already safe air transportation system even safer.

“LaGuardia is among the nation’s busiest airports, and safety issues that occur there can affect flights across the country and around the globe,” said Capt. Rory Kay, ALPA’s Executive Air Safety Chairman. “Capt. Fotopoulos’s work to represent pilots’ safety concerns and advance solutions at meetings both at LaGuardia and with the regulators in Washington, D.C., is extremely important.”

Capt. Fotopoulos has worked to ensure that the highest possible standards of safety are met on a broad range of aviation issues, including collecting data and conducting site visits that led to ALPA’s opposition to a proposed municipal waste transfer station that would be located within a few hundred yards of LaGuardia’s runways.

ALPA’s Airport and Ground Environment Group selects the Airport Safety Liaison of the Year from nominations made by ALPA’s regional safety chairmen and other ASLs who represent pilots’ interests at more than 150 commercial airports in the United States and Canada. ALPA honors ASLs who help improve airport policies and practices.

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