Fair and Open Skies

By Capt. Joe DePete, ALPA President

As ALPA pilots rise to fulfill the promise of economic recovery from COVID-19, our union is working to make certain that international aviation policy puts workers first by protecting jobs, enhancing safety, and building a strong piloting profession. ALPA’s multipronged strategy is designed to ensure that U.S. and Canadian aviation workers’ voices are heard—and we’re achieving remarkable progress.

As ALPA prepares to celebrate our 90th anniversary and remembers the reasons why our union was founded, it’s impossible not to reflect on the many antiworker business practices our pilots have endured and overcome during our long history. While the details may differ, these unscrupulous practices pose a common threat to the dignity of work while jeopardizing union workers’ contribution to safety as well as the important role that collectively negotiated working agreements play in creating a profession that attracts new aviators.

Today, atypical and flag-of-convenience business models are among the most egregious examples of antiworker efforts in aviation. In a flag-of-convenience business model, an airline establishes parts of its business in different countries to “shop” for lenient labor, tax, and regulatory laws. The result puts U.S. airlines at a competitive disadvantage and affects every U.S. pilot, including those who fly domestically for mainline or fee-for-departure airlines as most U.S. international passengers connect at least once.

While the effect on U.S. workers’ rights is clear, these antiworker practices pose an equally insidious threat to a proactive safety culture. For example, an airline with an atypical business model may use a third party to manage its employees as independent contractors. As a result, pilots may not have direct access to their employer to report safety issues or may not have confidence in the nonpunitive reporting environment that’s fundamental to a proactive safety management system safety culture.

ALPA’s concerns about atypical and flag-of-convenience business models also relate to the future of the airline piloting profession. If foreign airlines are permitted to erode U.S. aviation workers’ pay, benefits, and proactive safety culture, the environment may make it more difficult to ensure that the profession attracts a new generation and all individuals.

For these reasons, ALPA has mounted a full-scale regulatory and legislative strategy to defeat any attempt by foreign airlines to serve the United States with atypical or flag-of-convenience business models that harm U.S. workers. ALPA is calling on the Department of Transportation (DOT) to use its authority to consider public-interest factors such as encouraging fair wages and working conditions as it evaluates foreign air carrier permit applications and impose prolabor conditions on permits if necessary to ensure that U.S. aviation workers do business on a level playing field.

Relatedly, the U.S.-EU multilateral Open Skies agreement contains a labor clause, “Article 17 bis,” which was intended to ensure that carriers wouldn’t use the agreement to undermine labor standards. ALPA is urging the DOT to ensure that EU airlines abide by the U.S.-EU agreement and work with the Department of State to elevate labor rights as an essential policy element in negotiating future agreements.

Our union is also fighting foreign airlines seeking to serve the United States with antilabor atypical and flag-of-convenience business models on Capitol Hill. We hailed the recent introduction of the Fair and Open Skies Act (H.R. 3095), which, thanks to ALPA’s pilot advocates, professional staff, and thousands of Call to Action messages, when signed into law will require the DOT to apply its public-interest test to foreign air carrier permit applications and require EU airlines that apply for permits to comply with U.S.-EU Open Skies Agreement labor conditions. In similar work to protect U.S. jobs, ALPA is calling for increased DOT scrutiny and oversight of existing and proposed joint ventures to ensure that labor will benefit from growth in international markets.

Making certain the voice of workers is heard in international policy is also center stage for ALPA in Canada. Our union is calling on the government to increase clarity and transparency regarding its plans for the safe restart of Canada’s travel and tourism sectors to ensure the successful recall and retraining of tens of thousands of employees.

By cementing workers’ rights in the structure of air services agreements and creating clarity and transparency in international policy, the U.S. and Canadian governments can continue to cultivate a highly trained and experienced pilot workforce while enhancing safety and creating a strong profession to attract future aviators.