Your Contributions Make a Difference

Fellow pilots,

The national elections on November 8, with all 435 U.S. House seats and 34 U.S. Senate seats in play, are now less than 18 weeks away. It’s a key opportunity for the APA Political Action Committee to step up and support those who have helped us. To maximize our effectiveness, however, we’re going to need your help.

Consider the following:

• During the current congressional session, lawmakers approved legislation that enabled legacy American Airlines pilots to defer taxes on the equity received as part of American Airlines’ Chapter 11 bankruptcy. This legislation saved LAA pilots many millions of dollars.
• The proposed FAA reauthorization bill now pending before Congress includes language addressing potential safety hazards posed by lithium battery carriage and unmanned aerial systems.
• Despite intense lobbying by regional carriers and other vested interests, lawmakers declined to include language in the same FAA reauthorization bill to diminish Airline Transport Pilot standards — a victory for APA, Families of Continental Flight 3407, and others opposed to any change to existing regulations.

The last issue —ATP standards — remains an ongoing battle that will require constant vigilance by your APA Government Affairs Committee and professional advisors. It’s an excellent example of why your PAC contributions are so important. Another critical priority is H.R. 5090, the House bill that addresses Norwegian Air International’s application for a foreign air carrier permit to serve the United States. NAI is a blatant flag-of-convenience scheme that, if permitted to go forward with U.S. service, would have a potentially devastating impact on all our careers. Passage of H.R. 5090 represents a top APA priority.

Along with the day-to-day issues demanding our attention, the APA Government Affairs Committee is also focused on two issues vital to our long-term career prospects: reforming our nation’s bankruptcy laws and the collective bargaining process for professional pilots. Chapter 11 bankruptcy should not serve as a convenient tool for erasing decades of collective bargaining. Likewise, FAR Part 121/135 pilots should be working under an “Airline Labor Act” that puts bookends on Section 6 negotiations. No other skilled profession in our country has the deck stacked against them like professional pilots in collective bargaining. Pilot compensation should be another commodity like oil — a cost of doing business — not for whipsawing one pilot group against another. By contributing to the PAC, you can help send a louder message to those in D.C. about bankruptcy reform and the onerous collective bargaining process dictated by the Railway Labor Act and National Mediation Board.

Your APA Government Affairs team has worked for years to develop relationships on Capitol Hill that are vital to our efforts to defend and strengthen the airline pilot profession. As the only way your union can provide direct support to candidates to help advance our objectives, the APA PAC is a critical component of that relationship building. We cannot use member dues. Instead, every dollar must come from your voluntary contributions.

To start contributing now or to increase your current contribution level, please complete the PAC contribution form on AlliedPilots.org.

Thank you for helping APA support candidates who have advocated for our profession.