Page 4 - 2018-Issue1

4 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

IFALPA

1948 - 2018

Captain Ron Abel
IFALPA President

IFALPA’S FIRST 70 YEARS

In 2018, the International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations
(IFALPA) celebrates 70 years of promoting the highest level of aviation
safety worldwide and serving as the global advocate of the piloting
profession. Our Federation looks back on seven decades of accomplishment
and forward to a future of opportunity to make air transportation safer and
assist our members in advancing their careers.

IFALPA was founded in 1948 to make certain that pilots had a voice in
the newly formed United Nations International Civil Aviation Organization
(ICAO). In the decades since, IFALPA has been deeply involved in global
policy through our technical committees, which ensure that ICAO’s
discussions are informed by pilots’ perspectives. Nationally and locally, we
also support our Member States’ safety, security, and pilot assistance work
as well as their collective bargaining efforts when appropriate. At all of these
levels, IFALPA has succeeded solely because of the dedication of our
members and commitment to our strategic goals.

In 2018, our priority on maintaining the highest level of safety will take
on even greater importance with the growing number of aircraft in our
global airspace. At the same time, we expect that airline management will
continue to try to exploit the gap between local labor law and the global
nature of capital to gain an unfair advantage over labor.

One example of incredible progress is the Ryanair pilots’ success at the
end of 2017. After years of struggle, Ryanair pilots stood together and
prevailed in gaining a public commitment from management to
acknowledge and work with representative employee unions. The words
from management are encouraging, but actions need to match the rhetoric
and IFALPA will continue to monitor the outcome.

ISSUE 1 | 2018 InterPilot | The Safety and Technical Journal of IFALPA