ALPA Canada Board: Committed to Highest Standards of Aviation Safety and Security

OTTAWA, March 27, 2015 /CNW/ - As the investigation into the Germanwings Flight 4U 9525 accident moves forward, the Air Line Pilots Association, Int'l Canada Board issued the following statement regarding air transportation in Canada.

"As the investigation into the Germanwings Flight 4U 9525 accident moves forward, the Air Line Pilots Association, Int'l Canada Board echoes our government leaders' statements emphasizing that the North American air transportation system is the safest in the world. This is due in large part to the collective efforts by government, industry, and labour to advance proven policies and procedures focused on achieving the highest standards.

"Another contributing factor is the extremely robust and proactive accident investigation process in place, which has a single objective: to learn why the accident happened and put mitigations in place to keep such an occurrence from happening again. To that end, ALPA's Canada Board supports measures to enhance the safety and security of the crews, passengers, and aircraft.

"Further, airline pilots in Canada regularly undergo thorough medical exams to ensure they are 'fit for duty.' This determination by the aviation medical examiner is submitted to Transport Canada, which then issues a certificate to the pilot. In addition, flight and cabin crewmembers employ crew resource management (CRM) on every flight to continuously monitor and evaluate each other while on duty. CRM ensures that crews are on the same page and, together with their rigorous training and technical skills, enables them to respond should a concern arise.

"As always, we will continue to work closely with all other government, industry, and labour stakeholders to advance our mutual goal of maintaining aviation as the safest mode of transportation in North America today."

Founded in 1931, ALPA is the world's largest pilot union, representing more than 51,000 pilots at 30 airlines in the United States and Canada, including the more than 2,500 Canadian flightcrew members who fly for Air Transat, Bearskin, Calm Air, Canadian North, CanJet, First Air, Jazz Aviation, Kelowna Flightcraft, and Wasaya. Visit the ALPA website at www.alpa.org or follow us on Twitter @WeAreALPA.

SOURCE Air Line Pilots Association, Intl

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