Union Urges ‘Back-to-Basics’ Approach to Pilot Skills

ALPA vice president doubles down on hand-flying, training quality, and technology’s role in safety.

Ryan Ewing

Saturday, December 06, 2025 at 08:00 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

Boeing 737 flight deck [Credit: Shutterstock/Atosan]

Key Takeaways:

The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) is advocating for pilots to renew their focus on fundamental manual flying skills, citing safety data that indicates an erosion of these abilities due to increasing automation.
ALPA strongly opposes proposals for single-pilot airline operations, emphasizing its "Safety Starts With Two" campaign to ensure at least two pilots in the cockpit.
While recognizing the value of technology and AI for supporting pilot decision-making and data analysis, ALPA stresses the importance of careful monitoring to prevent inaccurate data and maintain human proficiency.

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The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) is calling for a renewed emphasis on fundamental flying skills as automation becomes more common in air carrier operations.

In a recent interview at the Skift Aviation Forum in Fort Worth, Texas, ALPA first vice president Wendy Morse, a Boeing 787 captain, said the union is advocating for pilots to “go back to our roots” by maintaining strong manual-flying proficiency throughout their careers.