The Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA) is the largest pilot union in the world, representing more than 67,000 pilots from 39 U.S. and Canadian airlines. ALPA was founded on 27 July 1931 and is a member of the AFL-CIO and the Canadian Labour Congress. Known internationally as U.S.-ALPA, ALPA is also a member of the IFALPA. History ALPA was founded by Captain David L. Behncke and 23 other key figures in Chicago, Illinois, on July 27, 1931. In the 1930s, flying was a perilous occupation; thus, from the time of its formation, one of ALPA’s main goals was to improve air safety. In 1933, the decision by the National Labor Board to limit the flight time for pilots and co-pilots to 85 hours a month was the result of the union’s first major lobbying campaign to make the skies safer. By the end of the ‘30s, the association had persuaded numerous airlines to form air traffic control centers, and had started the Airworthiness and Performance Committee, the first ALPA technical committee dedicated to improving flight safety. In the 1940s, numerous ALPA pilots enlisted in the military to help the United States battle the Axis powers during World War II. In this decade, ALPA created additional air safety committees, and the newly established International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA) worked to improve flight safety around the world. In 1951, ALPA created an internal air safety system, which developed into the world’s biggest independent, nongovernmental safety structure. During the 1950s, jet travel was introduced, marking a new period for the air industry. In this era, crew fatigue became a greater concern for pilots, with the union successfully persuading the Civil Aeronautics Board to stop airlines from scheduling impractical flights. During the 1960s, jet transport of people and goods became commonplace, with ALPA addressing the new safety issues that came with this type of travel. In 1961, ALPA’s second president, Clarence N. Sayen, directly asked new U.S. President John F. Kennedy to make hijacking a federal crime, which subsequently became the law of the land in September of that year. The Southern Airways strike of 1960-62, a conflict that ALPA winningly took on in a dispute over pilot wages, is the longest walkout in the union’s history. For years, ALPA had lobbied hard for the creation of an independent government agency that would investigate accidents, and in 1967, the National