Saturday Nov 16, 2024
Saturday Nov 16, 2024
Friday, 23 October 2015 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
The Airline Pilot’s Guild of Sri Lanka (ALPGSL) hosted its bi-annual OneWorld Cockpit Crew Coalition (OCCC) world conference in Colombo recently.
During the conference, ALPGSL was able to discuss information related to safety, national laws and regulations pertaining to the aviation industry. They have cemented its place in the global framework of commercial aviation and is the only ‘Guild of Pilots’ within Sri Lanka. It has a history that spans over six decades; a few years after the inception of Air Ceylon in 1947and has since been the sole body representing the pilots of the legacy carrier.
At present, representing the majority of commercial pilots within the country, it has become a major stake holder in local aviation as well as an important, committed member of the International Federation of Airline Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA); a world body representing over a 100,000 pilots and one of only two organisations that has been granted a permanent observer status in the Air Navigation Commission (ANC) of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
SriLankan Airlines was inducted to the OneWorld Alliance on 1 May 2014. This alliance, embodying 15 of the world’s largest airlines, also includes two of only six, five-star rated airlines world-wide which are Malaysian and Qatar Airways. Founding members of this alliance are major airlines such as American Airlines, British Airways, Qantas and Cathay Pacific.
The OCCC, is the official federation of pilot unions of the OneWorld Alliance. Comprising of 12 of the member airline pilot unions of the Alliance, it is also affiliated to the IFALPA and functions as a member at the annual Global Pilots’ Symposium. The ALPGSL gained membership with the OCCC in the latter part of 2014, subsequent to an invitation by the Allied Pilots Association of American Airlines; the largest independent pilots’ union in the world.
