The Air Line Pilots Association has defended its pilot members after the Trump administration issued a new mandate to “purge DEI from our skies”.
On February 13, 2026, the US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy ordered a new mandatory ‘Operations Specification’, requiring all commercial airlines to formally commit to merit-based hiring for pilots.
Since US President Donald Trump returned to power in January 2025, his administration has taken a combative approach to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) framework, which is designed to promote fair treatment of all, particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds.
With the new mandate in place, US airlines will be required to certify that any DEI approach to hiring is terminated with a failure to do so warranting federal investigation.
“When families board their aircraft, they should fly with confidence knowing the pilot behind the controls is the best of the best. The American people don’t care what their pilot looks like or their gender—they just care that they are most qualified man or woman for the job. Safety drives everything we do, and this commonsense measure will increase transparency between passengers and airlines,” said Duffy.
FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford added: “At the FAA, the safety of passengers is our number one priority. It is a bare minimum expectation for airlines to hire the most qualified individual when making someone responsible for hundreds of lives at a time. Someone’s race, sex, or creed, has nothing to do with their ability to fly and land aircraft safely.”
The FAA said that while the agency had “dismantled DEI offices and contracts, and revised absurd Biden-Buttigieg era directives that wasted time renaming cockpits to flight decks, allegations of airlines hiring based on race and sex remain”.
Following the Trump administration announcement, Captain Jason Ambrosi, President of the Air Line Pilots Association, issued a statement defending the industry’s safety record.
“All ALPA pilots are trained and evaluated to the same uncompromising standard regardless of race, gender, or background. A pilot’s identity has no bearing on their ability to safely operate an aircraft. What matters is training, experience, and qualification — and on that front, there are no shortcuts and no compromises,” said Captain Ambrosi.
He added: “At ALPA, our work to advance aviation safety never stops, and as always, ALPA airline pilots remain ready to safely transport passengers and cargo to their destinations. Safety is, and always will be, our number one priority.”
12 comments
Dear Bubba; you didn’t get the job because the other person was simply better; not because of their colour or plumbing.
I was a 747 Captain for 15 years and I flew with many pilots of varying backgrounds. I flew with quite a number of female pilots and they were quite good, my daughter is quite excellent as pilot as well. However I was involved in the training of what was a DEI pilot before this became common and it was a frustrating experience. this individual went through a number of of instructors and clearly would not listen to sage advice, not commit himself to the required study. I flew support for his check ride which was. sorry affair and was surprised that he survived his 45 minute de brief. Quick to go the the race card ! DEI does exist and the number of young ladies attempting to be come see how cool I am as an airline pilot in social media and “I have a thousand hours and will be a Captain soon” really concerns me. It’s too easy, the seriousness and craftsmanship needed is not appreciated. DEI has no place in aviation, only the best.
Career military pilot and more recent commercial airline pilot… regardless of the name, DEI practices have made flying less safe and put less qualified people at the controls of aircraft. Fortunately the mandate for 2 pilot operations and extensive safety training has enabled the other pilot to pick up the slack in many cases. However, this is not sustainable nor a sound practice.
One standard for all should be the standard.
I beg to differ with CAPT Ambrosia; crash reports show otherwise, far to often. In many instances, dependence on tech is apparently at the root, but so is inadequate range and experience. How well do pilots, maintenance crews, and flight crews really know their planes? I remember the days when pilots, as well as maintenance crews, knew to what each and every hose, cable, or wire connected, and where all the nuts and bolts belonged too, even variations between models of a given plane, before they were permitted to take the controls. Too often, that seems not to be the case, in recent decades. Indeed, many pilots and maintenance personnel seem woefully ignorant of the workings of the planes and the importance of various parts to their safe operation. The FAA, with their “schizophrenic” operational mandate, too often sacrifices safety to keeping planes and crews flying, and the various unions are more interested in keeping their dues coming in, than the safety of passengers or crews.
Oh. God. All I can say is: when will these racist/sexist attacks end?
The term “cockpit” derives from the nautical term–a location where the “coxwain” or helmsman sat and steered.
Common sense at last
Sorry, but the word “commonsense” does not exist in the English language.
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Well, has the FAA, & trump finally come up with something that makes sense? NO, all they are doing is diverting attention from the real problems at the heart of the USA airline industry. Only properly qualified pilots should be employed, but there are not enough pilots taking up the job offers.
You need to employ from every avenue, to get the numbers up. And in the end if you have a gay/trans Guatemalan pilot who has passed all the checks. They are employed as a line pilot.
I’m a retired instructor, so have seen a lot! Students from varying backgrounds, and all walks of life. Some minorities, some from European countries, and quite a few women. In fact when I went for my commercial license, as well as instrument and multi, my instructor was a highly qualified woman. My point is, they either meet the requirements as set forth my the training academy, or they don’t regardless of who they are. If you look at many of the US accidents over the last 25 years, “young, and inexperienced” is the most common denominator. But the airlines hired them based on meeting their standards and passing their tests, and this was long before DEI. United said they wanted to hire 5000 new pilots, with roughly half to be women or people of color. They still need to pass rigorous training and testing. There will never, ever be a substitute for experience.
DEI has no place in aviation. If a person cannot decide whether the person is a He or She, how can we trust them when they have to make a decision at critical phase of flight. It’s just common sense.
The problem starts with HR; if they are mandated to hire according to DEI, that’s what they’ll do, and not surprisingly that department is chock full of DEI folk. One new-hire told me that when an HR rep came to his orientation session at ground school he had asked if they give preference to identity over experience, the HR person said “of course”. On rare occasions a diversity hire will actually make it through ground school, sim, line indoc and sometimes they work out, but often they have an ego and chip on their shoulder that doesn’t match their ability. They then become that pesky mosquito in a tent you just can’t find or get rid of. Of course no such screening applies to other departments, I took pity on the senior FA’s who would often vent to me about some of their co-workers.