APPN, Association de Prévoyance du Personnel Navigant, was founded in 1957 on the initiative of SNPL and Mr. Jean Dupont, an Air France Captain. The need for such a creation became apparent because of the specific nature of insurances covering flight crew members. Insurers, who had no knowledge of the risks involved, were extremely prudent and calculated premiums with excessive margins.

 

Therefore APPN negotiated the group policies with several insurance providers. The basic idea guiding APPN's leaders was to obtain responsibility to manage the policy by themself and as a result, APPN is currently managing three group policies: Temporary and Permanent Loss of Licence (with MACIF as the insurance company), and Life insurance cover (shared between AXA and GENERALI).

 

The association was initially launched in the French aeronautical scene only. However, since a couple of years more and more pilots from various airlines have joined the insurance scheme with currently more than 18,000 members worldwide. Due to its status as a non-profit association, APPN is the only association to be able to refund membership premiums to its members.