Founded as AUALPA (Austrian Airline Pilots Association) only months after the first flight of fledgling national carrier Austrian Airlines, the association was initially considered the "foreign ministry" of the crew works council. An IFALPA member from the beginning, AUALPA joined ECAs "ancestor" Europilote in 1969, as reported in the "AUALPA News" magazine that made its debut in the same year.

Terrorism was a hot subject of the 1970s. While this is still hot 30+ years later, the question of whether co-pilots should be allowed to perform take-offs seems to have been answered in the meantime. The first accident investigator was trained in 1971 but fortunately no investigation was required until 20 years later, when ACA observers joined the investigation after the fatal Lauda Air crash in Thailand.

1973 saw the founding of the "solidarity funds" covering pilot pay in case of prolonged illness. AUALPA was proud to host the 1975 IFALPA conference in Vienna (VIE) and started regular meetings with the air traffic controllers association the same year. Lobbying against the politically motivated orientation of VIE's second runway 16/34 was unsuccessful, but as the problems AUALPA predicted still plague VIE, the parallel runway suggested by AUALPA will be built almost 40 years later. At the end of the 70s AUALPA had 155 members.

European and International work continued during the 1980s. With Austria situated in the geographical heart of Europe, the IFALPA Pan European Conference was naturally important and the association joined the work to improve pilot working conditions in the former Eastern Bloc countries.

1993 saw a strike against the failed "Alcazar" merger between SAS, KLM, Swissair and Austrian. To emphasise the association's opening up towards other pilot groups and its strong ties to ECA, AUALPA became "Austrian Cockpit Association" (ACA) in 1997. The board was no longer an extension of the works council and for the first time included a Tyrolean Airways vice president.

Continuing its strong presence in IFALPA and ECA, ACA has hosted IND, SEC, AGE, ATS and ADO meetings, provides an ECA Board member since 2005, and is proud to offer its first accident investigator training in October 2008.

With Austrian Airlines "for sale" the transition to new ownership will be one of the challenges of the immediate future. Beyond that, ACA will continue to represent and support Austrian Pilots in a European context.