Problem viewing/PDA users,
click here. |
|
News from ALPA International |
April 23, 2010—In This Issue:
|
|
ALPA Invited to Present at NTSB Professionalism Forum |
|
|
The
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has asked the
chairs of three ALPA groups—Capt. John Sluys (ALA) of the
Professional Development Group; Capt. John Rosenberg (DAL)
of the Professional Standards Committee; and Capt.
Tim Flaherty (DAL) of the Air Traffic Services Group—to serve
as panelists at a safety forum on professionalism. As
practitioners in their respective fields, each of these ALPA
leaders will address the subject of enhancing
professionalism.
The purpose of the forum is to gather
information on the screening, selection, and training of
pilots and air traffic controllers and on methods to
reinforce professionalism and excellence. The forum is
scheduled for May 18–20 in Washington, D.C., and will be
chaired by NTSB Chairman Deborah A. P. Hersman.
Other panelists participating in the forum
will represent industry, government agencies, academia, and
professional associations. A technical panel composed of
NTSB staff from the Offices of Aviation Safety and Research
and Engineering, and all board members who will make up the
Board of Inquiry will question the panelists. The forum will
be made available via webcast on the NTSB’s website. The
agenda will be provided once NTSB makes it available.
Return to top
|
|
Safety Steering and Oversight Committee Meets |
|
The Steering and Oversight Committee (SOC) of ALPA’s
Executive Air Safety Committee convened for its
spring meeting in Herndon April 19–20. During the
two-day event, each of the safety technical groups
provided updates on current activity and proposals
for continuing safety work, reviewed 2010 and 2011
budget issues, and selected safety award honorees for
this year’s Air Safety Forum.
Topics of discussion spanned the entire scope of
safety committee work and included ALPA’s
involvement with legislation to improve pilot
training, accident/incident investigation progress,
safety training programs, runway safety initiatives,
industry partnership programs such as ASAP and FOQA,
SMS, low-visibility operations in Canada, wake
turbulence separation issues, and NextGen. The full
text of the meeting minutes, outlining specific
discussion topics and action items, will be
published when finalized.
Return to top
|
|
ALPA Participates in Runway Safety Council Meeting |
|
Representatives of ALPA’s Airport and Ground Environment (AGE) group
participated in a meeting of the Runway Safety Council (RSC) on April 21. The
FAA’s director of runway safety noted that there have been four serious runway
incursions to date in FY 2010 but that the trend was down from previous years.
The Air Transport Association (ATA) briefed the group on a new initiative to provide
air traffic controllers with a presentation and aircraft simulator time to
explain certain operational issues that can pose problems for pilots, especially
as they relate to aircraft type. The ATA also discussed threat and error
management relating to improved ground movement procedures.
The Root Cause Analysis Team, an RSC working group, forwarded to the RSC for
its review and approval recommendations that were developed in response to an
investigation of an operational error (i.e., an erroneous clearance) at
Charlotte (CLT) in May 2009.
Return to top
|
|
|
ALPA
has been working with Rep. Tim Bishop (D-NY) and
others in Congress to promote the enactment of H.R.
4788, the Aviation Outsourcing Prevention Act.
United and Delta pilots together with ALPA
Government Affairs staff visited Capitol Hill this
week to support this vital legislation. If passed,
the bill would amend Title 49 of the U.S. Code to
require that any approval of revenue-sharing
agreements be conditioned on U.S. airline employees
doing a fair share of the flying covered by the
agreements.
Recently, the Air Transport Association
circulated a paper to congressional offices that
mischaracterizes and distorts the purpose of H.R.
4788. ALPA has responded to these inaccuracies in a
letter sent to members of both the House and
Senate. Thirty-four members of the House have
already co-sponsored this legislation, and more will
join them. Please keep up your efforts in support of
this bill.
Return to top
|
|
Senate Wall Street Transparency and Accountability Act of 2010 Update |
|
Earlier
this week, the House Agriculture Committee reported on the
Wall Street Transparency and Accountability Act of 2010.
This comprehensive commodity reform legislation would close
the loopholes that have allowed banks and speculators to
drive up the price of oil, which results in high energy
costs to businesses and consumers alike.
The bill places clear limits on the amount of speculation
that individual traders and massive hedge funds can
undertake and requires that these trades be made through a
regulated exchange or trading facility. These trades must
then be cleared through a central clearinghouse to ensure
the stability and transparency that the market has been
lacking in recent years. This legislation will likely be
folded into a larger financial regulation reform bill, which
could be taken up in the Senate as early as next week.
Click here to visit the Stop Oil Speculation Now
Coalition’s grassroots site and to contact senators
immediately in support of this important legislation.
Return to top
|
|
CIRP Volunteers Attend Training at CAL MEC Office |
|
The CAL MEC Critical Incident Response Program (CIRP)
Committee hosted recurrent and new participant training for
CIRP volunteers this week at the CAL MEC office in Houston.
“We’re glad to have an extensive group of pilot
volunteers from Continental, United, ExpressJet, Jazz,
Colgan, Spirit, and US Airways participating,” said Capt.
Bill Cheney, CIRP Committee chairman. “CIRP is an important
pilot resource for pre-incident education and
post-incident/accident crisis intervention services.”
The CIRP program trains and certifies line pilots to
provide support in critical incident stress management. The
purpose of CIRP is to mitigate the psychological impact of
an incident or accident and to aid in the normal recovery
from these events before harmful stress reactions affect job
performance, careers, families, and health.
Pilots attending recurrent training included (left to
right): Eric King (CAL), John Elwell (CAL), Pete Rose-Molina
(XJT), Karen Kahn (CAL), Murray Munro (Jazz), Frey Shiller
(CAL), Mike Snowden (CAL), Mark Berg (XJT), Lucy Young (US
Airways), Jim Patton (CAL), Bill Cheney (CAL), Chris Carey
(CAL). Not shown: Gwen Schallow (CAL).
Return to top
|
|
Don’t Let this Happen to You |
|
ALPA
HIMS Committee chairman Capt. Dana Archibald (EGL)
is warning ALPA members that financial scams are on
the rise. The increasingly easy access to personal
data using the Internet and social networking
applications, coupled with a challenging economy,
has created a breeding ground for those who would
use this information for criminal purposes. This
admonition comes from experience. Someone posing as
Dana’s college-aged son, Matt, recently called
Dana’s father (Matt’s grandfather). The individual
(posing as Matt) claimed that he had been in a car
accident, was in possession of illegal substances,
had been arrested by the police, and needed $6,000
wired to avoid spending at least a week in jail. The
imposter provided a plethora of personal
details—including the make of Matt’s car—and added
that he did not want to burden his father with the
bad news. Another individual, posing on the
telephone as a state trooper, confirmed the story.
Fortunately, the grandfather contacted Dana, who
determined that the accident was a fabrication. The HIMS chairman later called the police and Matt’s
university, which are currently investigating this
case.
“So much of our life is publicly available, and,
more and more, hustlers are acquiring this
information to take advantage of others,
particularly the elderly,” says Dana. “Think
carefully about the information you post on the
Internet, and verify any requests, claims, and
solicitations before you blindly wire finances or
send someone a check. A little investigation can
save you a fortune.”
Scams can have a devastating effect on pilots and
their families. HIMS, or the Human Intervention and
Motivation Study, provides resources within ALPA,
the medical community, and individual airlines to
address addictions, dependencies, and other issues
that can disrupt a pilot’s personal or professional
life.
Click here to learn more.
Return to top
|
|
This Week’s ALPA Press Releases/Other ALPA News |
|
If you missed ALPA’s news distribution this week, check out this link:
Other ALPA News
Top News for members only from www.alpa.org.
Return to top
|
|
|
This week in ALPA History: ALPA signs its first contract with
Pennsylvania-Central Airlines on April 22, 1940. Eight years later, the airline
changes its name to Capital Airlines, and then merges with United Airlines in
1961.
Return to top
|
|
Feedback & E-mail Address Changes |
|
Questions or comments on this FastRead? Give us your feedback at
communications@alpa.org. If you have moved or changed your ISP or e-mail
address, please update your ALPA records. If you don’t, you
will no longer receive the ALPA FastRead and other e-mail bulletins and notices,
and once your postal forwarding order expires, you’ll no longer receive the
magazine and other ALPA mail. You can do it yourself by going to
www.alpa.org and logging
in. Go to “My ALPA” in the menu at the top of the page, and from there, you’ll be
instructed how to make the necessary changes. If you don’t have access to the
members-only section of
www.alpa.org, you can
e-mail your requests by sending them to
membership@alpa.org. Be sure to include your member number or enough other
information so that we can identify you in the membership database, and tell us
what information needs to be updated. Please note that it is not sufficient
just to notify your LEC or MEC of these changes—you should register them with
the ALPA Membership Department in Herndon. Can’t remember your member number
or how to log in? Need information about your ALPA insurance programs? These and
other questions about ALPA services can be answered by contacting
membership@alpa.org. Return to top
|
|
Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l 1625 Massachusetts Avenue NW
| Washington, DC 20036 | 703-689-2270 |
|
|