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News from ALPA International |
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June 30, 2011 |
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Congress Passes 20th FAA Reauthorization Extension Bill |
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 President
Obama has signed into
law the 20th
“short-term” extension
to keep the FAA
operating pending a
final, multi-year
authorization bill. This
extends FAA programs
through July 22, 2011.
Negotiations continue
within the bicameral
legislature of the
Congress on how to
resolve a handful of
remaining differences to
send a comprehensive
bill to the president in
the next three weeks.
The House and Senate are
at an impasse over
funding levels, take-off
and landing slots at
Washington’s Reagan
National Airport,
Essential Air Service (EAS),
regulating lithium
batteries, and changes
in election procedures
at the National
Mediation Board, among
other items.
The last
reauthorization bill
expired in 2007.
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AirTran MEC Receives Leadership Training |
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AirTran MEC Officers
participated in
leadership training this
week at the ALPA
Conference Center in
Herndon, Va. The
Association’s national
officers and staff
delivered detailed
presentations, providing
AirTran elected
representatives with an
overview of the many
resources available to
them to perform their
jobs. ATN MEC Chairman
Linden Hillman called
for the session in part
to help prepare recently
elected MEC vice
chairman Capt. Keith
Nafziger and
secretary-treasurer
Capt. Bill Beard for
their new
responsibilities.
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Trans States Pilots Make the Call |
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Manning the phones in Herndon, from left to right, are SPSC vice chair Capt. Robert Coronado, Capt. Will Cheeseman,
and F/O Zach Barnes. |
Members of the Trans
States MEC Strategic
Planning and Strike
Committee this week
conducted a pilot-wide
“call-out” to test the
efficiency of the St.
Louis and Herndon Strike
Center volunteers.
The goals of this
endeavor were also to
refresh all
communications
volunteers with the
SPACS software system
used by ALPA to track
pilot information; check
that all TSA pilots have
current/accurate contact
information on file;
ensure all pilots are
able to access the TSA
Crewroom website, and
receive the materials
published on
negotiations (including
an MEC negotiating video
produced this week in
Herndon); and survey the
pilot group to provide
information for the
Negotiating Committee.
TSA pilot leaders
were in Washington,
D.C., this week for two
days of negotiations
with Company principals
before they return to
the National Mediation
Board July 6 and 7.
TSA pilots have been
in contract negotiations
since February 2006 and
have been unable to
reach an agreement with
a management team that
continues to make
proposals that offset
any improvements with
concessions. Trans
States pilots have been
forced to watch as their
hard work during the
past six years has been
used to create and fund
start-up GoJet Airlines
in 2005 and purchase
Compass Airlines in
2010.
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NMB Certifies IBT as Representative for Midwest Pilots |
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On Monday, the National
Mediation Board (NMB)
announced the results of
the representation
election for the
approximately 3,000
pilots employed by
Republic Airways
Holdings (RAH). The
International
Brotherhood of Teamsters
(IBT) will be the
representative of the
combined pilot group,
which includes the
pilots of the former
Midwest Airlines, as
well as those who fly
for Chautauqua,
Frontier, Lynx,
Republic, and Shuttle
America. ALPA
represented the Midwest
pilots to this
point—throughout the
sale of their airline to
RAH, the subsequent
furlough of all Midwest
pilots, and the merger
with Frontier Airlines.
In April, the NMB ruled
that all RAH-owned
airlines constitute a
single transportation
system for
representation purposes
concerning their pilots,
and that the Midwest
pilots are included in
that single RAH system.
A month later, the Board
announced that an
election was required to
determine the
representative for the
new, combined pilot
group. Implementation of
the integrated seniority
list, which was
determined by an
arbitrator earlier this
year, should begin
within 60 days of the
representation vote
certification.
While the transfer in
representation takes
effect immediately, the
company has recently
announced the financial
and corporate
restructuring of the
Frontier Airlines
portion of the
operation.
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This week, on The FlightDeck |
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In the sixth episode of
The FlightDeck,
you’ll see the A380
landing at
Washington-Dulles,
Alaska pilots using
iPads, and clips from
ALPA president Capt. Lee
Moak on targeting laser
offenders.
You’ll also learn what
industry the Gulf
carriers are hauling
into next, and when you
might see the Known
Crewmember program
making its debut. Plus,
find out how you can
“Watch & Win” your
way to a Sennheiser HMEC
26-T headset valued at
$850.
Nothing here tickle your
fancy? Tell us what
topics you want covered
at
flightdeck@alpa.org.
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In This Month’s Issue of Air Line Pilot |
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 Do
you realize that the
average cost of a
round-trip domestic
airline ticket in the
United States has
increased by only 0.6
percent in the last
decade, while the cost
of college tuition has
jumped 116.8 percent
during that same time
frame? Wonder how
airfare stacks up
against the cost of a
dozen eggs, movie
tickets, and
single-family homes?
Read
“The Decade—By the
Numbers” column in the
June/July issue of
Air Line Pilot
magazine.
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Pilots Needed for Upset Recovery Training Studies |
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 The
National Aerospace
Training and Research
Center (NASTAR) in
Southampton, Pa., is
conducting two studies
to evaluate the
effectiveness of using
sustained motion
centrifuge–based
simulators for
commercial airline Upset
Recovery Training (URT).
They need pilot
volunteers for these
studies, which will be
conducted in the next
few months.
Reimbursement for travel
expenses will be
provided.The first
study uses new simulator
technology to generate
accurate, sustained
G-forces that are
intended to replicate
the forces generated by
an aircraft. The purpose
is to assess the
fidelity and identify
operational
implementation
challenges of the
simulator. The second
study evaluates the new
simulator’s
effectiveness as an
upset prevention and
recovery trainer.
Volunteer pilots will
attend NASTAR’s URT
course and be evaluated
on their ability to
recover from upsets both
before and after the
training.
NASTAR believes that
pilot participation will
contribute greatly to
the improvement of
commercial pilot
training for upsets and
potentially improve
commercial aviation
safety.
Click here for more
information on these
studies;
click here for
information about the
pilot assessment study
and
click here for
details about the
training investigation
study. If you are
interested in
participating, please
contact Scott Glaser at
NASTAR for details (scott.t.glaser@defiantco.com
or 661-754-2732).
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This Week’s Press Releases/Web Coverage |
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Time Is Now for
New Airline Pilot Rest
Rules
ALPA submitted
supplemental comments today to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
urging the regulator to dismiss
groundless stall tactics by some in
the industry and
issue the flight- and duty-time regulations and minimum rest requirements for
airline pilots that are urgently needed to ensure the safety of air
transportation. Read more.
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• The National
Transportation Safety
Board (NTSB) last week
announced its “Most
Wanted” list,
highlighting the 10 most
critical transportation
issues that can improve
safety. The list
includes all forms of
transportation, but
among the 10 items is
the need to address
“human fatigue.”
• Trade groups
representing foreign
airlines last week asked
the U.S. government for
a six-month delay in
implementing regulations
that include penalties
for international
flights delayed on
airport tarmacs for long
periods. The
International Air
Transport Association
made the request on
behalf of airlines in
Europe, Asia, Latin
America, and the Middle
East. The U.S.
Department of
Transportation announced
the new requirements in
April, and some take
effect as soon as August
23.
• U.S. airport security
workers have chosen the
American Federation of
Government Employees to
be their collective
bargaining
representative. With
600,000 members, the
union is the nation’s
largest for federal
workers.
• The 49th Paris Air
Show took place at Le
Bourget Exhibition
Centre June 20–26,
showcasing the latest
aviation technological
innovations. Last year’s
event brought together
1,982 exhibitors from 46
countries and 142
aircraft, including 42
providing flying
displays.
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On July 27, 1981, ALPA celebrated its 50th birthday. At that time, the
Association represented 27 airlines, had 29,300 active members, employed 225
full-time staff, and operated on an annual budget of approximately $29 million.
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Feedback & E-mail Address Changes |
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| 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
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Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l
1625 Massachusetts Avenue NW
| Washington, DC 20036 | 703-689-2270 |
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