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News from ALPA International |
March 22, 2012 |
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Progress Needed to Realize Risk-Based Air Transportation Security Proven Federal Flight Deck Officer Program Must Be Fully Funded |
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Capt.
Lee Moak, president of
the Air Line Pilots
Association, Int’l,
applauded the U.S.
Senate Appropriations
Committee’s Subcommittee
on Homeland Security for
holding a hearing titled
“Balancing Prosperity
and Security: Challenges
for U.S. Air Travel in a
21st Century Global
Economy,” and issued the
following statement
highlighting the
Association’s
written statement
submitted to the
subcommittee.
“(ALPA) recognizes the
Transportation Security
Administration’s
commitment to shift away
from a one-size-fits-all
approach to air
transportation security
and embrace a more
intelligence-driven,
risk-based philosophy.
The TSA has taken
important action toward
instituting risk-based
security by advancing
many initiatives that
ALPA has advocated,
including launching the
Known Crewmember
program, which provides
enhanced security
screening for
professional flight
crews.
“While important
progress, these efforts
must mark the first
actions in a determined
drive toward a
completely risk-based
approach that will help
enhance aviation
security, make air
transportation more
customer-friendly for
airline passengers and
air cargo shippers, and
ensure the U.S. airline
industry continues to
fuel the nation’s
economy and provide
jobs.”
Read more.
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EGL Pilot Leader Responds to Management Proposal |
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American Eagle MEC
chair Capt. Tony
Gutierrez released the
following statement
yesterday:
“Today, in a meeting
with the various
American Eagle labor
group leaders, American
Eagle management
presented their view of
what it will take to
restructure our airline.
Individual meetings with
each labor group
followed this larger
gathering where
management delivered
their terms sheet
proposal. This proposal
represents what Eagle
management claims is
necessary from the pilot
group in order to reach
its goals and exit
bankruptcy as a
successful, competitive,
and thriving company.
“During the next few
weeks, ALPA’s economic
and financial experts,
bankruptcy counsel, and
negotiators will analyze
the proposal,
management’s overall
restructuring
objectives, and its
financial
justifications. This
analysis will consist of
cost comparisons and
validation, as well as
alternative cost
savings.
“Following this
analysis, ALPA will
begin negotiations with
the intent to negotiate
a consensual deal with
management that is
workable from both sides
of the table that
provides management with
justifiable cost savings
while protecting the
quality of life for all
Eagle pilots and its
ability to recruit new
pilots.”
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ALPA Tech Group Chairs Meet |
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Dick Healing, former NTSB member, describes his company’s
prototype collision avoidance system designed
for remotely piloted aircraft. |
On March 20–21,
ALPA’s Aviation Safety
chair, Capt. Chuck
Hogeman (UAL),
convened a meeting of
the ALPA technical group
chairs in Herndon, Va.
The two-day agenda
included individual
updates on the groups’
activities; a
presentation on a small,
relatively inexpensive
collision avoidance
system developed for
aircraft without
conventional electrical
systems, including some
UAS; a discussion of
advances in radar
developed specifically
to detect birds near
airports; planning for
the 2012 ALPA Air Safety
Forum; reviewing
nominations for safety
awards to be presented
at the Forum; budget
reviews; and updates to
ALPA websites.
Capt. Sean Cassidy, ALPA’s first
vice president and
national safety
coordinator, actively
participated in the
meeting. “Busy as I
thought my first year in
these positions was,
it’s been even busier
this year,” he said.
“Going to meetings and
events, making lots of
contacts, leads to more
meetings, events, and
contacts.”
Read more.
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ALPA ACE Club Sprouts at UND |
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Capt. Dave Ryter and UND students. |
ALPA
Education Committee
chairman Capt. Dave
Ryter (EGL) and
Capt. George Burnette (DAL)
attended the first
meeting of the
University of North
Dakota’s ALPA ACE Club
this month along with
the club’s student
president Kou Omori and
other club officers and
members.
The ALPA ACE Club is
a student-led
organization whose
purpose is to promote an
attitude of
professionalism and a
culture of safety among
future airline pilots.
The Education Committee
strives to bring the
industry to the students
through monthly
presentations on various
student-selected
aviation topics. The
first meeting included
an overview of the ACE
Club’s organization
followed by questions
and answers on a variety
of industry-related
subjects.
The first Education
Committee presentation
to the UND ACE Club was
held on March 21. Nearly
40 students gathered for
the meeting to hear the
pilot representatives
discuss, “A Day in the
Life of an Airline
Pilot.” The topic was
presented to the
students by F/Os Larry
Deist, Shannon O’Neal,
Pete Strople (all DAL),
Capt. Mark Nagel (PCL)
and F/O Jann Waldhauser
(CAL).
Read more.
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Stay connected with your
union, your profession,
and your industry by
reading Air Line
Pilot magazine and
watching monthly
episodes of The
FlightDeck.
Read what ALPA
actuary Jack Parrack had to say about
preparing for retirement
on page 32 of the
March issue of Air Line Pilot magazine.
On the 13th
installment
of
The
FlightDeck,
learn about potential
FFDO funding cuts.
Remember that both Air Line Pilot
and The FlightDeck
can also be accessed
from the members-only
portion of the ALPA
website at
www.alpa.org.
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Cargo Conference Next Month |
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Plans are being
finalized for a one-day
conference on all-cargo
operations to be held
April 17 in Washington,
D.C. The conference,
titled “Air Cargo Safety
and Security: Closing
the Gaps,” will feature
congressional and other
government and aviation
industry leadership to
highlight numerous
safety- and
security-related
deficiencies inherent in
all-cargo operations and
identify ways to remedy
these problems.
The keynote address
will be delivered by
Rep. Chip Cravaack
(R-MN), who
transported cargo as a
former Northwest
Airlines pilot. Cravaack
serves on the U.S. House
of Representatives’
Transportation &
Infrastructure Committee
and Homeland Security
Committee. The agenda
also includes the acting
administrator of the
Federal Aviation
Administration, the
chairman of the National
Transportation Safety
Board, and several
senior representatives
from government and
industry.
The conference is to
be held in the historic
Blue Room of the Omni
Shoreham Hotel. The
agenda and registration
information are
available at
cargoconference.alpa.org.
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We Want Photos from the Line |
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The
ALPA Facebook page will
be getting a facelift
using your photos. Send
your best pictures of
flying the line and you
could see
them posted on the
We Are ALPA Facebook
page, in Air Line
Pilot magazine, and
on The FlightDeck.
Submit your quality
images to
photos@alpa.org.
Please adhere to the
appropriate FARs, CARs,
and company policy when
taking pictures. Thanks!
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Space Shuttle Discovery, Coming to D.C. |
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For
those of you who will be
near Washington’s Dulles
International Airport on
Tuesday, April 17, the
Space Shuttle Discovery
will be transported to
the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy
Center, the companion
facility to the National
Air and Space Museum.
The Discovery is
expected to arrive
sometime midmorning atop
a modified B-747, which
will depart from NASA’s
Kennedy Space Center
earlier that day. The
flight path of the
Discovery will not be
publicized. Discovery
completed 39 trips from
1984 through 2011,
spending a total of 365
days in space.
Click here for more
information about the
upcoming event.
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• Aviation Today reports that Boeing, Airbus, and Embraer have signed a
memorandum of understanding to work together on the development of drop-in,
affordable aviation biofuels.
Read more.
• According to Business Review Canada, Air Canada pilots are asking the Ontario
Superior Court of Justice to rule that federal legislation passed last week,
forcing them to fly and accept a contract imposed through arbitration,
contravenes the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Read more.
• Per Bloomberg News, Sanford “Sandy” McDonnell, whose career spanned from the
World War II Manhattan Project to build the first atomic bomb to running the
aerospace company that bore his family name, has died. He was 89.
Read more.
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According to a recent study titled, “Aviation: Benefits Beyond Borders,” from
the Air Transport Action Group and Oxford Economics, the global aviation
industry produces more than 56 million jobs as well as enough economic wealth to
make it the 19th largest global economy (if it were a country). The report
identified 1,568 registered commercial airlines, adding that the “gross domestic
product” of this would-be nation totaled $2.2 trillion.
Click here to access
the report.
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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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