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News from ALPA International |
September 25, 2012 |
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Senate Passes EU ETS Legislation |
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The
Air Line Pilots
Association, Int’l,
hails the passage by the
U.S. Senate of The
European Union Emissions
Trading Scheme
Prohibition Act of 2012
(S. 1956), which
provides the U.S.
Secretary of
Transportation with the
authority to protect
U.S. aircraft operators
and their employees from
the market-distorting
effects of the European
Union’s emissions
trading scheme.
“Protecting U.S.
airlines and their
employees from this
harmful tax has been an
extremely high priority
for ALPA because of the
scheme’s potential to
cost U.S. airlines $3.1
billion over the next
eight years and threaten
airline pilots’ jobs,”
said Capt. Lee Moak,
ALPA’s president. “ALPA
thanks Senators John
Thune (R-S.D.) and
Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.)
for their steadfast
leadership in advancing
this bill.
“For years, ALPA has
collaborated with the
airlines and regulators
to reduce aircraft
emissions and our
industry has achieved
remarkable results. We
are committed to
pursuing international
guidelines through the
International Civil
Aviation Organization
and to continuing to
engage in work to
advance high-tech
engines and airframes,
alternative fuels, and
NextGen procedures.
Labor and industry can
work together and these
efforts are the true
solution to doing even
more to reduce aircraft
emissions.”
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ATI, CCI MEC Crewmembers Ratify Joint CBA |
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The crewmembers of Air
Transport International
(ATI) and Capital Cargo
(CCI) ratified the joint
collective bargaining
agreement (JCBA) Monday
by a majority vote. With
89 percent of the
combined membership
participating in the
vote, 63 percent voted
in favor and 37 percent
voted against the JCBA.
“Our future is at ATI
and it is time to move
forward. The crewmembers
of Capital Cargo and ATI
provided management with
the means to run a
single, secure airline
with room for growth,”
said F/O Chuck Hill, CCI
MEC chairman.
“Let there be no
misunderstanding—an
unmistakable message was
sent today—a message
that we will stand
strong. Our focus now
will be enforcing our
contract and welcoming
our brothers and sisters
from Capital Cargo into
the ATI family,” said
Capt. Brendan Twomey,
ATI MEC chairman.
The next step in this
merger process is to
continue the integrated
seniority list (ISL)
negotiations. If an
agreement cannot be
reached by the merger
representatives on an
ISL, the ISL will be
determined by the
mediation-arbitration
process.
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NAA Pilots Ratify Revised TA |
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The pilots of North
American Airlines
ratified a revised
tentative agreement (RTA)
on Monday, September 24.
Of the 96 percent of
pilots who cast ballots,
76 percent voted in
favor of the agreement.
“The results of this
vote underscore the
North American pilots’
unity, resolve, and
commitment to our goal
of preserving our jobs
and our carrier,” said
Capt. Rob Lewis, NAA MEC
chairman.
NAA’s parent company,
Global Aviation
Holdings, filed
protection under Chapter
11 of the bankruptcy
code in February. Under
threat of Section 1113
filing, the pilots
engaged in bankruptcy
concessionary
negotiations, but
rejected the initial
tentative agreement two
weeks ago. As a result, NAA’s management
signaled its intent to
file a motion this week
to reject the pilots’
contract unless a new
consensual TA was
reached before then.
Read more.
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CMR MEC Celebrates 35 Years with More than 1,700 |
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On
Friday, September 28,
the last flight of
Comair will land and the
doors will close, not
only on an airline, but
also a proud history of
unity and commitment.
This past weekend,
current and former
employees of Comair, as
well as pilots from
other airlines, gathered
at the Florence Freedom
Ballpark in Florence,
Ky. to reminisce and
celebrate Comair’s
legacy. The evening
kicked off with hot dogs
and burgers, as well as
live music and face
painters for the kids.
When night fell, the
crowd was treated to a
fireworks display paid
for by the Comair flight
attendants.
“As a
group, we’ve been
through so much
together—from a strike
to a bankruptcy and
everything in between,”
said Capt. Erik Jensen,
MEC chairman. “We wanted
this event to be for
everyone who was part of
that story, and invited
back those who are
retired or are flying
elsewhere. Comair pilots
have serious challenges
ahead of us, but this
was an opportunity for
us to gather and have an
evening of fun and
friendship with our
entire Comair family.”
Comair’s
last flight will occur
Friday morning, with the
airline officially
shutting down on
Saturday, September 29.
Comair Airlines was
founded in 1977, with
the pilots joining ALPA
just six years later.
Delta Airlines bought
Comair in 1999 and
operated it as a
wholly-owned subsidiary.
Only July 27, 2012,
Delta management
announced that Comair
would be shut down
effective the end of
September.
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Transport Canada Fatigue Management Report Now Public |
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Pilot
fatigue mitigation continues to be
one of ALPA’s top
strategic priorities. In
Canada, the process for
creating new
flight-/duty-time
regulations took another
step forward last week.
Transport Canada made
public the
report of the Canadian
Aviation Regulation
Advisory Council (CARAC)
Flight Crew Fatigue
Management Working Group.
The report—which was
coauthored by the
working group’s cochairs,
Capt. Dan Adamus, ALPA
Canada Board president;
and Jacqueline Booth,
chief, Technical Program
Evaluation and
Coordination, Standards,
TCCA—is posted on
Transport Canada’s
website.
The working group’s
report will be discussed
at the Special CARAC
Technical Committee
meeting, November 6–7.
After it is tabled at
this meeting, there will
be a public comment
period. Transport Canada
will then evaluate the
recommendations included
in the report along with
the public comments for
regulatory
consideration.
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We
want to see what you
see. Share your pictures
from the line, and give
us some context (i.e.,
let us know what we’re
looking at).
Air Line Pilot
encourages you to submit
your high-quality prints
from a developer or
high-resolution digital
images. Your photos
could be featured in a
future magazine!
Send your photos to
Communications@alpa.org.
Thanks.
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Many
states have recently
adopted new laws that
include changes to early
and absentee voting
rules and voter
registration
requirements for the
2012 election. This
means that if you have
voted early or absentee
in the past, changes may
be in place in your
state that could affect
your ability to
successfully vote in
November.
For our members who
are flying on November 6
or may be called to fly
on Election Day,
absentee and early
voting offers a
convenient way to ensure
your vote is counted in
November. ALPA has
created a
voter information guide,
available on our
website, with a special
emphasis on early and
absentee voting rules to
accommodate the often
unpredictable schedule
of our member pilots. We
hope you find it useful
and we hope that you
will vote on November 6!
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Catch the Latest Aviation News! Read ALPA Daily |
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The
aviation industry is changing faster than ever before. The new
“ALPA Daily”
feature at www.alpa.org will keep you informed
of the latest industry developments and analysis from around the globe. Check it
out each day to stay up-to-date on the news that affects pilots and the piloting
profession.
ALPA Daily continues to grow in popularity, and members have contacted us
asking if this information can be e-mailed to their Macs and PCs. ALPA’s
Communications and IT Departments are working toward that end. If you want to
receive the electronic version of ALPA Daily, e-mail your name, ALPA number, and
preferred e-mail address to
communications@alpa.org. We’ll let you know when you can expect “home”
delivery.
• According to aviationpros.com, the NTSB applauds the Federal Aviation
Administration’s action calling for immediate initial and recurring inspections
of the fan midshaft installed in General Electric (GE) GEnx-1B and -2B engines
that power Boeing 787 and 747-8 airplanes.
Read more.
• Yahoo! Finance reports that federal transportation investigators released a
preliminary report Monday about two near midair collisions at Chicago’s O’Hare
International Airport that raises questions about air traffic control at one of
the world’s busiest airports.
Read more.
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Watch Highlights from 44th ALPA BOD |
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Won’t
be attending the BOD?
Interested in what ALPA
leaders will discuss?
The national officer
reports during ALPA’s
44th Board of Directors
meeting will be streamed
live directly from the
meeting.
Bookmark
www.alpa.org/bod2012
to access the live feed
at 9:00 a.m. (EST) on
Monday, Oct. 15, 2012,
and listen to the
reports of Capt. Lee
Moak, ALPA president;
Capt. Sean Cassidy,
first vice president;
Capt. Bill Couette, vice
president-administration/secretary;
and Capt. Randy Helling,
vice
president–finance/treasurer.
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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 why scope is so
important to your career
on page 27 of the
September issue of Air Line Pilot magazine.
On the 18th
installment
of
The
FlightDeck,
learn about the pilots’
bill of rights. 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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On Sept. 26, 1981, the Boeing 767 made its maiden flight in Everett, Wash.,
under the command of company test pilots Tommy Edmonds, Lew Wallick, and John
Britt. Return to top
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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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