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News from ALPA International |
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February 28, 2013 |
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Read the New Issue of Air Line Pilot
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 Find
out why it’s so
important to know who
your ALPA status rep is.
Read an in-depth
interview with FAA
Administrator Michael
Huerta, who talks about
the greatest challenges
facing his agency. Learn
about a United pilot
who, in his spare time,
jumps with a vintage,
World War II-era
airborne unit. Plus,
find out what you can
deduct for business
travel when filing your
taxes.All of this and
more is in the
March
2013 issue of Air
Line Pilot magazine.
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Airline Merger Hearing Raises Broader Concerns |
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 On
Tuesday, the House
Regulatory Reform,
Commercial, and
Antitrust Law
Subcommittee held a
hearing on the pending
merger of American and
US Airways. While much
of the conversation
focused on the impact of
the merger on prices and
consumers, one witness
told lawmakers that
after the merger,
foreign control and
ownership restrictions
and cabotage rules
should be relaxed—a
position that ALPA
vehemently opposes.
Dr. Clifford Winston of
the Brookings
Institution
testified, “If
policy makers are
concerned that the
proposed American–US
Airways merger may have
anti-competitive effects
. . . then an effective
way to address those
concerns, obtain the
efficiency gains, and
significantly benefit
travelers would be to
take steps to stimulate
additional competition
by creating a
deregulated global
airline industry. . . .
The final step to create
a highly competitive
global airline industry
would be for the United
States to allow foreign
airlines to serve U.S.
domestic markets.”
Read more.
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ATN MEC
secretary-treasurer
Capt. Clark
Trobaugh
at
the KCM
checkpoint
today at MCO. |
Orlando Int’l (MCO)
joined the growing list
of airports
participating in the
Known Crewmember (KCM)
program. As of 4 a.m.
today, crewmembers could
begin using the KCM
access point at the
B-side entry of the west
security checkpoint of
MCO, which will be open
from 4 a.m. to 10 p.m.
daily.
“Best news I’ve heard
all day,” said an
American Eagle pilot
passing through the
risk-based screening
system. KCM allows TSA
officers to verify the
identity and employment
status of crewmembers
from the 39 airlines
participating in the
program. In addition to
Eagle, pilots from
AirTran, Delta, United,
and non-ALPA pilot
groups used the MCO
access point today. To
date, more than 4
million crewmembers have
been alternately
screened through KCM or
the previous CrewPASS
demo.
Read more.
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AIS Pilots Open New Chapter with Sale of Airline |
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Island Air MEC chairman
Capt. Monte Vories
issued the following
statement about the sale
of Island Air to Ohana
Airline Holdings LLC, a
private holding company
owned by billionaire
Larry Ellison. “The
acquisition of Island
Air by Ohana Airline
Holdings LLC represents
a new chapter for Island
Air—one that we hope
will bring renewed
success to our airline,
our employees, and our
passengers.”
Read more.
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TSA Head Testifies on Sequestration |
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 TSA
Administrator John
Pistole appeared on
Capitol Hill yesterday,
testifying before the
House Appropriations
Subcommittee on Homeland
Security on the
potential effects of
sequestration. The cuts
would lead to a hiring
freeze, possible
furloughs, and the
elimination of overtime,
limiting his agency’s
ability to maintain
staffing levels,
particularly during busy
passenger traffic
periods.“When you
think about holiday
travel, and with spring
breaks and summer travel
coming up, the impact
would be more
noticeable, I think,
longer term as we look
at our ability to surge
resources to those
busiest times,” said
Pistole. The
administrator added that
TSA is working closely
with the FAA to
coordinate efforts in
the event that
sequestration budget
cuts lead to lengthy
flight and security-line
delays.
ALPA calls on
Congress and the
Executive Branch to
avoid the reckless and
indiscriminate cuts of
sequestration and find
an alternative method of
reducing the budget
deficit.
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Technical Group Chairs, Safety Council, Training Council Hold Winter Meeting |
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 More
than 50 ALPA line pilot
safety representatives
gathered at the union’s
Herndon Conference
Center in Herndon, Va.,
this week for three days
of meetings.
The chairs of ALPA’s
six technical,
safety-focused
groups—Accident Analysis
and Prevention, Aircraft
Design and Operations,
Airport and Ground
Environment, Air Traffic
Services, Human Factors
and Training, and Energy
and Environment, plus
the Air Safety
Coordinator-Canada—met
with the ALPA Safety
Council and the ALPA
Training Council in
joint sessions and in
separate meetings.
Read more.
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 The Alaska Air Group
paid annual bonuses
totaling nearly a
month’s pay to nearly
13,000 employees for
exceeding the company’s
2012 operational and
financial goals. . . .
American Eagle staged an
event earlier this week
to allow its employees
to see the new American
Eagle livery. . . .
Hawaiian Airlines flight
attendants have ratified
a tentative agreement on
terms covering the
operation of long-range,
single-aisle aircraft
the company plans to
acquire to complement
its current fleet of
wide-body aircraft
serving Hawaii from the
U.S. West Coast. . . .
Exchange Income
Corporation, the
Winnipeg company that
owns Calm Air and
Bearskin Airlines, has
purchased a Florida
company that sells used
aircraft parts and whole
planes, including
hard-to-find models.
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Stay in the Loop with “ALPA Daily” |
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The aviation industry is changing faster than ever before. The
“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 members can sign up to receive ALPA Daily in their e-mail.
Visit
this link.
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Union Plus Credit Card Holder Gets Disaster Relief |
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Hurricane Sandy left
devastation behind after
it made landfall in New
Jersey in October 2012.
Fletcher Robinson, a
retired USW Local 300
member, was one of the
victims of the hurricane
damage. Union Plus was
one of the first
responders on the
ground.
Robinson, who is a
Union Plus Credit Card
holder, qualified to
receive $500 from the
Union Plus Disaster
Relief Program. “I
was surprised when I got
the check in the mail. I
really appreciate it. It
helped us so much,” says
the retired union
printer of 47 years, who
served as a shop steward
for 21 years.
Read more.
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On February 28, 2001, the air traffic control tower at Seattle Tacoma
International Airport was heavily damaged by an earthquake. An interim control
tower was used until a new tower could be constructed and completed in 2004. The
original tower was repaired and used by ground controllers. 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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