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News from ALPA International |
April 16, 2013 |
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Since the bombings at
the Boston Marathon
yesterday, the Air Line
Pilots Association,
Int’l has been in close
touch with the federal
law enforcement and
intelligence
communities,
Transportation Security
Administration, Federal
Aviation Administration,
and other aviation
industry stakeholders.
The consensus among
those entities is that
there is no known
connection between the
Boston attack and
aviation, and no current
specific, credible
threat to aviation.
However, because of
the ongoing and dynamic
nature of the
investigation, and due
to the circumstances of
the attack, the aviation
community remains in a
heightened state of
vigilance and awareness.
This has been
demonstrated by some air
carriers providing
additional or reinforced
general security
guidance to flight and
cabin crewmembers and
taking special
precautions related to
layovers in the Boston
area.
Attacks such as the
one in Boston have been
shown to serve as
catalysts for copy-cat
attacks and provide
impetus for others who
are motivated to engage
in different forms of
violence. As such, ALPA
reminds its membership
to remain vigilant and
conscious of your
security and that of
your families,
especially when
transiting public places
where large crowds of
people congregate.
Pilots should also keep
abreast of security
guidance and precautions
issued by their
companies, and
anticipate the
possibility of enhanced
aviation security
measures.
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ALPA Calls for Grounding of Abu Dhabi Preclearance Facility |
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ALPA issued the
following statement
opposing the agreement
made between the U.S.
government and the
United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.)
to establish a U.S.
Customs and Border
Protection (CBP)
preclearance facility in
Abu Dhabi.
“It is alarming that the
Department of Homeland
Security (DHS) is
putting U.S. airlines
and American jobs at
great risk by moving
forward with an
agreement to open a CBP
preclearance facility at
Abu Dhabi International
Airport. Further, the
fact that this will be
seeded with U.S.
taxpayer dollars is
unjustified. This
agreement must be
reconsidered by the
administration, and if
the Department of
Homeland Security (DHS)
is unwilling, Congress
must act to force a
reversal of this
misguided plan.”
Support the
Call to Action.
Read more.
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ALPA Fights for FFDO Funding on Program’s 10th Anniversary |
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ALPA is fighting an
administration proposal
to eliminate funding for
the Federal Flight Deck
Officer (FFDO) program,
a key layer in aviation
security, even as the
Association commemorated
the program’s success on
April 12, its 10th
anniversary. “For the
last 10 years, the FFDO
program has proven to be
a cost-effective tool in
protecting our nation’s
airliners from potential
terrorist attacks and is
a strong deterrent
against any such
attempts. It does so at
a tremendous value to
the federal government,
costing only a few
dollars per protected
flight,” said ALPA
president Capt. Lee Moak.
“Thousands of ALPA and
other airline pilots
have made many personal
sacrifices to protect
our nation’s airline
passengers, crews, and
cargo by serving as
FFDOs. I commend each of
them for their service
and commitment. ALPA
will lead the fight to
ensure this crucial
program continues to
protect our nation’s
airliners.”
Support the
Call to Action.
Read more.
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FDX Pilots Sign B-767 LOA |
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The FedEx Express pilots
recently signed a letter
of agreement on the
introduction of the
B-767 aircraft at the
carrier. This agreement
was approved by the
membership with more
than 75 percent voter
participation and over
87 percent in favor.
Meanwhile, FDX ALPA
remains in Section 6
bargaining with FedEx
Express.
“This LOA encompasses
industry-leading
provisions that respect
seniority without
concessions,” stated MEC
chairman Capt. Scott
Stratton. “While there
are some new concepts,
this agreement largely
applies existing CBA
provisions to the unique
situation that the
combination of
B-767/B-757 represents
for FedEx Express
pilots. Maintaining the
integrity of our
existing agreement was a
central goal,” he added.
Read more.
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Wykoff Reelected IFALPA President |
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Airline pilots’
associations around the
world cast their
collective vote for
Capt. Don Wykoff (DAL)
to remain the president
of the International
Federation of Air Line
Pilots’ Associations
during the final session
of the Federation’s 68th
annual conference.
“I’m honored, and will
work hard to hold your
trusted confidence
moving forward,” Wykoff
told delegates. Wykoff
will continue leading
the Federation as one of
only two organizations
granted permanent
observer status at the
International Civil
Aviation Organization’s
Air Navigation
Commission. To enhance
that business
relationship, under his
tenure, Wykoff played an
instrumental role in
moving IFALPA’s
headquarters to
Montreal, the home of
international aviation
policy decision makers.
Read more.
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How Emirates Gets Cheaper Planes than Delta |
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Why do Delta and other
U.S. airlines pay more
than state-owned foreign
airlines from wealthy
nations for the same
Boeing aircraft? Ted
Reed’s article in
Thestreet.com
provides an excellent
overview of the
“lingering puzzle” of
the Export-Import Bank
of the United States’
aircraft financing
practices.
ALPA led the fight
for stricter rules on
the Ex-Im Bank last
year, and legislation
was signed into law that
requires the bank to
perform an economic
analysis to assess the
effect of bank financing
decisions on U.S.
airlines and its
workers. However, the
bank continues to
approve low-cost
financing for airlines
at the expense of U.S.
airlines without
conducting such an
analysis, and ALPA is
now
pursuing legal action
against the bank.
Read more.
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The
American Airlines
network will connect
Northwest Arkansas
Regional Airport in
Bentonville with Los
Angeles International
Airport starting August
27 using flights
operated by American
Eagle . . . SkyWest Inc.
reports that traffic in
March climbed 6.3
percent from a year ago
for SkyWest and
ExpressJet combined . .
. Spirit Airlines flight
attendants, represented
by the Association of
Flight Attendants-CWA,
will stage a “send-off”
event at Fort
Lauderdale-Hollywood
International Airport
for their negotiating
team, which departs to
begin contract
negotiations with
management . . . United
Airlines, under the
umbrella of its
Eco-Skies program, has
set a goal to save 85
million gallons of fuel
in 2013, roughly worth
$275 million. This could
lead to a reduction of
828,750 metric tons of
CO2.
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Register for Pilot Assistance Forum, May 7–9 |
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This year’s Pilot
Assistance Forum is
scheduled for May 7-9 in
ALPA’s conference center
in Herndon, Va. This
three-day event will
feature presentations
from each of the Pilot
Assistance Groups:
Aeromedical, Canadian
Pilot Assistance,
Critical Incident
Response Program, Human
Intervention and
Motivation Study, and
Professional Standards.
The conference
represents an excellent
opportunity for new
pilot representatives to
learn procedures and
techniques from more
seasoned representatives
who will share their
experiences and
expertise. All pilot
assistance
representatives are
invited to attend the
professional standards
training event scheduled
for Thursday, May 9.
The annual awards
banquet is slated for
Wednesday night, May 8,
at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy
Center of the
Smithsonian’s National
Air and Space Museum at
Dulles Airport. This
banquet, which is always
a forum highlight, will
honor the Annual Pilot
Assistance Award
recipient and feature
other activities.
Additional
information and online
registration is
available at
http://paforum.alpa.org.
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Check Out Union Plus for Product and Service Discounts |
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The AFL-CIO created
Union Privilege in 1986
to provide union members
and their families with
valuable consumer
benefits. With Union
Plus benefits, your
union membership “pays”
at work and at home.
By using the
collective buying power
of unions, we are able
to offer valuable,
discounted products and
services exclusively to
working families.
Visit
www.unionplus.org
for more information.
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Federal Express began operations on April 17, 1973, with a fleet of 14 Dassault
Falcon 20 jets to transport packages overnight from 25 cities through their
Memphis hub to locations across the country. 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
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and once your postal forwarding order expires, you’ll no longer receive the
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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
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Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l 1625 Massachusetts Avenue NW
| Washington, DC 20036 | 703-689-2270 |
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