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News from ALPA International |
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April 18, 2013 |
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ALPA Continues Fight Against Abu Dhabi Preclearance Facility
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The Air Line Pilots
Association, Int’l
continued its
no-holds-barred campaign
to avert the U.S.
Department of Homeland
Security’s misguided
decision to open a
Customs and Border
Protection (CBP)
preclearance facility at
the United Arab
Emirates’ Abu Dhabi
International Airport.
In addition to
mobilizing its members
to participate in a Call
to Action, the
Association yesterday
reached out to
Department of Homeland
Security Secretary Janet
Napolitano in a
letter
requesting clarification
on the rationale for her
agency’s decision. The
letter noted, “We are
dedicated to making sure
that CBP’s preclearance
program is managed
responsibly, cost
effectively, and with
American national
security as its primary
concern. The development
of a facility in Abu
Dhabi, however, raises a
number of concerns that
must be addressed
immediately.”
Take action now.
Read more.
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FAA Notifies Pilots of GPS Testing |
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The FAA recently
published a
flight advisory to
pilots regarding Global
Positioning System (GPS)
testing that may result
in unreliable or
unavailable GPS signals
over a wide area of the
western United States
from April 19 to May 3,
2013. The area
encompasses all or most
of Arizona, California,
Idaho, Nevada, Oregon,
and Utah as well as
portions of surrounding
states. Specific
coordinates, altitudes,
and times are outlined
in the advisory. Test
periods may be updated
by NOTAM. The FAA is
requesting that any GPS
unreliability identified
by pilots be reported to
ARTCC.
ALPA recommends all
pilots remain vigilant
in reviewing dispatch
paperwork and on-board
GPS indications for
potential impacts on
departure, en route, and
arrival routing and
procedures at
destinations and
alternates.
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ALPA Holds First Risk Management Course |
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 Eleven line pilot safety
representatives from
seven pilot groups
participated this week
in ALPA’s first-ever
Risk Management Course,
designed to give ALPA
safety reps a thorough
grounding in the
philosophy and practice
of risk assessment,
safety management
systems, ASAP, and FOQA.
An important
component of the course
was the time devoted to
small-group exercises.
In one, the pilots
conducted a risk
assessment and developed
recommendations for
mitigating safety issues
at two actual airports.
In another, they played
the roles of ALPA rep,
FAA rep, or airline
management rep on an
ASAP ERC as they dealt
with an actual, but
de-identified, ASAP
report. A third exercise
involved making
decisions as an ALPA
FOQA gatekeeper.
Read more.
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 More
than 150 line pilots and
representatives of
government, the airline
industry, and the
health-care community
came together April
15-16 at ALPA’s Herndon,
Va., Conference Center
for a comprehensive
symposium on helping
flightcrew members deal
with alcoholism and
other substance abuse.
HIMS (Human
Intervention and
Motivation Study) is the
FAA-funded substance
abuse treatment program
for airline pilots,
which, according to the
HIMS website (www.himsprogram.com),
“coordinates the
identification,
treatment, and return to
the cockpit of impaired
aviators. It is an
industry-wide effort in
which companies, pilot
unions, and the FAA work
together to preserve
careers and further
aviation safety.” ALPA
administers the HIMS
program under a contract
from the FAA.
Read more.
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Pilot Safety Reps Take ALPA Safety Two School |
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Seasoned line pilot
safety representatives
from a number of ALPA
pilot groups spent two
days in ALPA’s Herndon,
Va., offices this week
soaking up more
training—the union’s
Safety Two School, which
builds on the solid
foundation in ALPA
safety work they
received at the ALPA
Basic Safety School.
Safety Two attendees
received specialized
training in leadership,
management, accident
prevention, and news
media communications
(i.e., how to serve
effectively as an ALPA
spokesperson).
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AirTran plans to cut 283
jobs at its two
reservations centers in
Georgia . . . Alaska
Airlines has established
a new Customer
Innovation Department
for the purpose of
making the passenger
experience from buying a
ticket to the day of
flight as simple and
efficient as possible .
. . Pinnacle Airlines
has received approval
from a bankruptcy court
to exit bankruptcy as a
subsidiary of Delta Air
Lines and expects to do
so by May 1 . . . Spirit
Airlines this week added
new service from
Dallas/Fort Worth
International to
Philadelphia
International and
Minneapolis/St. Paul
International.
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TTD Says Keep Aviation Out of Broad Trade Talks |
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In his latest
MoveAmerica blog,
AFL-CIO Transportation
Trades Department
President Edward Wytkind
says, “If it ain’t broke
don’t fix it.
“That’s our message
to U.S. government trade
negotiators as they
enter into talks on a
Transatlantic Trade and
Investment Partnership,
or TTIP, with the
European Union.
“We’ve seen how
balanced global trade
can create good jobs,
boost the economy, and
open new markets. But
we’ve also seen how
trade done the wrong way
can ravage industries
that are pillars of our
economy, destroy
middle-class jobs, and
even threaten our
security.”
Read more.
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Canadian Senate Committee Calls for Aviation Improvements |
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The Standing Senate
Committee on Transport
and Communications has
issued a
report recommending
that the Canadian
Government create a
single, cohesive
national air travel
strategy to train new
pilots rather than hire
temporary foreign ones
and improve the
competiveness of
Canadian airports. The
report calls for the
training of new pilots,
as shortages exist in
the northern and remote
regions. “A lack of
qualified individuals
could seriously impede
the air transport
industry’s future
capacity to expand, thus
further reducing
competition in this
sector,” the report
states.
Read more.
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Texas Plant Explosion Reminds Us Why AERF Is So Important |
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News media reports about
today’s deadly explosion
at a fertilizer plant in
the small Texas town of
West remind us of the
importance of both
contributing and having
access to the ALPA
Emergency Relief Fund (AERF).
Catastrophe can
strike at a moment’s
notice leaving those in
its wake displaced and
facing unanticipated
costs. AERF provides for
the immediate needs of
ALPA pilots and their
families who fall victim
to widespread disasters.
Funded from
contributions by ALPA
members and staff, AERF
is one of the many
tangible benefits of
belonging to the
Association.
To learn more about
the fund, make a
donation, or request a
grant, visit
www.alpa.org/relieffund.
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Western Air Express began operations on April 17, 1926, with flights between
Salt Lake City and Los Angeles. The carrier would later change its name to
Western Airlines, flying until 1987 when it merged with Delta Air Lines. Return to top
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Most Recent FastRead Issues |
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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
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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