In This Issue:

CanJet Pilots Reach Tentative Agreement with Management
Pilot Assistance Forum Kicks Off in Herndon
FedEx MEC Re-Elects Officers
ALPA Conference to Explore Challenges, Solutions to Aviation Ops in Harsh Environments
2012 Roll of Distinction Published
Dining on the Line
News on the Net
 

CanJet pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), announced a tentative agreement (TA) with their management yesterday. If the TA is ratified by the pilots, it will be the second contract for the pilot group since they joined ALPA in 2006.

“After almost a year and a half of direct negotiations, we believe we have reached an agreement with improvements in almost all sections of the contract,” said CanJet Master Executive Council (MEC) chairman Capt. Alex Sirros. “We are pleased to have completed the negotiating process and look forward to meeting with our pilots beginning next week to discuss the details.”

Read the full story.

More than 160 pilot assistance volunteers from around the world joined government officials, airline managers, and medical professionals at the ALPA Conference Center in Herndon, Va., today for the opening of ALPA’s annual Pilot Assistance Forum. With attendees from as far away as Germany, South Africa, the Bahamas, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand, the three-day meeting features presentations, discussions, and training in the Association’s five PA disciplines: Aeromedical, Critical Incident Response, Professional Standards, HIMS and Canadian Pilot Assistance.

Welcoming the group, ALPA President Lee Moak said the theme of the forum, “ALPA: By Your Side,” is particularly apt for PA volunteers. “Pilot assistance is always going to be by your side, 24/7, 365 days of the year—ready, willing, and able to help pilots in times of need,” Moak said.

On day one of the conference, attendees were briefed on how ALPA’s Aeromedical Office assists pilots in keeping or getting back their flight status, and received an overview of the National Transportation Safety Board’s Disaster Assistance Program. They also listened to a presentation on grief counseling and heard a first-person account of the 1988 Aloha Flight 243 accident, where a Boeing 737 lost a major section of the top of its fuselage in flight. The surviving crew’s emotional trauma following the accident was the genesis of ALPA’s current Pilot Assistance efforts. The PA Forum runs through Thursday in Herndon.

See photos from day one of the Pilot Assistance Forum.

Today, the FedEx MEC re-elected by unanimous acclamation the following officers to lead the pilot group—Capt. Scott Stratton, chairman; Capt. John Cardaci, vice chairman; and Capt. Sean McDonald, secretary-treasurer.

The new officer terms begin on July 1 and run for two years.

ALPA will be joined by top legislative and aviation regulatory officials, operators, and service providers to discuss the challenges of aviation operations in the high Arctic and similar remote locations at the Association’s Operations at Remote Airports Conference in Ottawa on May 29. Members of the media are invited to attend.

Read the full release.

2012 Roll of Distinction Published

2012 was a year of accomplishment for ALPA on Capitol Hill due in large part to our great PAC supporters. The outreach ALPA-PAC allows us to do enables all of our victories on Capitol Hill. Special thanks to all of the ALPA-PAC members whose names are published in this year’s Roll of Distinction.

Make sure your name is included in the 2013 Roll of Distinction by joining ALPA-PAC today.

Read more about ALPA-PAC in this month’s Air Line Pilot.

Do you have a favorite place to grab a bite when you’re on a trip? Let us know about your favorite restaurants on the road. We’ll go through the suggestions, and you may see it listed in a future FastRead article.

Just send the name of the restaurant, where it’s located, and what makes it your go-to place to FastRead@alpa.org.

• Tax Proposals Open a Debate on Airline Industry’s Troubles (New York Times)
• NASA measures effects of biofuel on jet engines, environment (Washington Post)
• Alaska Volcano Spews Ash Plume Near Air Traffic Route (Chicago Tribune)

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.

ALPA represents more than 50,000 pilots at 33 airlines in the United States and Canada.
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