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#denyNAI Round #2: You Can Help #FinishTheJob
Every ALPA pilot understands why the United States must
completely deny Norwegian Air International’s (NAI)
flag-of-convenience proposal. Here’s your chance to tell
your story and voice your support.
Help #FinishTheJob! Take your voice to Twitter and tell
your federal legislators why they should listen to voting
constituents through this new “#FinishTheJob & #denyNAI”
social media Call to Action.
It only takes minutes!
Click here to participate.
Read more about #FinishTheJob. |
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ALPA Asks Senate to Uphold Laws to #denyNAI
ALPA wrote to members of the Senate Appropriations Committee
yesterday, asking them to support House-passed legislation
that requires the U.S. Department of Transportation to
follow the law and the provisions of the U.S.-EU Open Skies
agreement when considering Norwegian Air International’s
request for a foreign air carrier permit. The letter
explained, “The full enforcement and application of these
laws and provisions help guarantee fair and open competition
for U.S. and European airlines.”
In the letter, ALPA president Capt. Lee Moak reminded the
senators, “The U.S. maritime industry has seen the adverse
effects of flag-of-convenience business practices where
companies register merchant ships in a foreign state to
avoid their own country’s regulation, taxes, and labor
costs.” Moak continued, “The precedent proposed by NAI
threatens the U.S. airline industry and our jobs. We urge
you to stand up for our industry and our careers.”
Read the letter. |
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FAA Revises Security NOTAMs for Korean Peninsula
The FAA recently released revised security NOTAMs for the
Korean peninsula. In
the first, the FAA advises crews to exercise caution
flying in and around the Pyongyang (ZKKP) Flight Information
Region (FIR) east of 132 degrees east longitude due to North
Korea’s history of test launching short-range and
medium-range ballistic missiles with no warning. Exercise
caution during flight operations since future ballistic
missile launches may occur with little or no warning.
The
second NOTAM advises crews to exercise caution when
flying in the Inchon Flight Information Region (RKRR),
especially near Seoul, South Korea, due to possible
interference with or disruption of their GPS navigation
systems.
For information on these and other airspace restrictions
in conflict areas, check out the
FAA Airspace Restrictions page on the ALPA website. |
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IFALPA Committees Convene at ALPA Offices
Several standing committees of the International Federation
of Air Line Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA) are meeting at
ALPA’s Herndon, Va., offices this week to discuss policy
matters and share information. Yesterday, the Federation’s
Industrial Committee received a briefing from ALPA Sr.
Attorney Russ Bailey, who reviewed the International Civil
Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) increasing interest in market
liberalization and other economic issues—new concerns for an
agency traditionally focused on safety, security, and
environment. A group of ICAO member states are urging the
agency to draft a model air services agreement that would
scrap current airline ownership and control policies and
replace them with principal-place-of-business language.
“These are real consequential issues for pilots,” said
Bailey, who is working with IFALPA to combat these efforts.
A panel discussion including Capt. Jim Phillips,
Vereinigung Cockpit Vorstand Internationales; Sean Kennedy,
sr. vice president of Global Affairs for Airlines for
America; Elizabeth Baker, ALPA’s director of Government
Affairs; and Bailey explored the value of developing working
relationships with governments to advance pilot goals.
“Government regulators need to know that we are a resource
for them,” said Baker. Moderated by committee chair Capt.
Ron Abel (UAL), the panel also talked about establishing
other industry partnerships.
Read more about
IFALPA Committees. |
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Watch the Webcast: Moak to Testify on FAA Reauthorization
Capt. Lee Moak, ALPA’s president, will testify before a full
hearing of the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure next week. The hearing,
“FAA Reauthorization: Issues in Modernizing and Operating
the Nation’s Airspace,” will begin at 10 a.m. EST on
Tuesday, November 18.
Watch the webcast and stay tuned for more coverage in
FASTread and Air Line Pilot. |
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FDX Pilots Continue Info Picketing
As FedEx Express pilots continue their campaign to obtain a
contract, more than 200 gathered for informational picketing
on Wednesday in Denver, Indianapolis, and New York City. In
addition, fellow ALPA pilots from ASA, Delta, Envoy,
ExpressJet, Endeavor, Air Wisconsin, PSA, and United
participated. The FedEx pilots and management reached a
contract agreement in 2011, which was accompanied by a
unique commitment to engage in interim discussions prior to
the resumption of formal bargaining in January 2013. This
commitment was intended to foster a more efficient process
and create a timely conclusion to negotiations when formal
negotiations commenced. The carrier has continued to falter
to meet that objective.
On October 31, FedEx management requested the assistance of
the National Mediation Board in the pilots’ ongoing contract
negotiations. “This is hardly a surprise. The parties did a
good job working through a lot of the agreement, but
regarding some core issues FedEx pursued radical shifts in
major sections of the agreement. We proposed changes within
the existing framework of the agreement—changes that we know
are fair and fully earned by the pilots. FedEx management
has led us to this point,” said MEC chairman Capt. Scott
Stratton.
Read more about
FDX info picketing. |
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ARW MEC Provides Career Skills Workshop for Pilots
The Air Wisconsin MEC has partnered with
FAPA.aero to offer its
pilots two-year FAPA.aero basic memberships to provide
job-hunting and career-decision assistance. In addition to
the two-year membership, the ARW MEC is also hosting this
week in Philadelphia a series of FAPA.aero Pilot Career &
Interview Skills Workshops designed exclusively for Air
Wisconsin pilots.
“These workshops focus on getting prepared, getting the
interview, interview skills, and, ultimately, getting the
job,” said Capt. Chris Suhs, ARW MEC chairman. “The Air
Wisconsin MEC is focused on continuing to make Air Wisconsin
a career airline, while simultaneously procuring
opportunities for our pilots who desire to move to carriers
beyond Air Wisconsin.” The workshops run through Saturday. |
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PCL Pilots Prepped for Interviews
The Endeavor Air MEC is once again hosting a series of
interview-preparation seminars for its pilots, this time
featuring Scott Rehn of Aero Crew Solutions. The
presentation is largely focused on the Delta Air Lines
interview, which Endeavor Air pilots access through their
Streamlined Selection Process (SSP), a preferential
interview and hiring program that resulted from Endeavor’s
bankruptcy restructuring.
“We’re pleased with the turnout,” said Capt. Jonathan Allen,
Endeavor Air MEC chairman, speaking about Wednesday
morning’s session, adding, “We want to ensure that each of
our pilots puts his best foot forward and takes full
advantage of the unique opportunity the SSP affords us.” The
seminars run through Saturday in Endeavor’s Detroit and
Minneapolis domiciles, with two sessions per day; a date for
Endeavor’s New York-based pilots is scheduled for early
December.
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ALPA Symposium to Look at Future of U.S. Aviation
Check out the agenda for ALPA’s one-day “Positioning the
U.S. Airline Industry for Success” Symposium, which will be
held Tuesday, December 9, at the Washington Hilton Hotel in
Washington, D.C. Panel discussions with high-profile
decision makers will tackle topics like international
competition and foreign ownership, evolving business models
in the passenger industry, and FAA reauthorization. Heading
the list of keynote speakers is FAA Administrator Michael
Huerta. Find out what the future holds for domestic
aviation—visit
thefutureofaviation.alpa.org for more information and to
register. |
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ALPA Provides Pilot Input for NASA Study
This week, ALPA safety representatives participated in
ongoing NASA research to evaluate Enhanced Flight Vision
Systems (EFVS) & Synthetic Vision Guidance Systems (SVGS) in
simulations conducted at the NASA Langley Research Center.
ALPA participation is part of a larger effort by RTCA
Special Committee 213 to develop standards for enhanced and
synthetic vision devices. The focus of the NASA research was
EFVS & SVGS concepts for approach and landing guidance in
low-visibility conditions. NASA and industry researchers
have taken the positive attributes of various EFVS & SVGS
technologies and blended them together onto a HUD and
flat-panel display mounted in an experimental flight deck in
a motion-based research simulator.
Pilot test subjects evaluate the effectiveness of the
blended technologies for improved crew workload and
situation awareness in simulated low-visibility conditions
in the terminal environment. The results of these tests will
help the FAA and industry establish minimum system
performance standards for new EFVS & SVGS onboard equipment
intended to allow enhanced low-visibility operations into an
expanded number of airports. |
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(L-R) Bruce York, John Dean, HAL Capt. Rick Horne
and Lee Moak in front of Hawaiian’s first airplane,
a 1929 Bellanca Pacemaker. The airline has restored
the Bellanca and flies it on sightseeing tours
for employees and VIPs. |
Happy Birthday, Hawaiian Airlines!
This week Hawaiian Airlines celebrated its 85th birthday,
making it one of the world’s oldest airlines. It started
scheduled service on Nov. 11, 1929, as Inter-Island Airways,
a subsidiary of a steamship company. Its first aircraft was
a single-engine Bellanca Pacemaker used for sightseeing.
Soon after, the airline began using Sikorsky S-38 seaplanes
to link Oahu to its neighbor islands. Interisland service is
still a key component, but over the decades Hawaiian has
grown to an international Pacific gateway carrier that
connects Hawaii to China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and
New Zealand, as well as the U.S. mainland.
Hawaiian Airlines is now one of the 50th state’s largest
nongovernment employers and is deeply engrained into
Hawaii’s history and culture. Its pilot group is proud of
the airline’s many milestones, including becoming the first
federally certified cargo air carrier in 1942 and the first
U.S. airline to operate a scheduled service flight with an
all-female crew in 1979. But HAL’s greatest achievement is
its impeccable safety record: Hawaiian is the oldest U.S.
airline to operate without ever having suffered a fatal
accident or hull loss. |
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District Advocate Webinar
ALPA Government Affairs is conducting District Advocate
training with a webinar scheduled for this Friday, November
14, at 11:00 a.m. EST. ALPA needs volunteers who are
interested in promoting the Association’s pilot-partisan
agenda and want to serve as pilot-partisan representatives
to their local congressional offices. Volunteers should be
willing to schedule and conduct in-district advocacy visits
with their members of Congress. Pilots who are attending
ALPA’s Deny NAI Fly-In on November 19 and have not had any
Government Affairs training are encouraged to participate.
The District Advocate webinar lasts an hour, and training
topics include the structure of ALPA’s grassroots program,
how to set up and conduct local congressional visits, and a
briefing on current pilot-partisan issues. A computer with
Internet access and a phone to dial-in to a toll-free number
are required.
Interested? Please e-mail
Andrew.Rademaker@alpa.org to sign up for the training
session. Pilots are also encouraged to participate in the
current grassroots
Call to Action program to communicate ALPA’s
pilot-partisan agenda directly to your federal legislators. |
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ALPA
represents more than 51,000 pilots at 30 airlines in the
United States and Canada.
Visit us online at
www.alpa.org. |
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