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News from ALPA International |
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May 29, 2009—In This Issue:
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ALPA Settles DHL Lawsuit, Secures ASTAR Pilot Jobs Through 2010 |
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ALPA was able to reach an agreement with DHL that would keep
all of the ASTAR pilots hired prior to March 2008 on the
payroll at least through March 2010.
DHL agreed to honor the no-furlough clause in the pilots’
existing contract signed between ALPA and ASTAR in March
2008. The settlement also ensures every protected pilot
their current pay status through March 2010 or for six
months after they stop flying, whichever is longer.
This week marks the one-year anniversary that DHL
announced it would give most of its North American flying to
UPS. The plan was immediately opposed by ALPA and the ASTAR
MEC. ALPA’s Executive Council and Executive Board quickly
authorized an MCF grant to fight the deal through an
aggressive public outreach campaign that included public
relations, advertising, lobbying, and public demonstrations.
“Our goals were simple,” said Capt. Pat Walsh, ASTAR MEC
chair. “Stop the DHL/UPS agreement from being finalized,
keep as many of our pilots working as long as possible, and
obtain the best severance we could for any pilots who would
lose their jobs. None of this could have been achieved
without our ALPA contract, our ALPA representation, and our
active pilot group.”
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ALPA Receives Collier Trophy for CAST Participation |
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Pictured L to R: ALPA Executive Air Safety Chairman Capt. Rory Kay,
ALPA Vice-President–Administration Capt. Bill Couette, and ALPA
President Capt. John Prater. |
The National Aeronautics Association last night presented the 2008 Robert J.
Collier Trophy to ALPA as part of the Commercial Aviation Safety Team (CAST), a government and
industry partnership. CAST was initiated in 1997 for the
purpose of reducing the fatal accident rate in the U.S. commercial aviation by 80
percent in 10 years.
“Through the tremendous resources provided by many organizations and the
tireless dedication of hundreds of individuals, CAST has eliminated significant
risks and created a quantum leap in aviation safety,” said ALPA president Capt.
John Prater in a public statement.
Accepting on behalf of ALPA were Prater,
Vice-President–Administration Capt. William “Bill” Couette, Executive Air Safety
Chairman Capt. Rory Kay (UAL), and members of the ALPA Engineering & Air Safety
and Communications Departments.
CAST employs a disciplined, data-driven approach to analyzing safety
information, identifying accident precursors, developing specific safety
enhancements to address these precursors, implementing and tracking the success
of the specific safety enhancement, and using that information to improve the
overall safety of the air transportation system.
Established in 1911, the Collier Trophy is a national award honoring those
who have made significant achievements in advancing aviation. This is the third
time that ALPA has been part of the Collier Trophy award. The first of its
awards was given in 1995 for the Association’s work on the Boeing 777 aircraft
design. ALPA received its second Collier Trophy in 2008, when the Association
was recognized as part of the team developing Automatic Dependent
Surveillance-Broadcast, or ADS-B.
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House-Passed FAA Bill Includes Many ALPA Initiatives |
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 Last
week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed
H.R. 915, the FAA Reauthorization
bill, by a vote of 277–136. This measure contains a number of ALPA initiatives,
including directing the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a detailed study
of pilot fatigue and to report on any recommendations for updating regulations,
as appropriate, on flight time and rest requirements.
The bill also includes improved runway safety measures, a reiteration of U.S.
air carrier citizenship requirements, and a labor provision within the GAO study
on the effect of antitrust and airline alliances. ALPA remains hopeful that the
Senate will move on the bill this summer.
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Air Traffic Management Advisory Committee Deliberates on NextGen |
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 ALPA
representatives participated in an RTCA Air Traffic Management Advisory
Committee (ATMAC) plenary session this week. The meeting covered ongoing work
associated with the development of recommendations to the FAA’s Air Traffic
Organization on NextGen technologies and procedures that can be deployed at key
sites in the midterm (i.e., 2018).
The plenary received updates on the deliberations and recommendations of
various subgroups on equipage and risk mitigations, which will need to be
provided to ensure successful implementation.
RTCA is scheduled to present its findings to the FAA in August 2009.
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ALPA-Chaired SMS Group Prepares for ANPRM |
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The FAA Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) on Safety Management Systems (SMS),
which is co-chaired by Capt. Linda Orlady (UAL), ALPA’s Executive Air Safety
vice chair, met in Washington, D.C., on May 12–13. The FAA has been working on
an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) on the SMS rule that is now in
the final review process. The agency expects it to be released by the end of
June, so the ARC worked on organization issues at this meeting so it will be
able to effectively deal with the ANPRM when it is published.
The ARC received briefings from representatives of two major Canadian
corporations: one with an SMS program and another in the process of establishing
one. They discussed essential elements of SMS and some of the pitfalls they have
experienced during the implementation phase.
A representative of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) briefed the
group on efforts to develop SMS requirements for 31 European countries. The EASA
expects to have the implementing rules in place by April 2012.
A Transport Canada representative discussed the agency’s efforts to implement
SMS within Canada. Its challenge is to scale SMS rules that apply to
organizations varying greatly in size and complexity. A representative of the
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) discussed standards for
countries worldwide to develop SMS that will provide performance-based,
prognostic, and progressive safety improvements.
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ALPA to Conduct Safety and Accident Investigation Training |
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Capt. Paul Brady, ALPA’s Air Safety Committee’s Training Programs coordinator,
is slated to head a contingent of ALPA safety representatives who will conduct a
three-day “Safety and Accident Investigation Training” course in Atlanta, Ga.,
for ALPA’s new AirTran members and their invited company guests. This course has
been specifically designed for pilot groups, like AirTran, that already have
safety and accident investigation committees; it combines ALPA’s Basic Safety
School and Accident Investigation Course modules into a single curriculum. The safety portion will provide the AirTran safety volunteers with an
introduction to the many ALPA Air Safety Committee resources available, while
the accident-investigation portion will acquaint the group with ALPA’s
accident/incident investigation procedures, our relationship with the NTSB, and
the particulars of being an ALPA accident investigator. This training will give
the Central Air Safety chairman (CASC), Local Air Safety chairmen (LASC), and
accident/incident investigators the knowledge they need to fulfill their
responsibilities.
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IYE Offers Overseas Travel Opportunities |
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The International Youth Exchange (IYE) for families of airline employees is
accepting applications through June 15 for two-week exchanges this summer.
Teenagers 14–19 are matched with youth their own age. The teenagers are together
for two weeks at each of their homes learning about another culture from someone
of similar age. Exchanges are available to Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the
Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. This is
a wonderful idea for a graduation gift or as a way for your son or daughter to
get a head start on foreign language skills. Coordinated by a retired airline
employee, IYE has facilitated more than 1,500 exchanges for airline youth since
it began in 1995. The costs for the exchange include an airline pass, spending
money, and an application fee of $265 (refundable if no match is found).
For further information and to receive a brochure, please contact Camille
Wheeler at info@intlyouth.org, or apply
online at www.intlyouth.org.
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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
https://crewroom.alpa.org and logging
in. Go to “My ALPA” on the left side of the page, and from there, you’ll be
instructed how to make the necessary changes. If you don’t have access to
https://crewroom.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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