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News from ALPA International |
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August 14, 2012 |
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URGENT: FAA Delays Implementation of Climb Via and Speed Adjustment Phraseology |
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 Last
week, ALPA issued
Operations Bulletins
2012-02 and 2012-03 on
new phraseology for
“climb via” and speed
adjustments. The FAA
announced today that the
planned implementation
of that phraseology and
associated pilot actions
scheduled for August 15
has been delayed until
further notice. This
means that pilots should
not see any changes to
existing air traffic
procedures.
ALPA will continue to
maintain close liaison
with FAA on this matter
and notify pilots when a
new effective date is
determined. The FAA will
notify all facilities of
the cancellation.
While this should
prevent the use of the
new phraseology, if you
receive a “climb via”
clearance or an ATC
instruction on speed
adjustment that is not
clear, ALPA recommends
you query the controller
and request
clarification.
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SIA, SODA Rumors NOT TRUE |
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Rumors have surfaced
regarding the impact the
U.S. president’s recent
signing of the Pilots’
Bill of Rights (PBoR)
will have on the FAA’s
medical certification
processes. These rumors
purport that the FAA
Office of Aerospace
Medicine (AAM) was to
cease sending airmen
both initial and renewal
Special Issuance
Authorizations (SIAs)
and Statements of
Demonstrated Ability (SODAs),
which allow airmen with
disqualifying conditions
to hold a valid medical
certificate. This
rumor is NOT TRUE.
On August 9, 2012,
the FAA’s Office of
General Counsel notified
AAM that until a
Notification of Pilots’
Rights statement could
be included in
correspondence from AAM
for requests for
additional medical
information only, these
letters to pilots should
not be sent. This did
not apply to renewal of
SIAs, SODAs, or AME-assisted
SIAs.
Pilots are not in
jeopardy of not having
their SIAs renewed
through the standard FAA
process and should
expect to receive these
waivers in the usual
time frame.
Read more.
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Pittsburgh FFDO Town Hall Meeting Planned for August 21 |
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 The Federal Air Marshal
Service (FAMS) Flight
Programs Division (FPD)
has requested ALPA’s
assistance in announcing
the next in their series
of Federal Flight Deck
Officer (FFDO) Town Hall
meetings for current
FFDOs. The event will
take place at the FAMS
Pittsburgh Field Office
on Tuesday, August 21
from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00
p.m. The field office is
located at One Thorn Run
Center, 1187 Thorn Run
Extension, Suite 500, in
Coraopolis.
This event offers an
opportunity for FFDOs to
meet with FAMS Flight
Programs Division
managers who oversee the
FFDO program. Agenda
items include a FAMS
tactics demonstration, a
short field office tour,
and a
question-and-answer
session with
headquarters-level FAMS
FFDO supervisors.
If you are interested
in attending this
meeting, please register
at
ffdoinfo@ole.tsa.dhs.gov
and include the phrase
“Pittsburgh Town Hall
Meeting” in the subject
line, to ensure that
your message is routed
correctly. These
functions are always
informative and provide
a great opportunity for
FFDOs to engage in
direct dialogue with
FAMS FFDO program
managers, so please make
every effort to attend.
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Sequestration’s Potentially Adverse Effective on Air Travel |
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A recent report released
by the Aerospace
Industries Association
predicts thousands of
job losses and up to 10
percent reductions in
air traffic if automatic
budget cuts enacted by
Congress, known as
sequestration, are
allowed to hit the FAA
on January 2, 2013.
Sequestration could
amount to a $1 billion
cut per year to the FAA,
resulting in reduced
flight operations,
decreases in freight
traffic, and job losses
for aviation employees,
TSA screeners, and
customs officers.
On the danger of budget
sequestration on air
travel, ALPA president
Capt. Lee Moak said,
“The FAA reauthorization
act contains a number of
provisions for safety
enhancements to our
aviation system, many of
which have aggressive
timelines. If those
programs and timelines
are not fully supported
with critical resources,
then the success of our
efforts to continue
improving the safety,
efficiency, and economic
viability of the system
will be in jeopardy.”
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Catch the Latest Aviation News! Read ALPA Daily |
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 The
aviation industry is changing faster than ever before. The new
“ALPA Daily”
feature at www.alpa.org will keep you informed
of the latest industry developments and analysis from around the globe. Check it
out each day to stay up-to-date on the news that affects pilots and the piloting
profession.
ALPA Daily continues to grow in popularity, and members have contacted us
asking if this information can be e-mailed to their Macs and PCs. ALPA’s
Communications and IT Departments are working toward that end. If you want to
receive the electronic version of ALPA Daily, e-mail your name, ALPA number, and
preferred e-mail address to
communications@alpa.org. We’ll let you know when you can expect “home”
delivery.
• According to Bloomberg, FedEx Corp. will offer voluntary buyouts to some
workers under a pledge of “significant” cost reductions ahead of expected slower
profit growth at the operator of the world’s largest cargo airline.
Read more.
• Aviation International News reports that during the August 7
Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International in Las Vegas, FAA Acting
Administrator Michael Huerta offered a glimpse into the agency’s plans for
integrating unmanned aerial vehicles into U.S. domestic airspace, but details
about precisely how the FAA plans to make the integration work left some
skeptics scratching their heads.
Read more.
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Union Plus Says Thank You! |
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  Stay connected with your
union, your profession,
and your industry by
reading Air Line
Pilot magazine and
watching monthly
episodes of The
FlightDeck.Read
about ALPA’s conference
to address pilot
training issues on page
21 of the
August issue of Air Line Pilot magazine.
On the 17th
installment
of
The
FlightDeck, join
Capt. Moak and the
pilots of First Air on a
journey to the far
northern reaches of
Canada. Remember that both Air Line Pilot
and The FlightDeck
can also be accessed
from the members-only
portion of the ALPA
website at
www.alpa.org.
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On August 10, 1931, the American Federation of Labor (AFL) issued ALPA a charter
of affiliation. George Hopkins wrote in his book The Airline Pilots: A Study
in Elite Unionism that the Association’s AFL membership was “a matter of
political muscle. The AFL had muscle in Washington, and [ALPA’s first president,
Capt. Dave] Behncke convinced the key men that ALPA would inevitably need it.” 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
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. 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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Thanks,
union members, for ALL
your hard work! In
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