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News from ALPA International |
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September 20, 2012 |
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North American pilots are routinely faced with challenges in daily operations. Flying to Manas International Airport in Kyrgyzstan and flights to Kabul, Afghanistan are just two examples.
But the challenges they have faced since parent company Global Aviation Holdings filed protection under
Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy code in February, and dragged NAA and sister carrier World Airways into bankruptcy concessionary negotiations have been more problematic and angered NAA pilots.
North American pilots, assisted by ALPA’s Representation and Economic & Financial Analysis Departments, hammered out a first tentative agreement under threat of Section 1113 filing. That TA was rejected by NAA pilots in the ratification process. While the vote was out, Teamster-represented flight attendants and pilots at World who were also voting on their own TA, claimed that the company was obligated by “me too” provisions to improve their deals to match up with ALPA’s first TA. NAA pilots have now negotiated a revised tentative agreement that will be subject to pilot ratification over the next few days.
Read more.
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ALPA Targets Safety Threat from Laser Attacks on Aircraft |
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Capt. Robert Hamilton, who currently serves as ALPA’s security council chair, speaks at a Trenton,
N.J., news conference on the safety threat posed by laser attacks on aircraft. |
The Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l, joined regulatory, military, federal, state, and local law enforcement representatives at a Trenton, N.J.,
news conference on
September 19 to
underscore the safety
threat posed by laser
attacks on aircraft and
highlight the public’s
need to be aware of the
danger and the legal
consequences of
deliberately or
unintentionally shining
a laser at an aircraft.“Attacking an aircraft with a laser can create a major distraction in the cockpit, injure the pilots operating the flight, and put both passengers aboard and the public on the ground below at risk,” said Capt. Lee Moak, ALPA’s president, regarding the news conference. “This event is just one example of the enhanced cooperation among the Federal Aviation Administration, military, federal, state, and local law enforcement, and airline pilots to combat this dangerous aviation security threat.”
Capt. Robert Hamilton, who currently chairs ALPA’s Security Council, represented the union at the news conference, which drew local news media from New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. At the event, New Jersey state law enforcement released a radio Public Service Announcement describing the serious danger posed by shining a laser at an aircraft as well as the potential legal consequences.
Read more.
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 The latest site for Known Crewmember (KCM), at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, opened at 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday. In just a few short hours, the site had already seen dozens of pilots use the new service, including Capt. Justin Miller and F/O Jared Dirkmaat of American Eagle. The KCM location is centrally located in Terminal C at the Gate 20 checkpoint.
“Our pilot group has been looking forward to this opening in Dallas,” said Dirkmaat. “As many of our pilots are based here, it will make it that much easier for us to get to our flights quickly.”
KCM, developed jointly by ALPA and Airlines for America, utilizes existing employment and background checks to identify and screen pilots, thus shortening the screening lines at 23 airports nationwide, with eight more planned by the end of 2012. It’s available to all TSA-approved airlines, including all U.S. ALPA carriers.
For information on the new KCM airports or to see access point locations, select the “KCM” tab on the ALPA iPhone or Droid smartphone app or visit
www.knowncrewmember.org.
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SCA Pilots Show Solidarity at MSP |
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If you were an ALPA pilot at Sun Country yesterday, MSP’s Terminal 2 was the place to be, whether you were working or not. Almost 90 percent of the pilot group not flying on Wednesday—more than 100 of the airline’s 160 active pilots—participated in an informational picket at the airport’s Humphrey Terminal.
After more than two years in negotiations, the SCA pilots showed up in force to tell management and the public that they deserve higher pay after helping the airline get through a 2008 bankruptcy and other tough times. Pay rates at the Minneapolis-based airline haven’t changed since 2005, and the group is at or near the bottom of the scale for Boeing 737 operators.
Spokesperson and former MEC officer Capt. Jake Yockers explained that the pilots are not looking for top-of-the-line pay, “but we’re down in the basement and we just want to be moving on up the scale a little bit.”
Read more.
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World Watch—A Travel Security Resource for Pilots |
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 Due to current hostilities toward U.S. interests in numerous areas around the world, ALPA’s Aviation Security Group reminds the membership that it provides a trip-planning and security information tool called “World Watch” on the ALPA website. This resource provides updated security and threat information about regions and cities around the globe and can be used to help plan for work-related and pleasure trips alike.
ALPA recommends that members stay alert to changing events and keep track of other crewmembers during travels, especially outside of North America. Pilots should have a plan of action should it become necessary to evacuate an area, region or country. Read more.
Read more.
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ALPA Publications Receive ILCA Recognition |
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 ALPA’s communications tools are garnering top rank with the International Labor Communications Association (ILCA), where the Association swept the 2011 Labor Media Awards with first-place wins across the board.
Air Line Pilot took first place in general excellence for magazines in the largest category, beating out the American Postal Workers Union publication (which took second) and the Screen Actors Guild periodical (which took third).
Delta’s Local Council 66’s publication, the
New York Minute, took first place in general excellence for newsletters for local councils with 1,500 or fewer members.
The infographic for
Air Line Pilot’s “The Landing” on the FAA shutdown in the September 2011 issue, designed by ALPA motion graphics specialist Eric Davis, also took first place in Best Informational Graphic for International, National, and Other Labor Organizations.
See other
ILCA
award winners.
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ACE Clubs Gear Up at Embry-Riddle Campuses; Volunteers Needed! |
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 ALPA Education Committee members recently visited the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) campuses in Daytona Beach, Fla., and Prescott, Ariz., for the start of the fall semester to ramp up the student-led ALPA ACE Clubs.
The ACE Club in Daytona began its third year with over 70 students signing up to join the club. More than 50 participants came out for the “A Day in the Life of an Airline Pilot” presentation that the ALPA pilot volunteers presented to the students.
Dozens of Prescott students flooded the ALPA table at the Student Organization Fair to sign up for the newly formed ACE Club this fall semester. The first meeting of Prescott’s ACE Club will be on October 3 with the topic of the evening’s presentation being similar to the one at the Daytona campus—“A Day in the Life of an Airline Pilot.”
Read more.
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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 Reuters, Lufthansa will merge its European and German domestic
routes under a new low-cost brand from next year, hoping to improve profits and
fend off growing competition from low-cost carriers.
Read more.
• Gulf in the Media
reports that more than
130 delegations came up
with decisions and
recommendation to
conclude a security
conference held at the
International Civil
Aviation Organization in
Montreal.
Read more.
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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 what the ALPA Economic and Financial Analysis Department has to say about the state of the airline industry on page 22 of the
September issue of
Air Line Pilot
magazine.
On the 18th
installment of
The FlightDeck,
watch coverage of the 58th Air Safety Forum and the extraordinary pilots honored at this year’s event. 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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ALPA Member Insurance: New Plans, Lower Rates! |
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 A lot of changes are coming to ALPA Member Insurance this fall, and we think you’ll like them. Your Member Insurance Department has been working hard all year to give you what you wanted, and starting November 1, you will see lower rates and product enhancements.
ALPA is in the process of transitioning to a new insurer for all of our optional insurance plans—the Guardian Life Insurance Company of America. You should have received information in the mail last week regarding the new Guardian plans (and the amazing rate reductions that come with them!).
Read more about the
enhanced products coming November 1 and check your mail in October for group term life open enrollment information. Full product brochures explaining all the benefits of Guardian’s great plans will be available soon. Bookmark our website at
memberinsurance.alpa.org
and keep checking back
for updates.
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In September 1998, Airbus announced the sale of its 3,000th aircraft during the Farnborough Airshow.
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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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