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News from ALPA International |
December 11, 2012 |
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ALPA Remains Committed to One Level of Safety Cargo Operations Must Be Included in Flight/Duty Time Rule |
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The Air Line Pilots
Association, Int’l (ALPA),
issued the following
statement regarding the
release of the Federal
Aviation
Administration’s (FAA)
cost-benefit analysis.
“After reviewing the FAA
supplemental
cost-benefit analysis of
cargo operations in the
new Federation Aviation
Regulation (FAR) 117
flight-time/duty-time
rule generated in
response to the
Independent Pilots
Association suit, ALPA
remains committed to
ensuring One Level of
Safety for all passenger
and cargo operations.
“We believe calculating
cost versus benefit
based on the absence of
an aircraft accident and
resulting passenger
fatalities is a fallacy,
and a severe deficiency
in the cost-benefit
process. Because cargo
aircraft do not carry
passengers, it’s not
surprising that the cost
outweighs the benefit,
yet cargo aircraft share
the skies and airports
with airlines conducting
passenger operations.
While government has
shifted to evaluating
safety improvements by
eliminating accident
precursors in other
areas, it chose not to
do so in this case. ALPA
firmly believes that
there is no price tag on
the safety of our skies.
“We remain committed to
pursuing a fix to the
flawed cargo cutout from
the new
flight-time/duty-time
rule, both through
regulatory action and
pursuit of the Safe
Skies Act on Capitol
Hill.”
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ALPA Urges FAA to Credit Pilots for Employment, Training Experience |
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ALPA, joined by Airlines
for America and the
Regional Airline
Association, wrote FAA
Acting Administrator
Huerta to urge the
agency to grant
flight-hour credit to
current pilots based on
their airline training
and experience as they
draft new regulations to
raise certification
standards for newly
hired airline pilots.
This flexibility is
important to ALPA pilots
who have been flying for
a considerable amount of
time, but who may not
meet the requirements
needed to possess an
airline transport pilot
(ATP) certificate. An
ATP certificate will be
required by law for all
pilots in FAR 121
operations effective
August 2, 2013.
Granting experienced
and professional pilots
credit for their
training and employment
experience will allow
them to qualify for a
new “restricted” ATP
that will ensure ALPA
pilots remain in the air
and do not experience a
break in employment as a
result of the new rules.
ALPA also urged the
FAA to act quickly and
issue a final rule on
the ATP requirement
before August 1, 2013.
Read the letter.
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Call to Action: Stop New CBP Preclearance Site in Abu Dhabi |
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The U.S. and United Arab
Emirates (UAE)
governments are in talks
to create a new U.S.
Customs and Border
Protection (CBP)
preclearance facility at
Abu Dhabi International
Airport—and Etihad
Airways’ CEO is
“confident” they will
succeed. An Abu Dhabi
CBP preclearance
facility may be great
news for state-owned
Etihad, but for U.S.
pilots, it means just
another competitive
advantage handed to
foreign airlines by
flawed U.S. policy.
The good news is that
we, as members of the
Air Line Pilots
Association, Int’l, have
the ability to directly
influence the decision
on this proposal—by
contacting the White
House and telling the
administration that this
plan would represent a
serious threat to our
jobs and the U.S.
airline industry.
Read
ALPA president Capt. Lee
Moak’s letter, which
explains why a CBP preclearance site would
be a mistake and why
your support for this
campaign is so crucial.
Participate in this
important
ALPA Call to Action.
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ALPA President Highlighted in Two Stories |
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Writer
Ted Reed this week
profiled ALPA president
Capt. Lee Moak in two
articles for The Street,
the investment and
finance news
publication. These
stories highlight Moak’s
partnership efforts
regarding his
involvement as Delta MEC
chair during the
Delta/Northwest merger
and his role as ALPA
president in promoting
government policies that
stimulate and support
the U.S. airline
industry.
“We have a pilot
partisan agenda, and we
are willing to build a
coalition with anyone
who will work with us on
our issues,” said Moak
in the latter story. “We
do our best work when we
bring our own executive
team, government,
industry, and labor
together—that is how you
get things done in
Washington.”
Read
“How Lee Moak Changed
the Airline Industry”
and
“What Lee Moak Learned
in Washington.”
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Get the Scoop! 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 members can sign up to receive ALPA Daily in their e-mail:
•
Visit
this link.
• Log in with your ALPA member number and password.
• Select “E-mail Distribution Lists.”
• Check the box for “ALPA Daily.”
• Submit your request.
According to the St. Louis Business Journal, leaders from the Society
of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, the union representing
Boeing’s 23,000 engineers, say a strike is likely.
Read more.
The Financial reports that the International Air Transport Association
released an industry traffic forecast showing that airlines expect to welcome
some 3.6 billion passengers in 2016. That’s about 800 million more than the 2.8
billion passengers carried by airlines in 2011.
Read more.
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Stay connected with your
union, your profession,
and your industry by
reading Air Line
Pilot and watching
monthly episodes of
The FlightDeck.
Check out our second
annual “swimsuit” issue
on page 19 of the
December issue of Air
Line Pilot magazine.
On the 20th
installment of
The
FlightDeck,
learn what issues make
this year’s National
Transportation Safety
Board Most Wanted List. 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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When
making charitable
donations this holiday
season, please remember
your fellow pilots in
need and make a
contribution to the ALPA
Emergency Relief Fund.
As the end of the year
is just around the
corner, don’t forget
that donations to AERF
are tax-deductible in
the United States.
Because AERF provides
for the immediate needs
of ALPA pilots and their
families who fall victim
to widespread disasters,
your donations make a
tremendous difference in
helping these fellow
members begin to put
their lives in order.
To make a donation,
please visit
www.alpa.org/ReliefFund.
Remember that
contributions are
tax-deductible in the
United States. Watch a
brief video about
the importance of AERF
and how it helped an
ALPA family in need.
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On Dec. 13, 1957, then ALPA president Clarence Sayen met with Civil Aviation
Authority officials to discuss ways that ALPA pilots might participate in the
certification of new transport aircraft. 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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