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News from ALPA International

April 4, 2013

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In This Issue:

ALPA Blasts Abu Dhabi Customs Preclearance Proposal
An egregious Administration proposal to establish a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facility at Abu Dhabi International Airport must be immediately dropped, said Capt. Lee Moak, president of the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l in a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Napolitano. The proposal will inevitably do two things: hand a state-backed foreign airline a competitive edge over U.S. airlines and reallocate CBP resources at a time of across-the-board budget cuts and long delays for U.S. airlines’ passengers.

“This misguided administration proposal adds insult to injury by using U.S. taxpayers’ money to give foreign airlines a competitive advantage over U.S. airlines while at the same time making it more difficult for U.S. airlines’ passengers to clear customs,” continued Moak. “The Administration needs to get behind U.S. airlines and U.S. workers by immediately dropping this flawed proposal.”

Read more.

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ALPA Files Third Joint Lawsuit Against Ex-Im Bank
Yesterday, ALPA filed a lawsuit in federal court against the U.S. Export-Import Bank for approving loan guarantees to several foreign airlines while disregarding the adverse economic impact the financing has on U.S. airlines and their employees, which it is legally required to do. ALPA was joined by Delta Air Lines and Hawaiian Airlines as plaintiffs in the suit.

The lawsuit challenges the Ex-Im Bank’s approval of loan guarantees to Etihad Airways, Korean Air Lines, LATAM Airlines Group, and Lot Polish to purchase widebody aircraft that would allow them to increase their fleets and gain access to key international routes. The guarantees would put U.S. airlines at a competitive disadvantage, possibly forcing them to cut market share, reduce flights, and trim American jobs.

Read more.

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ICAO Proposes Changes to Age 60 “Over/Under” Rule
Recently, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) began circulating a proposal to member states, including nations like the United States and Canada, which could amend its pilot-age standards. The proposal would ONLY eliminate the current ICAO licensing standard regarding two-pilot aircraft, which stipulates that if one pilot is age 60 or over, the other must be under 60. In other words, it would eliminate the so-called “over/under split” requirement.

In addition, the proposal would change the current recommended practice of limiting copilots to age 65 to an ICAO standard. This current ICAO upper-age limit—65 years for the Pilot in Command—is already a standard and would not change. So copilots would also be limited to Age 65 by ICAO standard.

ICAO standards must be followed by any state that does not file a “difference,” while recommendations are simply that, and need not be followed by states. ICAO will collect comments from member states until July, and the changes, if approved, are expected to take effect in November 2014.

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Promoting International Runway Safety

“All airplane flights that don’t end in an accident begin and end on a runway of some kind,” note Capt. Robert Perkins (JAZ) and F/O Steve Jangelis (DAL) in an informative article in the April 2013 issue of Air Line Pilot about the Association’s extensive endeavors to promote international runway safety.

Read what these pilot volunteers of the ALPA Air Safety Organization have to say about ALPA’s involvement with the FAA’s Runway Safety Council and Nav Canada’s Runway Safety and Incursion Prevention Panel. See how the Association is working with the International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations to promote the use of runway status light systems, and find out about the growing use of engineered materials arresting systems, or EMAS, to address runway overruns.

Learn more about ALPA’s efforts, “Toward Safer Runways,” in this month’s issue of Air Line Pilot.

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ALPA Ops Bulletin Addresses Tower Closures
Air traffic control closures and restrictions to operating hours announced by the FAA will begin going into effect on April 7. The changes predominantly impact airports with low traffic volume, but some scheduled operations flown by ALPA pilots will also be affected.

Many ALPA pilots successfully operate into non-towered airports every day, but these new changes may result in additional operations in and out of airports without an operating control tower. The ALPA Air Safety Organization has created Operations Bulletin 2013-01 to summarize arrival and departure considerations, and all ALPA pilots are encouraged to review this bulletin and any related company and government publications.

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Global Air Passenger Traffic on the Rise
In a statement released yesterday, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced international passenger traffic results for February “showing that demand growth is accelerating on the back of stronger business confidence, particularly in emerging regions.” Demand climbed 3.7 percent, as compared to February 2012.

IATA notes that since October, worldwide passenger demand has been growing at an annualized rate of 9 percent.

IATA director general and CEO Tony Tyler said, “Airlines are carefully managing capacity expansion, which is keeping the load factor at a record high. This is helping the industry to remain profitable despite persistently high oil prices.”

Read the IATA release.

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Former DOT Secretary Raises Perimeter Concerns
Former Bush administration Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta recently wrote an op-ed article for the Washington Post emphasizing the need to strengthen airport perimeters. Mineta noted that unlike terminal security, which is managed by the TSA, airport perimeter security is largely decentralized. He pointed out that each of the country’s 450 commercial airports manages perimeter security on its own.

“Perimeters are the weak link,” said Mineta, adding, “Our concentrated focus on terminal security has orphaned equally important needs at the edge of airports. As Rep. Bill Keating (D-Mass.) has observed, it’s like ‘locking all the doors on your house but leaving the windows open.’”

Read the Mineta article.

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Pulse of the Industry

Air Transat has announced plans to add B-737s to its fleet, currently composed of A310s and A330s, to operate medium-haul flights to destinations in Florida, Mexico, and the Caribbean beginning in 2014 . . . Alaska Airlines today initiates twice-daily service between Seattle and Salt Lake City . . . Canadian North plans to acquire four new B-737-300s . . . Nearly 28,000 employees, including passenger service agents, fleet service workers, and storekeepers at United and the former Continental, represented by IAM District 141, have rejected new joint contract offers and are requesting mediation assistance from the NMB.

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Join Us for the ALPA Legislative Summit

Registration is now open for the ALPA Legislative Summit. This event will take place June 5—6 at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Register online at www.alpa.org/legislativesummit.

The summit will provide ALPA pilots an opportunity to enhance their advocacy and PAC leadership skills through hands-on training. Participants will gain the tools needed to become effective advocates and to grow participation in ALPA-PAC and grassroots programs within their pilot groups.

Day one of the summit will feature legislative briefings, workshops, guest speakers, and a Capitol Hill reception with members of Congress and staff. Day two will culminate with a lobby day on Capitol Hill where participants will apply their training in meetings with representatives and senators on a relevant pilot partisan legislative issue. Please visit at www.alpa.org/legislativesummit to register for this exciting event.

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We Want Your Photos
We want to see what you see. Share your pictures from the line, and give us some context (i.e., let us know what we’re looking at).

Air Line Pilot encourages you to submit your high-quality prints from a developer or high-resolution digital images. Your photos could be featured in a future magazine! Hint: If you’re aiming specifically for a cover shot, portrait orientation is easier for us to manage than landscape.

Send your photos to Communications@alpa.org. Thanks.

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Airport Diversions?
Eoghan Macguire of CNN justifies seven choices for the most “entertaining” airports in the world. From movie theatres to music stages to casinos, these terminals offer something special for today’s air traveler.

Read the CNN article and find out where you should be bidding your trips.

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FastFact
On April 7, 1948, pilot organizations from 16 countries met in London to sign an agreement to establish the International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA). ALPA signed the document as the representative for U.S. pilots. The Federation was established to give airline pilots from around the globe a formal mechanism to interact with the newly formed International Civil Aviation Organization.

IFALPA’s 68th annual conference begins late next week in Dublin. Look for coverage in future issues of FastRead and Air Line Pilot, and on ALPA’s social networking sites.

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Most Recent FastRead Issues
April 2, 2013
March 28, 2013
March 26, 2013
March 21, 2013
March 19, 2013

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Feedback & E-mail Address Changes
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.

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Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l
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ALPA represents nearly 51,000 pilots at 35 airlines in the United States and Canada.
Visit us online at www.alpa.org.