Release #12.37
August 9, 2012

ALPA Honors Outstanding Airport Safety Liaisons
Pilots Advance Aviation Safety in Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.

WASHINGTON—The Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), will recognize three pilots as Outstanding Airport Safety Liaisons for their work to advance aviation safety at U.S. airports. The award will be presented at ALPA’s 58th Air Safety Forum, held this week in Washington, D.C.

“The deep commitment to advancing safety demonstrated each and every day by Capt. Chichester, F/O Crow, and Capt. Jester stands as a model for the airline industry,” said Capt. Moak, ALPA’s president. “These professionals are to be commended for safeguarding airline passengers, crews, and cargo at the airports where they work and all across the air transportation system.”

Capt. Nick Chichester, a pilot for Air Wisconsin, serves as ALPA’s Airport Safety Liaison at Philadelphia International Airport, where he has built a positive rapport with the Transportation Security Administration, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Airport Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF) unit. These key relationships have positioned Capt. Chichester to represent ALPA pilots’ interests at FAA Airport User meetings, observe the Emergency Preparedness Exercise, and participate in the ARFF live burn training event. Most recently, he has provided the ARFF unit an opportunity to gain hands-on familiarity with the most common aircraft types that operate at the airport. Capt. Chichester’s communications efforts have helped to enhance safety at Philadelphia International Airport and create a more “pilot-friendly" environment. He is a resident of Lebanon, Pa.

Since his appointment as ALPA’s Airport Safety Liaison in 2011, First Officer John Crow has aggressively engaged in every aspect of flight operations at Milwaukee’s General Mitchell International Airport. An AirTran Airways pilot, F/O Crow has participated in construction meetings and advised ALPA members of taxiway and runway closures. F/O Crow’s work involved not only ground operations, but also airspace redesign. He has represented ALPA at MKE SID/STAR meetings and Chicago Center airspace redesign discussions and planning meetings. Because of F/O Crow’s established relationships at the airport, he was able to give ALPA advance notification that pilots should expect significant fueling delays in the wake of a pipeline issue that disrupted fuel flow to the Minneapolis airport and forced the facility to truck in all fuel. F/O Crow lives in Cedarburg, Wis.

Capt. John Jester, who flies for Air Wisconsin, has worked to bring critical information to all airline pilots as ALPA’s lead Airport Safety Liaison at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. A significant project to recondition the airport’s main runway affected every pilot flying into or out of Washington National. The situation intensified when, in the midst of the reconstruction, Hurricane Irene stuck and the airport’s main runway had to be treated with three different surfaces: grooved, micro-milled, and freshly paved. With the heavy rains, aircraft braking response was uncertain. Capt. Jester swiftly produced a safety alert that warned all ALPA pilots of the conditions at DCA, and he continuously monitored the situation and updated ALPA’s safety volunteers and staff. Capt. Jester lives in Bristow, Va.

ALPA’s Airport Ground Environment Group selects Outstanding Airport Safety Liaison(s) from nominations made by ALPA’s regional safety chairmen and other ASLs. ALPA’s Airport Safety Liaisons represent pilots’ interests at 150 commercial airports in the United States and Canada.

Founded in 1931, ALPA is the world’s largest pilot union, representing more than 53,000 pilots at 37 airlines in the United States and Canada. Visit the ALPA website at www.alpa.org.

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Contact: ALPA Media, 703/481-4440, or media@alpa.org