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News from ALPA International |
December 8, 2011 |
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ALPA Asks Senate to Intervene on EU ETS |
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Capt. Lee Moak,
president of the Air
Line Pilots Association,
Int’l,
today wrote members of
the U.S. Senate, asking
them to support S. 1956,
the European Union
Emissions Trading Scheme
Prohibition Act of 2011.
The legislation
prohibits U.S. airlines
from complying with the
application of the
European Union’s
emissions trading scheme
to international
aviation, and directs
the administration to
ensure U.S. operators
are held harmless
because the scheme
violates U.S.
sovereignty,
international law, and
the Chicago Convention.
“While we support
pragmatic efforts to
reduce greenhouse gas
emissions, the European
Union emissions trading
scheme that is the
subject of this bill is
the wrong way to achieve
the right objective,”
said Moak. “It would
lead to fewer flights
while decreasing the
amount of capital to
invest in more efficient
technology like the
Boeing 787 Dreamliner,
which reduces emissions
by 20 percent,” he
added.
Read Moak’s letter
in its entirety.
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EGL Pilots Discuss AMR Bankruptcy |
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This week the American Eagle MEC
met with ALPA national
officers and
representatives in the
Herndon, Va., offices to
discuss the bankruptcy
filing of AMR. In
attendance were ALPA
president Capt. Lee Moak,
vice
president-administration
Capt. Bill Couette, vice
president-finance Capt.
Randy Helling, and
executive vice president
Capt. Tom Maxwell. Also
participating were
representatives of the
EGL MEC Strategic
Planning,
Communications, and
Negotiating committees,
along with ALPA national
lawyers, Economic &
Financial Analysis, and
Communications, and the
retained lawyers of
Cohen, Weiss and Simon
LLP. Several
presentations were given
regarding the bankruptcy
process and how to
successfully navigate
the upcoming months. The
meeting examined what to
expect from AMR and
Eagle management in the
next few weeks and
months, as well as the
best course of action
for the MEC.
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ALPA Pilots to Gather in Cleveland |
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ALPA pilots from
CommutAir, Continental,
and ExpressJet will
gather this weekend for
the 3rd Annual Joint LEC
Meeting for the
Cleveland area. This
highly anticipated event
promises to be fun for
the whole family. In
addition to updates on
issues affecting
Cleveland-based pilots,
participants can expect
great food, fun
activities, and
opportunities to
socialize with their
fellow ALPA members.
The 3rd Annual Joint LEC
Meeting is set for
Saturday, December 10,
at the Winking Lizard
Tavern in Lakewood,
Ohio. It will kick off
at 11:00 a.m. EST with a
discussion of local
issues such as gate
space and air traffic
control. Bowling and
other activities will
begin shortly
thereafter. The
Cleveland LECs of CAL
172, CMT 152, and XJT
176 will meet
separately, beginning at
12:30 p.m., to conduct
council-specific
business. There will
also be time throughout
the day for pilots to
speak directly with
their ALPA
representatives and
national officers.
This event has
quickly become a
tradition since its
inception in 2009. Pilot
leaders recognized that
they were facing many of
the same issues and
wanted a forum where
they could collaborate
on solutions and engage
their members
collectively. The first
event was a resounding
success with more than
80 people in attendance.
Twice that number could
attend this year,
especially since the CMT
pilots will be
celebrating their first
union contract, which
took effect December 1.
All ALPA pilots and
their family members are
invited to attend the
3rd Annual Joint LEC
Meeting. The Winking
Lizard is approximately
a 15-minute drive from
Cleveland Hopkins
International Airport.
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UAL, CAL Pilots Visit D.C.-Area Hospitalized Children |
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United
and Continental pilots
visited the Inova
Fairfax Hospital in
Fairfax, Va., yesterday,
bringing holiday cheer
to sick children as part
of the Pilots
for Kids program.
Traveling from room to
room with large carts,
pilots handed out gifts
and spent time talking
with children whose
maladies have them
confined to hospital
beds this winter holiday
season. “Created in
1983, Pilots for Kids is
an international
charitable organization
dedicated to helping
hospitalized children,”
said F/O Julie Callens
(UAL), the Pilots for
Kids local coordinator.
“It’s a wonderful way to
give something back to
our communities and the
kids really appreciate
the time and attention.”
“Here in the
Washington, D.C., area,
we’ll be visiting
Loudoun Hospital and
Georgetown University
Hospital during the next
two weeks,” added
Callens.
Footage of
yesterday’s event will
be featured in an
upcoming segment of
The FlightDeck, the
monthly ALPA video
production.
Pilots for Kids
ensures that 100 percent
of its collected
donations go exclusively
to benefit children. In
addition to gifts,
purchases have included
medical equipment,
wheelchairs, and
computers for hospitals.
To learn more about
Pilots for Kids, go to
www.pilotsforkids.org.
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Maintaining open lines
of communication is
essential to ALPA’s
mission of effectively
representing airline
pilot interests. To
ensure that you are
properly connected with
your union, please
review and update your
contact information in
ALPA’s database.
It’s quick and easy.
Simply log on at
www.alpa.org and
click on the My ALPA
tab, followed by the
Member Account link.
Review your data and
make sure everything’s
accurate and up to date.
If you have any problems
accessing your contact
information page, please
contact ALPA Membership
at
membership@alpa.org.
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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 a recent
joint ALPA/ATA (now
Airlines for America)
conference on cockpit
laser illuminations on
page 34 of the
December issue of Air
Line Pilot magazine.
On the tenth installment
of
The
FlightDeck,
learn how uniformed ALPA
pilots led a campaign to
meet with the offices of
250 U.S. senators and
congressmen to address
legislative and
regulatory concerns.
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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• Reuters reports that Delta Air Lines will invest $100 million in Brazil’s Gol
Linhas Aereas to increase access to Latin America’s largest air travel market
and give the Brazilian carrier much-needed capital to fight rivals.
Read more.
• According to Bloomberg’s Businessweek, Pinnacle Airlines Corp. plans to
rework debt agreements to cut costs.
Read more.
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On December 13, 1957, ALPA President Clarence Sayen met with Civil Aeronautics
Administration officials to discuss ways that ALPA pilots might participate in
the certification of new transport aircraft.
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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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