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News from ALPA International

December 8, 2011

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The FlightDeck

In This Issue:

ALPA Asks Senate to Intervene on EU ETS
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
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
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
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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Are You in the Loop?
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
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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Other Industry News
• 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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FastFact

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
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
1625 Massachusetts Avenue NW | Washington, DC 20036 | 703-689-2270