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News from ALPA International

January 24, 2012

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The FlightDeck

In This Issue:

Short-Term Extension Necessary for Final FAA Reauthorization
The U.S. House of Representatives today passed a short-term extension of the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization, ensuring that funding for the agency will continue beyond January 31, when the previous FAA extension expires. The U.S. Senate is expected to pass a short-term extension later this week.

The extension bill, which funds FAA programs through February 17, 2012, does not contain new policy. The short-term reauthorization simply maintains the status quo and provides additional time for lawmakers from the Senate and House to go to conference with the goal of working out the final details of a long-term FAA reauthorization.

Late last week, lawmakers reached a key deal regarding National Mediation Board procedures—an issue that had for years blocked progress on full reauthorization. While ALPA would rather that the National Mediation Board provisions had not been included in the safety bill, the agreement between Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and speaker Sen. John Boehner (R-Ohio) was a necessary compromise to break the long-standing stalemate and allow Congress to move ahead.

This week, leaders, pilot volunteers, and staff from the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l, continue to keep up the pressure for a final, full reauthorization of the FAA, which will help set the future direction of U.S. aviation safety policy, support vital research, modernize the air transportation infrastructure and air traffic control system, and position the U.S. airline industry to aggressively compete in the international aviation arena.

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ALPA Pilots Working for One Level of Safety, Cargo Inclusion in FAR 117
More than a dozen pilots from a number of ALPA pilot groups have been in Washington, D.C., working with ALPA Government Affairs staff aggressively lobbying members of Congress in support of “One Level of Safety” for cargo and passenger pilots. In just two weeks, ALPA pilots met face-to-face with more than 50 congressional offices on this important issue, advocating for legislation to include cargo operations in the new FAR 117 pilot fatigue rule.

ALPA pilots are also hand-delivering a letter from Capt. Moak urging Congress to complete work on the FAA reauthorization bill. ALPA’s work to include cargo operations on the new pilot fatigue rule will be ongoing, with pilots regularly visiting Capitol Hill to advocate for One Level of Safety.

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ALPA Attends U.S. State of the Union Address
Moak Urges President Obama to Level the Playing Field for U.S. Airlines
ALPA president Capt. Lee Moak has been invited to be a guest at tonight’s State of the Union address. Going into the annual speech, Moak urged President Obama to focus on international competition in air transportation and how best to position the United States, and specifically the workforce of U.S. airlines, to compete to win in the global marketplace.

Said Moak, “Tonight, airline pilots want to hear from our president how the government is going to help American business, such as our domestic airlines, compete in the international marketplace. We need our government to level the playing field for domestic airlines and their workforces—including ALPA members—so we can fight successfully against foreign competitors. U.S. and Canadian pilots are the best in the world and we must operate in the safest and most efficient air transportation system possible. The business, tax, and regulatory environment for our airlines and their employees, however, must be viewed in the context of the global industry and, as a nation, we can and must do better.”

Moak is the guest of Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.), a member of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Aviation Subcommittee, and will be seated in the House gallery for the president’s speech.

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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 the decisions made at ALPA’s latest Executive Board meeting on page 28 of the December issue of Air Line Pilot magazine.

On the 11th installment of The FlightDeck, learn about the most pressing issues facing ALPA’s Canada Board.

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
• According to the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, US Airways is considering a potential merger with American Airlines. Read more.

• The Los Angeles Times predicts onboard Wi-Fi will generate $1.5 billion for airlines by the year 2015. Read more.

• Bloomberg reports that Airbus sees its $1 million Ohio investment as a big step in its U.S. expansion. Read more.

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FastFact

On January 31, 1987, discount airline pioneer People Express flew its last flights before merging into Continental Airlines.

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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