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News from ALPA International |
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January 24, 2013 |
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LaHood, Huerta Speak at Aero Club |
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 U.S.
Department of
Transportation Secretary
Ray LaHood spoke at the
Aero Club of Washington
yesterday about the
status of American
aviation.
“I often tell people
that America has the
best—and the
safest—aviation system
in the world,” said
LaHood. “We owe this
success not just to the
hardworking folks at the
FAA, but to all of you
and our partners
throughout aviation.”
He continued, “Today
the American aviation
industry is strong, and
it’s getting stronger.
More people are flying,
and more cargo is being
shipped around the
world. American aviation
is better positioned to
take on global
competitors, support
economic growth, and
keep America moving.”
LaHood also took this opportunity to ceremonially “swear in” FAA Administrator Michael Huerta, who discussed aviation safety.
“The way to enhance safety is to keep the lines of communication open between
business and government—to foster the ability and willingness to share
information about any challenges we might be facing and that arise. We want to
create an atmosphere where people feel they can share what they know, all in the
pursuit of safety,” said Huerta.
Read LaHood’s speech.
Read Huerta’s speech.
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Safe Skies Act Call to Action, New “Friends and Family” Tool |
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 The
Air Line Pilots
Association, Int’l, has launched a new
Call to Action in
support of the Safe
Skies Act of 2013. Like
its predecessor in the
112th Congress, the Safe
Skies Act of 2013 will
correct the oversight
made by the Federal
Aviation Administration
in its final regulations
(FAR 117) that addressed
pilot fatigue for
passenger airlines only.For decades, ALPA has
advocated for “One Level
of Safety” for the
simple reason that all
pilots and airline
operations should be
treated equally,
regardless of payload or
flight mission.
Contact your
representative today
to urge him/her to
support the Safe Skies
Act and achieve one
level of safety.
New Take Action
“Friends & Family”
Tool—In response to
numerous requests and
suggestions from our
members, we have an
exciting new tool this
year that will allow
friends, family, and
other non-ALPA members
to write Congress in
support of the Safe
Skies Act. ALPA is
providing a new service
through POPVOX that will
allow individuals to
send letters to Congress
from our website without
an ALPA log-in. The tool
also includes new
interactive features and
social media functions
that allow users to
share their messages
using Facebook, Twitter,
or e-mail.
See our new “friends &
family” take action
tool!
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ALPA Canada Board: SMS Essential to Aviation Safety |
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 The
ALPA Canada Board
issued the following
response to CBC-TV’s
program, “Power &
Politics with Evan
Solomon,” which aired on
January 22.“Safety
management systems (SMS)
are a valuable tool to
enhance safety in
aviation and other
transportation
industries in Canada.
SMS aid airlines by
helping to identify and
mitigate safety risks
that have not been
anticipated by
regulators. As a result,
SMS programs are
critical to ensuring the
highest safety standards
are maintained and
providing a continuous
means of identifying
hazards before they
become serious.
“Equally important is
the concept that
nonpunitive and
confidential safety
programs remain a
foundation for heading
off safety risks before
incidents or accidents
occur.”
Read more.
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ARW Pilots Evaluate Plan, Ramp Up SPSC Efforts |
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 ALPA
pilot leaders at Air
Wisconsin convened last
week in Herndon, Va.,
to, among other things,
discuss negotiations and
evaluate their strategic
plan. In negotiations
for more than two years,
Air Wisconsin pilots are
seeking to improve
wages, benefits, and
work rules. Progress has
slowed considerably in
recent months as the
parties are working on
the economic sections of
the contract.
Efforts continue to
keep members informed on
the status of
negotiations and get
them involved in the
process. Family
Awareness events and
Pilot Unity Building
(PUB) nights are being
planned for 2013.
Additionally, union reps
are working to meet with
each Air Wisconsin pilot
directly over the next
couple of months to talk
about the issues, update
contact information, and
get pilot input on the
process.
Also during the
meeting, the MEC
conferred with key
committee chairmen and
ALPA’s officers, SPSC,
and top staff. Items
discussed included
grievances and efforts
under way to resolve
those issues, airline
finances and the
forecast for 2013, Part
117 and how it will
affect the operation,
and current legislation
and the work of the
Political Action
Committee.
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Security Bulletin Addresses Layover Concerns |
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 ALPA
Security Alert Bulletin
2013-01 has been issued
to address an alarming
new trend. Recently,
flight and cabin
crewmembers have been
targeted for fraud or
other criminal
activities during
layovers in several
cities. In some cases,
crewmembers have been
called by persons posing
as hotel employees
claiming that room
billing problems had
occurred and requesting
personal financial
information to rectify
the issue.
In one early morning
incident, a flight
attendant was advised by
an individual posing as
a hotel employee that
there was a problem with
her room reservation.
She was instructed to
report immediately to
the front desk or
provide credit card
information over the
phone to resolve the
matter.
All ALPA pilots are
reminded to exercise
caution while on
layovers and to be wary
if contacted by
individuals requesting
personal information.
Remember that persons
who engage in such
activities are often
highly skilled at
deception. Be suspicious
of unusual events and
report them immediately
to fellow crewmembers
and proper authorities.
In addition, please
review
ALPA Security Alert
Bulletin 2013-01 and
share its content with
fellow flight and cabin
crewmembers.
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TSA Adding Additional Aircraft |
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Trans States Airlines
management announced
last week that the
company would receive
seven Embraer 145
aircraft in April as
part of a three-year
deal with United
Airlines. The aircraft,
flying as United
Express, allows TSA to
grow by more than 30
percent in the first
half of 2013. “After
four years of
downsizing, the increase
in our fleet is great
news for our pilots, our
company, and our
future,” said Capt.
Cliff Simmons, TSA MEC
chairman. “We look
forward to working with
management to make sure
the planes are staffed
and in service on time.”
According to the
announcement, United
also extended the
short-term agreement on
an additional six
EMB-145 aircraft from
September 2013 through
March 2015. It went on
to say United increased
TSA’s flying due to
“sustained improvement
in our completion
factor, on-time
performance, and
customer satisfaction
metrics.”
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Did You Know Congress Could Tax Your Health-Care Benefits? |
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 Did you know that some
in Congress are
suggesting proposals to
tax employer-provided
health-care benefits?
The exclusion from
employee income of the
value of
employer-provided health
insurance coverage has
been an ongoing topic
for legislators looking
for new sources of
revenue for the federal
budget and a way to curb
health-care premium
increases.
Please take a moment
to complete a brief
survey to let us know
what you think. Go to
www.alpa.org/survey
to participate. We want
to hear from you.
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  Stay connected with your
union, your profession,
and your industry by
reading Air Line
Pilot and watching
monthly episodes of
The FlightDeck.
See photos from the
recent ALPA Negotiations
and Contract Enforcement
Training Seminar on page
50 of the
January issue of Air
Line Pilot magazine.
On the 22nd
installment of
The
FlightDeck, find
out how many Airbus
A321neos Hawaiian
Airlines plans to order. 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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Get the Scoop! Read “ALPA Daily” |
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 The
aviation industry is changing faster than ever before. The new
“ALPA Daily”
feature at www.alpa.org will keep you informed
of the latest industry developments and analysis from around the globe. Check it
out each day to stay up-to-date on the news that affects pilots and the piloting
profession.
ALPA members can sign up to receive ALPA Daily in their e-mail:
•
Visit
this link.
• Log in with your ALPA member number and password.
• Select “E-mail Distribution Lists.”
• Check the box for “ALPA Daily.”
• Submit your request.
According to Yahoo! News, union leaders representing 23,000 engineers and
technical workers at Boeing said they will decide by January 31 whether to ask
members to vote on a strike authorization alongside the latest contract offer.
Read more.
AINonline reports that rising sea levels and extreme weather events will
increase the flood risk to airports and other transportation infrastructure in
coastal regions of the United States, according to the draft report of a
government advisory committee.
Read more.
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 Happy
10th birthday, DHS! The Department of Homeland Security became operational on
January 24, 2003.
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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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