|
View this message on the Web. |
 |
|
News from ALPA International |
|
April 2, 2013 |
|
|
FAMS Announces FFDO Training Opportunities
|
|
|
|
 The
Federal Air Marshal
Service (FAMS) has
informed ALPA that it
has a limited number of
slots available for
those who wish to be
trained as federal
flight deck officers.
The six-day training
program dates are as
follows:
• June 3-8
• June 10-15
• June 17-22
• June 24-29
Applications need to be
submitted no later than
April 15, 2013, using a
password-protected
volunteer questionnaire.
The password for the
questionnaire can be
obtained by sending an
e-mail to
FFDO2013@alpa.org,
which will generate an
automated reply. Once
the questionnaire is
completed, it should be
sent to FAMS using the
e-mail address that is
provided to the
applicant along with the
password and other
necessary information.
Please contact ALPA’s
Engineering & Air Safety
Department
(800-424-2470) with any
questions.
Return to top
|
|
|
ALPA Ops Bulletin Addresses Effect of Tower Closures |
|
|
Air traffic control
closures and
restrictions to
operating hours
announced by the FAA
will begin going into
effect on Apr 7. The
changes predominantly
impact airports with low
traffic volume, but some
scheduled operations
flown by ALPA pilots
will also be impacted.
Many ALPA pilots
successfully operate
into non-towered
airports every day, but
these new changes may
result in additional
operations in and out of
airports without an
operating control tower.
The ALPA Air Safety
Organization has created
Operations Bulletin
2013-01 to summarize
arrival and departure
considerations, and all
ALPA pilots are
encouraged to review
this bulletin and any
related company and
government publications.
Return to top |
|
|
ARW Volunteers Gather in Herndon |
|
 Recognizing the
importance of their
committee volunteers and
the work that they do,
Air Wisconsin’s MEC
officers called together
all 21 of their standing
and special committee
chairmen for a meeting
in Herndon, Va. This was
the first of what the
officers hope will
become an annual
meeting.“Many of our
successes in defending
and advancing the
careers of our pilots
are the result of our
hard-working
volunteers,” says ARW
MEC Chairman Richard
Swindell. “By coming
together face-to-face,
we were able to fully
engage with our core
group of volunteers and
collaborate on methods
for addressing current
and future challenges.
This will help
strengthen our
communications efforts
internally and with the
pilot group, as well as
build a solid framework
for the next generation
of ALPA volunteers.”
Read more.
Return to top |
|
|
Register for Pilot Assistance Forum, May 7–9 |
|
|
This year’s Pilot
Assistance Forum is
scheduled for May 7-9,
in ALPA’s conference
center in Herndon, Va.
This three-day event
will feature
presentations from each
of the Pilot Assistance
Groups: Aeromedical,
Canadian Pilot
Assistance, Critical
Incident Response
Program, Human
Intervention and
Motivation Study, and
Professional Standards.
The conference
represents an excellent
opportunity for new
pilot representatives to
learn procedures and
techniques from more
seasoned representatives
who will share their
experiences and
expertise. All pilot
assistance
representatives are
invited to attend the
professional standards
training event scheduled
for Thursday, May 9.
Read more.
Return to top
|
|
|
Identity Thieves Target Your Tax Return |
|
 One of the
fastest-growing ways
identity thieves are
stealing from you is by
tax-identity theft. The
National Taxpayer
Advocate, an IRS
watchdog group, has seen
a 650 percent rise in
the number of
identity-theft cases
since 2008. In fact,
since last year, the IRS
has had to double the
number of staff working
on these types of cases
to 3,000.
As recently reported
by the Wall Street
Journal:
“Tax-identity theft
exploded to more than
1.1 million cases in
2011 from 51,700 in
2008. The Treasury
Inspector General for
Tax Administration last
summer reported
discovering an
additional 1.5 million
potentially fraudulent
2011 tax refunds
totaling in excess of
$5.2 billion.
“Fraudulent tax returns
can come in the form of
tax-identity theft,
refund fraud, or
return-preparer fraud
and are difficult to
prosecute. With
e-filing, evidence of
fraud is difficult to
find. There are no
signed tax forms,
envelopes or
fingerprints, and
e-filing promises quick
refunds.”
Read more.
Return to top
|
|
|
|
|
 Alaska
Airlines now offers
nonstop service between
San Diego and Boston—the
sixth new city Alaska
has begun serving from
San Diego in the past
year . . . Compass
Airlines flight
attendants, represented
by the AFA-CWA, have
reached a tentative
agreement for a first
contract . . . Pinnacle
Airlines is in the midst
of hiring hundreds for
all kinds of jobs in the
Minneapolis/St. Paul
area, as the company
prepares to move its
headquarters from
Memphis next month . . .
Later this month, United
plans to open a
renovated south
concourse in Terminal B
at Houston’s George Bush
International Airport.
Return to top
|
|
|
Bird Strikes—A Continuing Problem |
|
|
 USA
Today reports how
airports are developing
creative strategies to
combat the threat of
bird strikes and
collisions with other
wildlife. The number of
reported collisions in
the United States has
been on the rise, with
reported incidents
(11,590 last year)
nearly doubling the
6,769 in 2002.
Read the USA Today
article to learn
more.
Return to top
|
|
|
Awesome Airfield Eateries |
|
 Beth
Kaufman of CNN has
posted her list of the
20 best airports for
culinary offerings. For
those who yearn for the
“good ol’ days” of air
travel, she reminds us
that it wasn’t so long
ago that airport fare
could often be limited
to vending machines and
what could be found in
gift shops.
Read the CNN story.
Return to top
|
|
|
|
|
Aviation
pioneer and Pan American World Airways
founder Juan Trippe
passed away on April 3, 1981,
in New York.
Return to top
|
|
|
Most Recent FastRead Issues |
|
|
|
|
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. Return to top
|
|
|
Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l
1625 Massachusetts Avenue NW
| Washington, DC 20036 | 703-689-2270 |
|
