may 2010 air line pilot 1 · 2010. 4. 16. · 4 air line pilot may 2010 43 letters to the editor...

May 2010 Air Line Pilot 1

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United pilots, fellow ALPA members, and United flight attendants converged on Washington Dulles International Airport to conduct informational picketing to protest the continued outsourcing of pilot and other airline employee jobs. Story on page 6.

MAY 2010 • VoluMe 79, NuMber 4

COMMENTARY4 Mailbag

5 Pilot to PilotCan You Imagine?

8 Weighing InSomeone Wants to Eat Your Lunch

9 Pilot Commentary The U.S.-EU Air Service Negotiations and You

10 An open letter to ALPA Members SPECIAL SECTION14 Intro: Why You Should Think Globally15 u.S.-eu Talks Produce Protocol to Amend Air Transport Agreement17 IFALPA’s 2010 Conference

20 ICAo Symposium examines Next-Generation Airline Worker Policies21 Putting the ‘I’ in ALPA24 International Airline Industry update

FEATURES27 Successful organizing Doesn’t‘Just Happen’28 exploring AlPA’s War Chest DEPARTMENTS6 Front LinesALPA in the News

11 As We Go to PressLate-Breaking ALPA News

31 ALPA@WorkSecretary-Treasurers Conference; Canadian Flight-Time/Duty-Time Reform; National Security Committee Meeting

36 From the HillU.S. Senate Vote: Important Step in FAA Reauthorization; ALPA Pilots Rally to Protect Workers in International Airline Alliances

37 History LessonsIFALPA

38 We Are ALPA ALPA Resources and Contact Numbers

About the Cover“Why You Should Think Globally” is the theme for this issue’s Special Section beginning on page 14. Photo by William A. Ford.

Air Line Pilot (ISSN 0002-242X) is pub lished monthly, except for the combined January/February and June/July issues, by the Air Line Pilots Association, Inter national, affiliated with AFL-CIO, CLC. Editorial Offices: 535 Herndon Parkway, PO Box 1169, Herndon, VA 20172-1169. Telephone: 703-481-4460. Fax: 703-464-2114. Copyright © 2010—Air Line Pilots Association, Inter-national, all rights reserved. Publica tion in any form without permission is prohibited. Air Line Pilot and the ALPA logo Reg. U.S. Pat. and T.M. Office. Federal I.D. 36-0710830. Periodicals postage paid at Herndon, VA 20172, and additional offices.

4 Air Line Pilot May 2010

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Letters to the editor may be submitted via regular mail to Air Line Pilot, Letters to the Editor, 535 Herndon Parkway, P.O. Box 1169, Herndon, VA 20172-1169, or by e-mail to [email protected].

MAILBAG

at the Pritzker School of Medicine of the University of Chicago.

I just wanted to say thank you to the band of brothers, my fellow ALPA members, for their invalu-able support, which has contributed to my daugh-ter’s success. Your faith in my daughter was not unfounded.F/O Maurice R. Azurdia (TWA, Ret.)

I just finished reading the mention of Camille Wheeler’s International Youth Exchange program in April’s Air Line Pilot.

I believe I first heard about the program last year because of ALPA, and we ended up sending our daughter, Stormy, to France. She had a phe-nomenal experience, one that she will remember for the rest of her life. My wife and I actually ended up going to France to pick her up, and we ended up staying with the host family as well. It was amazing!

Thanks so much for getting the

word out on such a great program.F/O David DuBois (Delta)

Trust-based securityAs an ALPA member, I applaud the union’s recent message on the need for a “trust based” approach to security. Political correctness has done enough damage to our industry (and others), and it is very encouraging to see us begin to voice the reality of this issue. Continuing to aggravate the more than 99 percent of our trustworthy passen-gers (and crews) will only further drag down the airline industry.F/O Ken Olson (Jazz)

Cockpit voice recordersI hope that ALPA and Capt. Prater continue to shoot down any attempt by any agency or airline to “monitor” CVRs.

Any line pilot in the world would agree that 100 percent free communi-cation is essential to a crew [working together successfully]. As someone who worked on the Colgan Flight 3407 accident investigation on behalf of ALPA (transcribing the CVR), I’m deeply disappointed that this subject is being discussed so freely in the news media and that some feel CVRs should be sampled from time to time in the name of safety. What some in the news media just [don’t understand] is what a good airline safety culture is, and how it’s going backwards in some instances.

The airline industry and manage-ments want quick fixes for recent accidents. They [aren’t willing to invest the necessary resources to correct] the problem.

Why? Because it costs too much, and the current paradigm works for them and their pockets. [They think that] individual pilots are expendable—end of story.

Keep up the good work!Capt. Chris Nelson (Colgan)

We have a lot of work to do, but with your support we will get the job done.

Sincerely,Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Vice-President of the United States

I am a retired TWA pilot, and my daughter, Adrienne Azurdia, who was honored with an ALPA scholarship, is on her way to becoming a physician

Thank you[Capt. Prater,] it was a pleasure speaking with you at the AFL-CIO Executive Council Meeting [in March]. Thank you for the warm reception.

The President and I appreciate the work you and your members are doing to get our economy moving again, and we remain committed to working with you to create jobs and restore fairness for working people.

Vice-President Joseph biden greets Capt. John Prater at the AFl-CIo executive Council Meeting in March. (See biden’s letter, above, to Prater.)

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by Capt. John Prater, ALPA President

Can You Imagine?PIloTTOPIloT

AlPA’s role at the u.S.-eu negotiations helped stave off significant statutory changes that could dramatically affect the livelihood of every airline pilot. but only for the time being—this fight will never end.

When the united States and the european union (eu) reached a tentative agreement in March in Brussels, Belgium, to amend their 2007 air transport agreement (see page 15), I stopped to reflect on what our union has accomplished in this most recent threat to our jobs. What does it mean for pilots across our industry?

If the EU had its way, for example, foreign investors could own and control your airline. It wouldn’t matter if you fly for a major, a regional, or a cargo airline—you’d feel their market presence because these investors wouldn’t stop at ownership. They’d want the opportunity to bid on flying around the states, too. ALPA, working with the Transportation Trades Department (TTD) of the AFL-CIO, led the fight against these proposed changes and scored a major win with this tentative agreement, which would make no change to foreign ownership and cabotage laws.

But we didn’t stop there. ALPA, in close coordination with the TTD and the European Cockpit Association, worked with the U.S. and EU negotiators to educate them about our concerns on how the agreement could affect airline workers. As a result of this collaboration, for the first time in the his-tory of U.S. air service agreements, the tentative agreement also proposes to add an article on labor.

In this article, the U.S. and the EU state that they recognize the value of “high labour standards,” and the parties will regularly review the agreement’s effect on airline workers. There’s also a Memorandum of Consultations that recognizes how, in the U.S., the selection of a single representative pro-motes rights for airline workers not only to organize, but also to negotiate and enforce collective bargaining agreements.

ALPA represented pilot interests in a similar manner in the Canada-EU negotiations last year, again helping to ensure that no statutory changes were made to the Canadian own-ership and control and cabotage laws as part of the resulting air services agreement.

Yes, ALPA’s role at these negotiations helped stave off significant statutory changes that could have dramatically affected the livelihood of every airline pilot. But only for the time being—this fight will never end. Think about what could happen if foreign airlines sought to bend the rules just a little. A case in point: Air Canada’s season-long charters for U.S. sports teams, such as the Boston Bruins.

Had ALPA not stepped in, there would have been more than the camel’s nose under the tent. Instead, we took

the issue on full throttle. We teamed up not only with the AFL-CIO and the Association of Flight Attendants, but with airline trade associations as well, to advise the Department of Transportation (DOT) and Congress of our cabotage concerns. After an investigation, the DOT found that Air Canada was carrying prohibited cabotage traffic on these charters, and it took the appropriate actions.

In this latest round of negotiations, your union and your government worked to prevent your jobs from going over-seas. You should not think that international issues can’t or don’t affect you or that your job is immune to this option, because alliance managers and investors simply do not care who flies these routes or who flies the airplanes. When it

comes right down to it, only you and your union care about protecting these jobs for ALPA pilots.

Long ago, ALPA pinpointed revenue sharing as a particu-lar area of concern in airline alliances, noting that this allows alliances to achieve their goal of “metal neutrality,” or an “indifference” to which alliance partner actually operates the aircraft so long as the alliance captures the customer’s busi-ness. Well, that “indifference” carries over to the question of which alliance partner’s employees fly a certain route, too. In other words, your airlines could basically decide to become “travel agents” for their foreign alliance partners—and that means significant portions of the pilot jobs within these alliances could fly right overseas. Not to mention that it’s some of the most desirable work—long-haul, large aircraft, international flying—for many pilots around.

Concerned? Don’t sit on the sidelines. Get involved. You can join ALPA in the Call to Action to build job security into our airlines’ international alliances. Contact your federal representatives today and ask them to support H.R. 4788, a bipartisan bill supported by ALPA that would ensure that the DOT requires our carriers to “play to get paid” if it approves an alliance’s request for antitrust immunity. After all, airline alliances are only good for you if you’re still flying the airplane.


FroNTLINES AlPA in the News

Pilots, Flight Attendants Picket To Protest outsourcingApproximately 400 United pilots, fellow ALPA members, and United flight attendants converged on Washington Dulles International Airport on March 28 to conduct infor-mational picketing to protest the continued outsourcing of pilot and other airline employee jobs.

Pilots from AirTran, Colgan, Continental, Delta, Mesa, Trans States, and Aer Lingus, as well as some from American, joined United pilots in an informational picket line that stretched nearly the entire length of the front of the Dulles terminal.

The picket coincided with the March 28 launch of the Washington, D.C.-to-Madrid flight that is part of the United-Aer Lingus joint venture. The joint venture allows United to collect revenue without using United pilots, United aircraft, or United flight attendants.

“It is simply unconscionable for United management, with 1,437 United pilots laid off, to enter into such a joint venture with a foreign airline without ensuring that United pilots receive a fair share of the jobs,” declared Capt. Wendy Morse, the United pilots’ Master Executive Council chairman.

Capt. John Prater, ALPA’s president, and Capt. Evan Cullen, president of Irish ALPA, which represents Aer Lingus pilots, joined Morse on the informational picket line.

“This joint venture affects United pilots, but it really touches all pilots,” said Prater. “We will not stand back and watch as airline managements opt to reach joint ventures that hand out flying to the lowest bidder. We’re taking our message to the streets, and we’re taking our message to the halls of Congress to protect the jobs of ALPA pilots in the face of such joint venture schemes as United-Aer Lingus.”

ALPA Takes Policy Priorities To Wall StreetCapt. John Prater, ALPA’s president, brought the Association’s policy priorities to Wall Street investors on March 9 as a speaker at the J.P. Morgan 2010 Aviation, Transportation, and Defense Conference, where more than 1,000 institu-tional and credit investors from around the globe gathered for the New York City event.

The by-invitation-only Conference featured presentations by more than 20 airline industry stakeholders, including Jeff Smisek, chairman, president, and CEO of Continental Airlines, and Edward Bastian, president of Delta Air Lines. AirTran Holdings, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines were also among the companies that were invited and participated in the event.

In his comments, Prater laid out the government policy that ALPA believes is necessary to make the airline industry healthy and stable in the future—to the benefit of airline employees, customers, and the U.S. economy. He described a five-point foundation to ensure that national policies pro-mote opportunities for U.S. airlines and jobs for U.S. workers and allow businesses to compete effectively and profitably with foreign airlines. The foundation includes• creating a national-level aviation policy that is part of a U.S. transportation policy,• establishing a single, high level of safety and security for all passenger and cargo airlines,• developing and maintaining the best trained, most com-petent pilot workforce in the world,• modernizing the national airspace system and building the Next Generation Air Transportation System, and• forging a U.S. international aviation policy that provides an effective balance among pilot jobs and security, airline, and consumer interests.

Prater, in his presentation to the hundreds of investors in attendance, discussed the need to protect workers as airlines participate in international joint ventures. “The current rules also address an important concern of U.S. airline workers—that U.S. airlines receive a fair share of international flying opportunities so the best-paying jobs aren’t outsourced to other countries’ airlines,” he said. “There’s also no question that we need aviation policies that protect U.S. aviation jobs.”

Capt. evan Cullen, president of Irish AlPA, which represents Aer lingus pilots, left, joined Capt. Wendy Morse, united MeC chairman, and Capt. Prater on the informational picket line.

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“We know the actions we need to take to make runways safer in Canada,” said Capt. Rory Kay, ALPA’s Executive Air Safety Chairman. “ALPA urges Transport Canada to fully comply with the international standards and recommended practices that we know will enhance safety for our passen-gers, crews, and cargo.”

ALPA also supports the TSBC’s call for pilots to receive timely and accurate information about runway surface con-ditions in bad weather, improved procedures for and adop-tion of enhanced collision warning systems at Canadian airports, and the wider use of technology to help pilots assess their proximity to terrain.

In addition, ALPA echoes the TSBC recommendation that Transport Canada closely scrutinize the Canadian airline industry’s transition to safety management systems into day-to-day operations.

“Safety management systems help prevent accidents and incidents before they occur, and they are fundamental to ensuring that the highest safety standards are maintained,” said Capt Dan Adamus (Jazz), president of ALPA’s Canada Board. “ALPA stands ready to work with both airlines and Transport Canada to ensure that a robust safety culture is maintained at all Canadian airlines.”

NSC reps Continue Work on Secondary barrier StandardsALPA National Security Committee representatives partici-pated in the fifth RTCA Special Committee (SC) 221 Plenary Meeting held in Washington, D.C., in mid-March. SC-221 is charged with establishing performance standards for cockpit secondary barriers in airliners to supplement the protection that the fortified flightdeck door provides.

Participants received updates from the Alternate Methods Working Group, discussed using closed-circuit video cameras to supplement the secondary barrier system, and talked in depth about establishing procedures for handling sensitive security information.

Capt. Ed Folsom (United), Committee co-chairman, reported on the SC-221 December 2009 leadership meeting held in Denver, Colo., and introduced proposals resulting from that meeting, which the plenary group further dis-cussed and defined.

The Committee will continue to evaluate alternative methods to protect the flight deck and other associated human factors issues, such as crewmember reaction times to perceived threats.

The next SC-221 plenary meeting is scheduled for mid-June in Washington, D.C.

Secretary of Transportation ray laHood, left, and Capt. John Prater, AlPA’s president, converse at the February meeting of the Transportation Trades Department (TTD), AFl-CIo executive Committee at which laHood was a guest speaker.

AlPA Applauds TSbC ‘Watchlist’ of Top Aviation Safety Issues ALPA has praised the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSBC) for publishing its recent “Watchlist” of transporta-tion safety concerns in Canada, and underscores that the list contains many issues that are top safety priorities for ALPA-represented pilots.

“We applaud the TSBC for issuing its new Watchlist of transportation safety issues that are of the greatest concern to the Board as a result of its accident investigations,” said Capt. John Prater, ALPA’s president. “We hope the Watchlist will put a spotlight on these issues and galvanize public sup-port for taking action to address these safety threats.”

ALPA has called repeatedly for action on many Watchlist issues, including reducing the risks of runway incursions and excursions, protecting against controlled flight into terrain, and increasing the use of safety management systems.

The TSBC’s support for enhancing runway end safety areas (RESAs) across Canada is particularly welcomed by the Association. Recent worldwide aviation accident data demonstrate that runway excursions and overruns are now among the most common causes of airline accidents. To address this issue, ALPA underscores the TSBC recom-mendation that airports lengthen the safety areas at the ends of runways or install other engineered systems to safely bring an airplane to a halt during an overrun.

International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) stan-dards call for RESAs to be at least 90 meters (295 feet) long, and ICAO recommends that these areas be 240 meters (780 feet) in length. However, through the official filing of a “dif-ference,” Transport Canada has formally advised ICAO that the agency is not in compliance with the 90-meter RESA standard.

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Someone Wants to eat Your lunch

WeIGHINGIN

by Capt. Paul rice, ALPA First Vice-President

We pilots look down from our cockpits at the grand panorama of the earth—the rumpled tapestry of plains and mountains, farms and forests, taiga and tundra. We gaze upon some of the artifacts of human toil—dams, highways, airports, the dark green of irrigation circles, the diffusing plumes of

smokestacks, the rice fields of Texas and Taiwan. But we cannot look down with X-ray vision into the

corporate and government office buildings below where many smart, well-educated men and women are scheming to bump us from our cockpits. And that means all of us, including our youngest members in their first airline job and those flying short domestic trips in turboprops.

The North American air transportation system presents a lucrative market to foreign airlines and investors. We have something they don’t—a domestic aviation network that is currently unparalleled anywhere else in the world. The threat comes in basically two forms: cabotage and foreign ownership and control.

Derived from the French verb “caboter,” meaning “to sail along the coast,” cabotage means “trade or transport in coastal waters or between two points within a country” or “the right to engage in cabotage.” So when we talk about cabotage, what we really mean is foreign cabotage—i.e., air-lines from other countries having the right to operate be-tween points within our countries—not Frankfurt to Atlanta, but New York to Atlanta.

The threat we face from a foreign airline with a pool of low-cost pilots—or even well-paid pilots who fly for airlines heavily subsidized by their governments—is the threat of international whipsawing of pilot groups against each other, a race to the bottom in wages, benefits, and working conditions. That threat is real no matter whether you fly a Caravan or a B-747-400.

You’re not competing against your fellow pilots, or the leaders of the pilot groups outside of North America. They want—and deserve—the same things you do: a stable, secure career; safe, reasonable working conditions; and pay and benefits that reflect the pilots’ contributions to the success of their airlines.

But you can bet your bottom dollar that you’re competing against the managements of foreign airlines—and, in some cases, even your own. The current United-Aer Lingus deal to operate flights between Washington, D.C., and Madrid with-out United pilots doing any of the flying is the current Exhibit

A for this kind of brazen sidestepping of our contracts. You’re also competing against other governments, some

of which continue to pour large sums of money into their airlines. Unfortunately, sometimes your own government isn’t on your side. When was the last time your government poured money into your airline?

In the United States, we have an answer to that question in the obscene example of the Air Transportation Stabilization Board (ATSB), which violated the intent of the Congress that created it in September 2001. Congress voted to make $10

billion available as loan guarantees to U.S. airlines ravaged by the economic “perfect storm” that formed after 9/11. The ATSB parceled out a measly $1.6 billion and rejected more air-line applications than it accepted, while claiming that airlines’ main problem was high labor costs and using its veto power over airline applications to force deep employee concessions, and some airlines into bankruptcy.

Regarding international air service agreements and U.S. and Canadian laws that pertain to them, we must be vigilant against the efforts of foreign governments and foreign airlines —especially those of Asia and western Europe—that would take our flying from us. We need to watch out for not only the economic powerhouses, but also some not-so-big coun-tries whose airlines would dearly love open access to North American markets. They, too, would gladly eat your lunch.

If ALPA merely watched from the sidelines, some of our government representatives would gladly give away our fly-ing in the name of “open skies” while negotiating bilateral air service agreements—not just our international flying, but all of our domestic point-to-point flying as well (see page 15). This union must not, and will not, let that happen.

Otherwise you could have the disheartening experience of hearing, while flying a revenue trip, your dispatcher tell you on the company frequency, “When you get to [your destination], secure the airplane. The company has canceled all flights. This airline is history.”

If you wait until the day or night you hear that fateful message to start paying attention to what’s been going on over the horizon, you’ll be too late. The time to expand your situational awareness to the rest of the globe is now, if not yesterday.

The time to expand your situational awareness to

the rest of the globe is now, if not yesterday.


The u.S.-eu Air Service Negotiations and You

PIloTCOMMENTARY

by Capt. rick Dominguez (Delta), Chairman, ALPA International Affairs Committee

As reported on page 15, on March 25 the u.S. and the european union (eu) ten-tatively agreed to amend their “open skies”

air transport agreement (ATA). You need to understand how that might affect you directly, whether you are flying a Boeing 777 or a Metroliner.

In 2007, after almost 5 years of talks, the U.S. and EU agreed to a new “first stage” ATA. It opened up airports such as Heathrow for many more airlines, but brought us the specter of franchis-ing and such novel business arrange-ments as British Airways OpenSkies Airlines and the United-Aer Lingus joint venture (see “Front Lines,” page 6). These business arrangements are examples of the significant challenges that the ATA poses for airline employ-ees on both sides of the Atlantic.

Throughout the “stage two” negotia-tions, European negotiators pursued the right for EU airlines to enter the U.S. domestic market (foreign cabo-tage) and to wet-lease aircraft to U.S. airlines for use on U.S. domestic routes. Their major objective, however, has been to end all restrictions on foreign ownership and control of U.S. airlines. The major U.S. objective has been to eliminate the suspension-of-rights pro-vision and to ensure that noise-based operating restrictions meet certain procedural and substantive criteria.

In significant part because of ALPA’s urging, the first-stage ATA tasked the Joint Committee (the body established to monitor implementation of the ATA) with reviewing the effects of the ATA on airline employees and develop-

ing responses to legitimate concerns. Over the past 2 years ALPA has helped develop, and has participated in, two EU-sponsored labor forums that explored the effect on labor of both the first-stage ATA and the proposals the EU made in the second-stage negotiations. While no consensus was reached on how to address employees’ concerns, both the EU and the U.S.

guage—but this is the first time a spe-cific article on labor has been included in an air services agreement, and it establishes a formal framework for examining airline employee concerns.

Even more important is what is not in the initialed protocol. We (labor) kept foreign cabotage and domestic wet-leasing out of the ATA. And while the initialed agreement sets up a process to review developments with respect to removing market access barriers, “including enhancing the access of their airlines to global capital markets,” we persuaded our government not to agree to seek legislative change of the laws on ownership and control of U.S. airlines.

Had foreign cabotage or domestic wet-leasing (a kind of foreign cabotage) been included, they would have deva-stated the job security of every U.S. airline pilot. Also, ALPA remains op-posed to changing the ownership and control rules until we can see how a change would benefit our members and their career prospects and job security. If the ownership laws change in spite of our objections, we would need to ensure that pilots from both sides of the Atlantic who are employed by a transnational airline could collectively bargain, agree to, and enforce a common labor agreement—no easy matter with one labor law in the U.S. and 27 differ ent labor laws in the EU. But any other outcome would most likely lead to whipsawing employee groups in a race to inferior wages and working conditions.

We’ll keep working with our labor partners in the U.S. and Europe (par-ticularly our colleagues at the European Cockpit Association), communicating with regulators and legislators, and insisting that labor has an important place at the table when ATAs are negoti-ated. Regardless of the airplane you fly or where you fly, these issues will have a direct effect on your livelihood.

said they now have a much better understanding of the labor issues.

ALPA senior attorney Russ Bailey participated on the U.S. delegation as the representative of the AFL-CIO Trans portation Trades Department. With our labor colleagues from Europe, ALPA, through Bailey, persuaded the U.S. and the EU to include an article on labor issues in the initialed protocol. That article says, in part, “The parties recognize...the benefits that arise when open markets are accompanied by high labour standards. The opportunities cre-ated by the agreement are not intended to undermine high labour standards or the labor-related rights and principles contained in the parties’ respective laws.”

The article also states that these prin-ciples will guide the Joint Committee when it undertakes “regular consid-eration” of the effects of the ATA on airline workers and develops responses.

Not exactly overwhelming lan-

Regardless of the airplane you

fly or where you fly, these issues will have a direct effect on your livelihood.


An open letter to AlpA members

The monthly “Code of Ethics” series in Air Line Pilot was developed last summer to combat the public scrutiny of our profession. It was meant as a way to honor all ALPA members who carry out the duties and respon-

sibilities of airline pilots with the highest respect for the safety of their passengers and crew. Most importantly, ALPA in-tended to highlight a pilot’s approach to upholding the professional values in our Code of Ethics that this Association has held sacred for almost 80 years.

While it might be easy to abandon this series due to a recent mischaracterization, we cannot ignore the fact that the vast majority of our nearly 53,000 members demonstrate the highest level of profes-sionalism in their jobs and in their cockpits as they interact with other crewmembers, employees, and passengers. Frankly, there are just too many positive examples among our professional members not to share the stories, the viewpoints, and the personal attitudes that exemplify what it is to be an airline pilot and motivate others to achieve high professional standards.

After making adjustments to the selec-tion process, we hope to feature members who positively showcase our profession. ALPA is committed to ensuring that all future pilot profiles will truthfully represent the core values that are contained in ALPA’s Code of Ethics.

After the April magazine was printed and mailed, we were made aware that information in the pilot profile was inaccurate. We immediately asked the pilot if the information regarding his military activity for the New Jersey Air National Guard was correct, and he assured us that the information in the magazine was factual. However, when checking with the 177th operations group commander, he informed us that the information was false—the pilot was neither a member of the 177th Fighter Wing nor the 119th Fighter Squadron.

When given the assignment to interview the candidate selected for the “Code of Ethics” role model, we used the nomination form as the basis for the interview with the pilot and for the text in the article. Conversations with this pilot disclosed a lot about his life, and it was his choice to release such a significant amount of information on his life outside of his ALPA professional flying career and his union volunteer work.

It is not our practice to fact check ALPA members because we do not work from the premise that our mem-bers are giving us misinformation. We don’t know the extent to which this pilot fabricated facts about his life; however, this incident will lead to changes in our review procedures because we are committed to providing only facts, not embellishments or misstatements.—Air Line Pilot staff

Fraternally,

Capt. Chuck Hogeman Chairman, ALPA Human Factors & Training Group

Capt. John Rosenberg Chairman, ALPA Professional Standards Committee

Capt. John Sluys Chairman, ALPA Professional Development Group



united MeC Addresses reports of Merger Discussions with uS Airways“News media reports of United Airlines and US Airways being ‘deep in merger discussions’ has caused a great deal of con-sternation among the pilots I represent,” says Capt. Wendy Morse, the United pilots’ Master Executive Council chairman.

“United pilots share the view of many industry analysts and experts that a United merger with US Airways is unlikely to achieve significant synergies. In addition, the considerable legal hurdles to such a combination will only serve to distract United’s management from solving its own pressing issues.

“The pilots of US Airways and America West have yet to achieve operational integration more than four-and-a-half years after the airlines merged. US Airways pilots face years of litigation as they attempt to work through their operational integration difficulties with America West pilots. United pilots certainly would not benefit by being drawn into that situation.

“Our position on mergers is well known. We are not op-posed to any merger that would benefit the careers and the long-term future of United pilots. A merger with US Airways does not appear to come close to meeting that standard. We vehemently oppose any merger that would not lead to a strong and viable United Airlines.

“United CEO Glenn Tilton is well aware of our position regarding mergers and US Airways.

“The pilots of United Airlines stand ready to work with United management on a merger if such a merger would protect and advance our careers. We will not, however, accept any proposal that places the future of the United enterprise—and the future of our pilots—in harm’s way.”

Alaska Recalls FurlougheesIn late March, Alaska Airlines management mailed recall notices to a dozen of the airline’s 106 furloughed pilots. One of the four pilots who elected to participate in the voluntary

furlough program negotiated last year will also return, which brings the total to 13 pilots returning to active service.

To facilitate the recalls, the pilots’ Master Executive Council and management agreed on a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that codifies how recalls are to occur, as outlined in the pilots’ contract and the agreements that created the furlough mitigation programs approved last year. The new MOU does not change any of the pilots’ contract language, but rather contains all of the furlough recall provi-sions in an easy-to-use checklist.

“We are pleased that the recall process has begun,” said F/O Paul Stuart, the pilots’ MEC vice-chairman. “At the same time, the MEC has not forgotten that 94 of our fellow pilots remain involuntarily furloughed. We will continue to work to represent the interests of all of our pilots, including those who are not currently on active status, and look forward to the day when all of our pilots receive recall notices.”

The recalls become effective May 1, one month before the opening of a new Alaska Airlines base in Portland, Ore.

Mesa Launches ‘Get on the bus’ TourNewly elected Mesa Air Group Master Executive Council officers are visiting crew bases with the message for pilots to Get on the Bus. The MEC officers—Capt. Angelo Matziaris, chairman; F/O Marcin Kolodziejczyk, vice-chairman; Capt. Derek Latimer, secretary-treasurer; and Capt. Ryan Pachkofsky, executive administrator—began their 2-year terms on March 13.

“It’s time for every Mesa pilot to Get on the Bus,” says Matziaris. “Our pilots are spread out across the nation, and we fly to 47 states, Canada, and Mexico. We are going to all the bases to talk with our pilots directly about the importance of unity. While we have come a long way in a


relatively short amount of time, much work still needs to be done. Being a unified group is the only way that we will suc-cessfully achieve our contractual goals and help reestablish Mesa Air Group as a viable airline.”

To date, the MEC officers have been to Charlotte, Chicago, Dulles, and Phoenix and will soon be in Cincinnati and Hawaii to speak with pilots about their contract and current issues. They are also highlighting the many pilot negotiations, grievance, and safety successes.

Though the pilots and management reached a 2-year contract in December 2008, negotiations have never ceased; the Negotiating Committee has met with management in an ongoing effort to secure additional improvements. As a result, the pilots and management have reached several Letters of Agreement (LOAs) and most recently signed agree-ments for base trading, ASAP, and FOQA. The base trade LOA allows pilots in the same equipment and status to trade bases voluntarily for a limited time. The ASAP and FOQA LOAs, which were achieved through the hard work of nu-merous pilots, ALPA staff, and management, will be a valu-able asset in maintaining and improving operational safety. The pilots’ Central Air Safety Committee and management are now working to implement the programs.

The Grievance Committee has been successful in getting money for the pilots and resolving issues in a timely manner. So far this year, the Committee has secured more than $600,000 for the pilot group. Most recently, the Grievance Committee was able to resolve 14 outstanding grievances, resulting in several improvements regarding taxi pay and out- of-domicile drops/swaps. There are currently only 26 open grievances, and settlements are pending in nearly half of those cases.

expressJet MeC employs Multifaceted CommunicationsOver the past several weeks, the ExpressJet Master Executive Council has worked with its Communications and Pilot-to-Pilot® Committees and ALPA Communications Department staff to revamp its overall communications strategy to pre-pare for upcoming Section 6 negotiations. The pilots’ current contract becomes amendable on December 1, and the MEC believes that providing pilots with real-time information is crucial to achieving a successful outcome. The challenge, however, has been how to reach a tech-savvy group and keep them engaged.

“Our goal is to make sure that all of our pilots know what happens when it happens,” says Capt. Chris Cashmareck,

the ExpressJet pilots’ MEC chairman. “The majority of our pilots are up-to-date on the latest technology. As a result, we’re working to increase contact with our pilots and em-ploy innovative tools to ensure they are part of the process every step of the way.”

MEC communication tools have evolved to include more social networking opportunities, such as Facebook and Twitter, for pilots to get updates directly from the MEC as events occur. Less than one month from launch, more than 10 percent of ExpressJet pilots have registered as “fans,” and the numbers continue to grow. The MEC has also increased its electronic communications to include a weekly news round-up of events, The Jet Link, and supplements this newsletter with electronic alerts whenever a time-critical communication arises. A semiannual newsletter is also being developed, and the inaugural issue will be distributed this spring.

The MEC is also focused on increasing its direct interac-tion with the pilot group, so members have been in the crew rooms to answer questions. The Pilot-to-Pilot® Committee is also actively soliciting volunteers at all bases to be another resource of information for the line pilots.

For the latest information, follow the ExpressJet MEC on Facebook (search for ExpressJet ALPA to join) and Twitter at http://twitter.com/xjtalpa.

ALPA’s Critical Incident response Program: Pilots Helping PilotsNearly 45 representatives from 19 airlines, including ALPA-represented and non-ALPA-represented pilot groups, senior management, and other industry personnel, attended ALPA’s Critical Incident Response Program (CIRP) Summit in April.

The 2-day meeting, led by F/O Louise Cullinan (Mesa), the CIRP Committee chair, and Capt. Jim Woodke (American Eagle), the CIRP vice-chair, was an opportunity for master executive council CIRP chairpersons to discuss and learn about successful tools and tactics to enhance the program at their airline. The group focused on a broad range of issues that pilots are facing in their personal and professional lives, and how CIRP can help pilots. Sharon Bryson, director of the NTSB Office of Transportation Disaster Assistance, gave

Sharon bryson, director of NTSb’s office of Transpor- tation Disaster Assistance, addresses attendees at AlPA’s CIrP Summit in April.

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In Memoriam“To fly west, my friend, is a flight we all must take for a final check.”—Author unknown

2007Capt. J.K. Crum, Jr. United NovemberCapt. Larry D. Dudley US Airways November

2009F/O Joseph R. Riggs United OctoberF/O John J. Lee United NovemberF/O Don J. Ashcraft Braniff DecemberCapt. Clayton S. Graves TWA December

2010Capt. C.H. “Charlie” Ake, Jr. United JanuaryCapt. W.W. Arenberg Eastern JanuaryCapt. E.E. Batman Delta JanuaryCapt. Ray A. Churlonis FedEx JanuaryCapt. Donald E. Coles United JanuaryCapt. J.M. DeCamp United JanuaryCapt. Lawrence S. DeRego Hawaiian JanuaryCapt. Melvin J. Fuller Pan American JanuaryS/O Robert Graham FedEx JanuaryF/O Gregory Green ExpressJet JanuaryF/O Neil T. Hawley United JanuaryF/O Kenneth R. Heidt United JanuaryCapt. W.H. Hill Eastern JanuaryCapt. James A. Loomis Northwest JanuaryCapt. Thomas B. Nunn Colgan JanuaryCapt. Claude R. Ouvrard Northwest JanuaryCapt. Donald K. Peters Northwest JanuaryCapt. Kenneth S. “Phil” Pisanko Northwest JanuaryCapt. E.S. Scott Eastern JanuaryCapt. Philip O. Simon FedEx JanuaryCapt. M.R. Smith Northwest January

F/O Anthony D. Stanley Delta JanuaryCapt. Dale A. Steele America West JanuaryCapt. D.E. Tobie United JanuaryCapt. W.W. Thompson Braniff JanuaryCapt. Charles Y. Van Trease TWA JanuaryCapt. Marvin R. Zimmerman TWA JanuaryCapt. Francis J. Black, Jr. Eastern FebruaryCapt. G.R. Ames Northwest FebruaryF/O Robert J. Bettendorf Northwest FebruaryCapt. George C. Boerner Delta FebruaryCapt. A.E. Briggs Delta FebruaryCapt. Michael C. Cabrera Alaska FebruaryCapt. R.G. Calkins United FebruaryCapt. Al D. Carmichael Canadian FebruaryCapt. R.P. DeBardelaben Delta FebruaryCapt. R.E. Downs Delta FebruaryCapt. L.C. Green, Jr. Continental FebruaryCapt. W.L. Hussman Pan American FebruaryS/O Philip G. Karafilis, Jr. TWA FebruaryCapt. C.H. Kelley, Jr. Eastern FebruaryCapt. William H. Montgomery ATA FebruaryS/O Richard J. Naert Delta FebruaryCapt. L.J. Nielsen Eastern FebruaryCapt. J.L. Nolton Eastern FebruaryCapt. James T. North, Jr. American Eagle FebruaryCapt. Kenneth L. Palmer TWA FebruaryCapt. Charles F. Peck Delta FebruaryCapt. Cynthia S. Ramaker Air Wisconsin FebruaryCapt. John N. Rauchenstein US Airways FebruaryF/O David M. Rogers Eastern February Compiled from information provided by ALPA’s Membership and Council Services Department

a presentation on the assistance provided to families in the event of a tragic accident.

“Many of us mistakenly believe that our training and experience make us immune to stress, and more often than not, we are unable to recognize our own stress reactions,” said Cullinan. “What to one pilot is a routine occurrence can be a traumatic event for another, and the psychological and physiological reactions to that stress may appear days, weeks, or even years after the event. CIRP is about pilots helping pilots. We provide an ear to listen, a shoulder to lean on, and aid for pilots to mitigate harmful stress reactions before they have a chance to affect their job performance, careers, families, or health.”

ALPA formally implemented the Program in 1994 to provide immediate support to pilots who experience a “critical inci-dent”—an event in or out of the cockpit that has the potential to cause a stressful effect sufficient to overwhelm the usually effective coping skills of the affected individual or group.

Almost all of ALPA’s pilot groups have adopted the Program, and CIRP is credited with helping many pilots successfully return to the cockpit after an accident or incident. If you or someone you know could benefit from this program, please contact your MEC CIRP Committee or 1-888-FLY ALPA (359-2572).

NSSoC Discusses FFDo Program, Air Safety Forum ALPA’s National Security Steering and Oversight Committee (NSSOC) reviewed its latest projects list and discussed cur-rent financial challenges on April 6 at the Association’s Herndon, Va., offices. The NSSOC is tasked with managing ALPA’s National Security Committee (NSC) budget as well as

approving NSC projects and developing strategic initiatives.NSSOC members discussed ALPA efforts to obtain ad-

ditional funding for the Federal Flight Deck Officer (FFDO) program. The Association’s Government Affairs Department staff briefed the group on the union’s efforts to target key individuals in Congress and to highlight the program’s value in terms of both deterrence and cost effectiveness. The group also talked about the ongoing logistics of the program, including training, retaining FFDOs, investigating violations, and other matters.

The pilot security reps discussed the NSC’s participa-tion at the upcoming Air Safety Forum, which will be held in Washington, D.C., August 30–31. The group went over topics and speakers and discussed potential award honorees.

“The attempted terrorist attack on Northwest (Delta) Flight 253 last Christmas significantly eroded the NSC’s 2010 funding,” said NSC chairman Capt. Robb Powers (Alaska), who chaired the meeting. “An event like this spawns un-foreseen projects that require manpower and resources, and this depletion has compelled us to look for ways to further streamline our operation.” Powers added that it is impera-tive that the NSC manage its resources in the most efficient manner possible.

The group talked about the status of CrewPASS imple-mentation, RTCA efforts to establish cockpit secondary barrier standards, and the lack of cockpit doors on Boeing’s 777 freighters. Capt. Craig Hall (Jazz), the NSC’s director of Canada, also briefed the group on controversial screening protocols that the Transportation Security Administration has imposed on the Canadian Air Transportation Security Authority for passengers on flights traveling from Canada to the United States, and ALPA’s efforts to work with both organizations on the issue.


n the summer of 1952, Jo Stafford was at the top of the pop charts with “You Belong to Me.” The last verse of this dreamy, slow-dance pop ballad was, “Fly the ocean in a silver plane/Watch the jungle

when it’s wet with rain/Just remember, ’til you’re home again,/You belong to me.” The “silver planes” spanning oceans and continents then were Boeing 377 Stratocruisers, Douglas DC-6s, and Lockheed Constellations—what would be the final genera-tion of long-range, four-engine airliners pulled through the air by pistons and propellers. The jet age was right around the corner; the piston jobs would eventually slip away to the Third World, or the chop shop. Today we live on a dramatically smaller, more populous planet, and many more airliners—built in, and bearing the registration numbers of, many more countries—ply the skies than when Jo Stafford was a household name. In many of those countries, airlines and governments are working overtime to get a foothold in the North American airline market. Love is not the only powerfully motivating force that spans oceans; so, too, does the profit motive. When it comes to domestic (including regional), as well as international, flying, “you belong to me” is not a given. Your job is as much at risk of being relegated to the chop shop as any hard-working Connie ever was. To help protect what’s yours, use the following pages as a gouge on the international issues that ALPA’s concerned about and working on for your benefit—and then get involved through your local and master executive councils to keep your flying your flying.

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n March 25 the United States and the European Union (EU) initialed a protocol that would amend their 2007 (“first stage”) air transport agreement (ATA). The two sides are now undertaking their internal govern-

ment reviews of the protocol and hope to formally sign the document by the end of June. If the protocol is signed, the signing will mark the conclusion of the continued negotia-tions required under the first-stage agreement.

The 2007 ATA required the parties to continue to engage in “second stage” negotiations over a number of issues, including market liberalization, foreign investment oppor-tunities, environmental and infrastructure access, access to government-financed travel (“Fly America” traffic), and the provision of aircraft with crew (i.e., wet leases). If the parties were not satisfied with the outcome of the negotiations on these issues after a period of time, they were entitled ulti-mately to suspend rights specified in the ATA. Announcement of the suspension could have taken place as early as the fourth quarter of this year, and the suspension itself could have been effective as early as the 2012 summer traffic season.

Possible changes to u.S. rulesThroughout the eight rounds of second-stage negotiations, the EU sought to have the U.S. commit to change its cabo-tage, wet-lease, and ownership and control rules. In large part because of the work of the AFL-CIO Transportation Trades unions, the U.S. government did not agree to make any of these changes, essentially leaving any possible future changes where they have always resided—within Congress. But the two sides did “commit to the shared goal of continu-ing to remove market access barriers...including enhancing the access of their airlines to global capital markets....”

They further agreed to a process for reviewing any de-velopments with respect to this market liberalization and to possible change by the U.S. of its ownership and control rules. The Joint Committee, the body set up to monitor implementation of the agreement, will undertake this review and “shall develop a process of cooperation in this regard including recommendations to the parties.” The suspension- of-rights provisions, including the schedule under which they could be exercised, would be deleted under the tenta-tive amendments to the ATA.

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U.S.-EU Talks Produce Protocol to Amend Air Transport Agreement

by Capt. Paul rice, ALPA First VIce-President

“This is not a perfect agreement,” said ALPA’s president, Capt. John Prater, after reviewing the U.S.-EU agreement, “but it does meet several of our objectives. First, it establishes no obligation for the U.S. to change any of its laws, including those on cabotage, wet-lease, and foreign ownership. It also contains—for the first time in an air services agreement—an article that specifically addresses labor issues. The two sides have committed to a regular review of labor concerns that arise out of the agreement and have recognized that high labor standards are an important policy goal. Of course, we would always like more in any agreement.”

Capt. Paul Rice, ALPA’s first vice-president, agreed with this assessment. “The proposed agreement leaves the status quo in place for now,” he noted. “We appreciate that the U.S. has made it clear that it has no intention of changing its cabotage laws, and this includes those that prohibit foreign carriers from being able to wet-lease aircraft to U.S. airlines over U.S. domestic routes.

“Also, we were able to have an open discussion with

ALPA Views on the Agreementthe U.S. policymakers about our concerns, and they worked with us to try to address those concerns. There are definitely some areas of the agreement to which ALPA and airline labor in general will need to pay close attention in the months and years ahead—especially the process for reviewing developments with respect to possible market opening and changes in our ownership and control rules.

“Throughout these negotiations, we worked closely with our professional colleagues in the European Cockpit Association to attempt to advance common objectives,” Rice continued. “The article on labor issues is a direct result of that cooperation. Similarly, we worked with the Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO to try to ensure that U.S. labor is not harmed by, but benefits from, the final agreement. This cooperation will continue to be essential, as we will face continuing challenges if, as expected, the tentative amendments are finally agreed to and the agreement is implemented. I urge every ALPA member to stay informed about this process.”


labor issues recognizedThe two sides also agreed to include a first-ever article on labor matters in the agreement. Collaboratively developed by ALPA and the European Cockpit Association (ECA) in conjunction with the EU and U.S. negotiators, this article states that the U.S. and EU “recognize the importance of the social dimension of the agreement and the benefits that arise when open markets are accompanied by high labour standards.”

The provision further states that the “opportunities created by the agreement are not intended to undermine labour standards or the labour-related rights and principles contained in the parties’ respective laws” and that there shall be “regular consideration” of the social effects of the agreement by the Joint Committee. In the Memorandum of Consultations (MOC) that accompanied the initialed protocol, the U.S. noted that “in the United States, the prin-ciple that allows for selection of a single representative for a defined class or craft of employees at an airline has helped promote rights for both airline and ground workers to organize themselves and to negotiate and enforce collective bargaining agreements.”

environmental restrictionsThe U.S. and EU also reached agreement with respect to the implementation of aircraft noise and other environmental restrictions. Included among these provisions is a require-ment that a party that is considering proposing an environ-mental measure should evaluate possible adverse effects of the measure on the rights contained in the agreement and,

various changes in ownership and control laws are coupled with increased traffic rights for Canadian airlines. There was no obligation for Canada to move beyond the first stage, which was the status quo at the time the agreement was reached.

The agreement does, however, include language that, in the potential fourth and final stage, would permit foreign cabotage—

but that would require an act of Parliament to change current Canadian law so that there is no limitation on the ownership and control of Canadian airlines by foreign investors. Our current minority government, which is conservative and supports free markets, however, has no appetite for foreign cabotage, and a more liberal government would be even less inclined to permit it. So there is some risk, but it’s minimal, and we will continue to monitor the situation closely.

On Dec. 18, 2009, Canada’s Transport Minister, John Baird, signed a new air transport agreement with all 27 European Union (EU) member states—the largest, most comprehen-sive air services agreement Canada has ever negotiated. The agreement protects Canadian airline pilot jobs, which was the main goal of ALPA’s Canada Board throughout the 2 years of negotiations in Brussels and Ottawa.

During the negotiations, the Canadian government al-lowed two labour unions to be observers; ALPA was one. Staff attorney Al Ogilvie, ALPA Legal and Government Affairs representative, and I represented the Association.

The Canada Board is generally supportive of the Canada-EU agreement. We’ve said all along that Canadian pilots need to fly any flights that carry Canadian domestic traffic.

When the agreement was first reached, the Europeans claimed they’d gained access to the Canadian domestic market. In fact, the agreement only grants European ac-cess to that market if the Canadian government changes the law on foreign cabotage—an unlikely scenario.

The agreement sets out four potential stages in which

Canada-EU Agreement Protects Pilot Jobsby Capt. Dan Adamus (Jazz), President, ALPA Canada Board

if the proposal is adopted, should take steps to mitigate any such adverse effects. When environmental measures are established, the standards set out in the ICAO annexes are to be followed except where differences have been filed.

The two sides also affirmed their commitment to the balanced-approach principle and agreed to provide an oppor tunity for interested parties to comment on proposed new man datory noise-based operating restrictions at airports that have more than 50,000 civil aircraft movements per calendar year. The party implementing the restriction shall provide the other party with a report explaining the reasons for the new restriction, and the restrictions must meet cer-tain specified standards of reasonableness. The U.S. and EU also agreed to undertake a wide range of cooperative efforts with respect to addressing the environmental effects of inter-national aviation.

reciprocal recognitionThe parties further agreed that the regulatory authorities of one side would recognize the airline fitness and citizenship determinations made by the regulatory authorities of the other side. At the request of ALPA, the U.S. government included a provision in the MOC that the reciprocal recogni-tion provision is not intended to modify the rules normally applied by one party in deciding whether to grant authoriza-tion to airlines of the other party to operate international air services under the agreement.

The United States also agreed to extend EU airlines’ access to Fly America traffic by allowing them to carry government contractor personnel.

Capt. Dan Adamus

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IFALPA’s 2010 Conference: Pilot Unity Reaching Global Proportions

by Capt. Chris lynch (Continental) and Capt. Nick Di Cintio (Jazz)

irline pilots confront the same challenges the world over. “It doesn’t matter if I’m in Dhaka, Pretoria, Halifax, or Washington, D.C., everywhere pilots are facing demands by their airline managements to reduce costs,

erode benefits, and reduce head counts,” said Capt. Carlos Limon (Mexicana), president of the International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA). Limon addressed the 379 delegates and other attendees during the opening day of the 65th IFALPA Conference, held March 19–23 in Marrakesh, Morocco.

Limon emphasized that to combat these common challenges, the Federation is working through its Strategic Review Group (SRG2) to raise pilot education and train-ing standards, promote the professional pilot image, and encourage labor representation throughout the international air transportation industry. “While we work for commercial competitors, we cannot afford to compete among our-selves,” he said.

Different languages, same issuesLimon’s words reflect an underlying theme in many of the Conference discussions and presentations—that pilots around the globe share the same concerns: unrealistic work rules, fatigue, antagonistic managements, threatened job security and outsourcing, pressures to do more for less, potential criminal liability regarding incidents and accidents, and more. Pilots can better influence and exert control over their profession when they cooperate with each other, both through their union and internationally. IFALPA provides the ideal forum to facilitate global pilot support and, during the 5-day summit, the Federation celebrated the many ways it continues to extend its reach and improve the lives of airline pilots everywhere.

IFALPA unanimously voted to elect Peru, specifically Sindicato de Pilotos de LAN Peru, to the Federation, grow-ing its numbers to 105 member associations. During the Conference, IFALPA acknowledged its expanded member-ship in Brazil, as the National Syndicate of Aeronauts and the Associação dos Tripulantes da TAM reached an agreement to form an umbrella organization, the Brazilian Air Line Pilots’ Association. In India, the Air Line Pilots’ Association India now includes SWIP, which represents cockpit crewmembers from Jet Airways, and IWPA, which represents crewmembers from Kingfisher Airlines, in ad-dition to the previous Federation member association, the Indian Pilots’ Guild, which represents the pilots of Air India.

However, IFALPA also turned its sights inward to a long-time member now in need. The Federation unanimously voted to fully support Vereinigung Cockpit (VC), the union representing pilots who fly for Lufthansa AG and its subsidiaries. The Lufthansa pilots are fighting to secure job protections to ensure that their flying is not outsourced to other airlines whose crews work for lower pay. A contingent of ALPA members, including Continental and United pilots (the latter of which are currently confronting their own job outsourcing concerns), flew to Frankfurt, Germany, on February 22 to participate in Lufthansa pilot picketing (see “Labor News,” April, page 36).

Safety is a central topic at any Federation Conference, and Capt. Georg Fongern (Lufthansa), executive vice-president for professional affairs, talked about the future of the global airline industry and the need to properly prepare its pilots. A worldwide pilot shortage is looming as younger generations are opting for other careers because of the cost of training, lack of job security, erosion in pay and benefits, and other concerns. Fongern noted that a fascination with flight and technology without reasonable pay and career stability will not attract the caliber of pilot candidates needed to sustain the global air travel industry.

“We have to look for the right set of skills that young men and women bring into the profession and ensure that they are the ones that will sustain them not just for their initial training, but for their whole career,” he said.

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Capt. Paul rice, AlPA’s first vice-president, right, receives a standing ovation after completing his term as IFAlPA’s deputy president. Capt. Carlos limon, IFAlPA’s president, is to his right.

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Federation championIn his final speech as the Federation’s deputy president, Capt. Paul Rice, ALPA’s first vice-president, bolstered Limon’s call for pilot cooperation and unity across national borders, adding that we can’t allow petty disagreements to divide us. “Individually, we will assuredly fail; but if we recognize that what makes us the same far outweighs the areas where we differ, we cannot lose.

“Management will expect you to be greedy because they are greedy, and they expect you to be like them. When you aren’t, when you refuse to sell out your colleagues…that confuses them,” said Rice, who highlighted this point with an example. Shortly after Lufthansa joined the Star Alliance, the United pilots made it clear that they would not interfere with a looming Lufthansa pilot job action.

“We took out an ad in the German press saying that in the event of a strike, we would not fly services normally flown by Lufthansa and, furthermore, we would not fly on routes where we competed with Lufthansa,” he said.

Rice completed his 3-year term as IFALPA deputy presi-dent on March 23. He has extensive leadership experience with the Federation, serving as the current SRG2 chairman and past co-chair of the initial Strategic Review Group, for-mer executive vice-president of the North American (NAM) region, and former IFALPA director of US-ALPA. He’s also been a member of the Industrial, Legal, and Administrative and Finance Committees.

“It’s been a great ride,” said Rice, who spent much of his plenary presentation thanking the many pilots and staff members who helped him achieve all that has been accom-plished during his tenure on the Executive Board. Capt. Don Wykoff (Delta), ALPA’s executive administrator, was elected by the Federation’s members to succeed Rice as IFALPA deputy president.

recognized for helping othersTwo of ALPA’s staff members received Presidential Citations for their extraordinary work to advance Federation projects and initiatives, particularly in the industrial arena. Limon stated, “No industrial seminar would be complete without an analysis of the state of the world’s airline industry nor an understanding of the value of costing out proposals, and we all know to brace ourselves for bad news if she is dressed in black,” alluding to IFALPA’s industrial advisor Ana McAhron-Schulz, director of ALPA’s Economic & Financial Analysis Department. Limon described her many accom-plishments and the tremendous service she has provided to IFALPA, evaluating the state of the airline industry, the many challenges faced by members, and working with member associations in advising them how to deal with manage-ments seeking concessions. She also has evaluated the global alliances and advised member associations on the impor-tance of working together to avoid airline managements’ “divide-and-conquer” approach. As a native Spanish speaker,

Wykoff, Other ALPA Pilots Elected To Federation Positions

Capt. Don Wykoff (Delta), ALPA’s executive administra-tor, was elected deputy president of the International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA) at its 65th Conference.

“I am honored to have the opportunity to continue to carry on ALPA’s long-standing commitment to in-ternational leadership on aviation safety, security, and industrial relations issues,” said Wykoff, who began his 2-year term on March 23. “Our industry is truly global, and the solution to many of the challenges we face lies in pilots working together across geopolitical borders to better our profession and enhance safety and security for our passengers and cargo.”

ALPA has been deeply involved in international ac-tion to address many of the most pressing issues facing the airline industry today, including pilots’ flight-time/duty-time limits and minimum rest requirements. Wykoff has led ALPA’s work to combat pilot fatigue in the U.S. and Canada as the Association’s Flight Time/Duty Time Committee chairman. He has also served on the IFALPA Flight Time Limitations Workgroup to address the issue in the international arena.

Wykoff serves as a member of the IFALPA Executive

Committee and IFALPA Executive Board, which are charged with implementing the organization’s safety and industrial policies, and also oversees the IFALPA Accident Analysis and Prevention Committee, the Helicopters Committee, and the Legal Committee.

In other IFALPA officer elections, Capt. Dan Adamus (Jazz) was reelected executive vice-president of the North America (NAM) region,

and Capt. Greg Wolfsheimer (Delta) was reelected the regional vice-president–U.S./Central Pacific.

F/O Mark Rogers (United), director of ALPA’s Dangerous Goods Program, was reelected chairman of the IFALPA Dangerous Goods Committee. Capt. Robert “Rip” Torn (Delta), former chairman of ALPA’s Air Traffic Services Group, is the new chairman of the Federation’s Air Traffic Services Committee, and Capt. Rod Lypchuk (Jazz), the pilots’ Master Executive Council vice-chair-man, was reelected chair of IFALPA’s Administration and Finance Committee.—John Perkinson, Staff Writer

Capt. Don Wykoff

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IFALPA Primer

McAhron-Schulz has helped advise the many associations that lack the kind of resources ALPA has, both in their ap-proach to analyses of company plans as well as costing of company proposals. She and Seth Rosen, along with Rick Brennan, the IFALPA professional affairs consultant, are in-structors at an IFALPA-sponsored negotiations seminar that has successfully trained many member association leaders.

The second Presidential Citation was presented to Seth Rosen, another IFALPA industrial advisor and currently the director of ALPA’s International Pilot Services Corporation. Rosen has most recently worked extensively in the field of airline labor relations, training and representing pilots and pilot groups around the globe. He also serves as a member of IFALPA’s Strategic Review Group and the Presidential Work Group. In his acceptance speech, he spoke of the many challenges during his nearly 40 years of experience, and reminded the audience that the key to collective bargaining success is preparation and unity of purpose.

IFALPA also recognized the ALPA pilots of the foiled CanJet Flight 918 hijacking—Capt. James Murphy and F/O Glenn Johnson—by issuing them medals for their brave efforts on April 19, 2009, at Sangster International Airport near Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Murphy commented that the experience, while harrow-ing, revealed the extensive support network and resources available through the Federation, particularly the invaluable assistance provided by Jamaica ALPA’s Capt. Eddie Miller in the hours and days that followed the event.

Part of something largerALPA’s presence was evident throughout the Conference as ALPA pilots provided leadership and support in a broad range of capacities. Capt. Dan Adamus (Jazz), IFALPA executive vice-president of NAM and ALPA’s Canada Board president, painted a picture of Canadian and U.S. pilots in the spotlight to a large, attentive audience during his annual report. He talked about the Colgan Air Flight 3407 accident, proposed cockpit video recorder legislation in the U.S., and other issues that have led to a heightened public awareness of the challenges of being an airline pilot.

“We need to use this pervasive interest, as the profes-sion’s subject matter experts, to put the pilot job back in its proper perspective,” he said. “We need to remind the public and our governments that being a pilot is more than an overnight choice. It’s a lifestyle decision that needs to be supported and fostered for the benefit of current and future national economies, air travelers, and others who gain from a healthy airline industry.”

Other ALPA leaders shared center stage. Capts. Ray Gelinas (Jazz), Mark Seal (United), and Greg Wolfsheimer (Delta), regional vice-presidents, provided reports during the NAM meeting. In addition to their NAM responsibilities, Gelinas and Seal chaired safety-related Federation committee sessions. And, of course, we served as chief delegates for the NAM’s two member Associations for ALPA Canada and US-ALPA.

on a more personal noteWe’ve given you our take on some of the events at this year’s Conference, and what it meant for ALPA to be there. The time we spent face to face with pilots from all over the world was crucial. In many cases, we fly the same aircraft and deal with many of the same daily issues so it makes perfect sense for us to communicate and work together in this kind of forum. However, we also need to continue to work with these same contacts between Conferences, to make sure that the decisions we make as ALPA and as individual master executive councils don’t pit us against pilot groups from other parts of the world.

The camaraderie and the wealth of information shared at this kind of gathering remind us all that international coop-eration among pilots is just as important as the solidarity we need to maintain within our own union. Together, we can accomplish great things.

Finally, we should note that the Moroccan Association of Airline Pilots (AMPL) is to be commended for the incredible job it did hosting this event. Next year’s IFALPA Conference will be sponsored by the ThaiPA (Thai Pilots Association) in Chiang Mai, Thailand.—ALPA staff writer John Perkinson contributed to this article

The International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associa-tions (IFALPA) was created in April 1948 to provide a formal means for the world’s airline pilots to interact with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the global air transportation policy branch of the United Nations. The pilot associations that created the Federation (including ALPA) understood that the pilot perspective would be critical to the creation and practical adaptation of standards and recommended practices that ICAO institutes to regulate international air transportation. IFALPA is one of only two organiza-tions that maintain permanent observer status with the ICAO Air Navigation Commission.

IFALPA represents more than 100,000 airline pilots in 105 member associations from around the world. The mission of the Federation is to be the global voice of professional pilots, to promote the highest level of aviation safety and security worldwide, and to provide services, support, and representation to all of its mem-ber associations.

The Association falls under the North American (NAM) region within the Federation. The NAM represents two member associations—US-ALPA and ALPA Canada—even though both groups are part of ALPA.—John Perkinson, Staff Writer


epresentatives from ALPA and other global air transportation organizations at-tended the Next Generation of Aviation Professionals Symposium on March 1–4 at the headquarters of the International Civil

Aviation Organization (ICAO) in Montreal. The theme for this first-time event, “Looking Beyond the Economic Crisis: Mobilizing the Aviation Community to Recruit, Educate, Train, and Retain the Next Generation of Aviation Professionals,” highlighted the need to ensure that a suf-ficient number of competent pilots and other industry employees are available to maintain the safety and integrity of the future global air transportation system.

“We are entering a bold new world without sufficient training capacity worldwide,” said Roberto Kobeh González, president of the Council of ICAO, in his opening remarks to Symposium attendees. “If we do not address the quality-of-education issue, employment decisions will be based mainly on business forces, jobs will be filled by individuals with inadequate training, and safety will be at risk.”

ICAO notes that in the next 20 years, airlines will need to add 25,000 new airplanes to the current 17,000-plus airline fleet and that by 2026 the industry will need more than 350,000 pilots to fly them. In addition, 73 percent of the cur-rent U.S. air traffic controllers are eligible to retire between 2005 and 2015. The nearly 400 Symposium participants spent the 4 days examining policies and initiatives to assess the effectiveness of current training and education efforts and to consider ways to mobilize the aviation community to revitalize the image of air transport workers.

“Airline industry analysts have long predicted pilot and other industry personnel shortages during the com-ing decades,” said Capt. John Sluys (Alaska), chairman of ALPA’s Professional Development Group, who attended the event. “Last year, ICAO established the Next Generation of Aviation Professionals Task Force to develop initiatives to reach out to students of aviation disciplines and to look for ways to harmonize educational policies and training regula-tions.” ICAO established the Task Force in 2009, which consists of 29 representatives from the airline industry, educators, regulatory bodies, and various international organizations.

ALPA attended this special event through its affilia-tion with the International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA), which holds a formal seat at ICAO and represents the voice and position of more than 100,000 airline pilots from around the world. Capt. Paul McCarthy

(Delta, Ret.), the IFALPA representative to ICAO, and Capt. Georg Fongern (Lufthansa), IFALPA executive vice-president–professional affairs, led the IFALPA delegation. Fongern also participated in a panel discussion titled “Pilots and Operations.”

Other ALPA representatives attending the conference with Sluys were Keith Hagy, director of ALPA’s Engineering

ICAO Symposium Examines Next-Generation Airline Worker Policies

by John Perkinson, Staff Writer

& Air Safety Department, and Jerry Wright, manager of safety and security for the Department. While there, the IFALPA and ALPA reps met with students from collegiate aviation programs to discuss the role of labor in the airline industry. They also talked about the contributions ALPA and IFALPA have made to improve the wages and working conditions of airline pilots as well as the safety and security of airline travel.

ICAO, an agency of the United Nations, was established as the first international entity to set safety standards and regulations for the global air transportation system. Fifty-two participating states (countries) signed the Convention on International Civil Aviation in November 1944, making ICAO a permanent fixture. Today, the Organization serves as an instrument for civil aviation cooperation, issuing standards and recommended practices (SARPs) to provide guidance for airline, airport, and air traffic management operations around the world.

SARPS regarding the licensing of flightcrew members, air traffic controllers, flight dispatchers, and other air transportation professionals are outlined in Annex 1 to the Convention on International Civil Air Travel. According to ICAO, “The human being is the vital link in the chain of aircraft operations but is also by nature the most flexible and variable. Proper training is necessary so as to minimize hu-man error and provide able, skillful, proficient, and competent personnel.”

RCapt. Paul McCarthy (Delta, ret.), left, IFAlPA’s representative to ICAo, along with Capt. Georg Fongern (lufthansa), the IFAlPA executive vice-president–professional affairs, led the IFAlPA delegation to ICAo’s Next Generation of Aviation Professionals Symposium.

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Putting the ‘I’ in ALPAALPA’s influence extends far beyond North America to protect members’ jobs and quality of life

by F/o ron Abel (united), Member, ALPA International Affairs Committee

It’s often said, “There’s no ‘I’ in ‘team.’” At ALPA, your “team” as an airline pilot, there is an “I”: The fifth word in ALPA’s name is “International”—a word that’s gaining more significance every day.

The Association is an international organization in several ways:

First, the union is the collective bargaining representative for nearly 53,000 pilots at 38 airlines in the United States and Canada. As such, ALPA advocates internationally (as well as nationally) for safety, security, legal, and legislative changes in the interest of its members and the travel-ing public through such important organizations as the International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) (see pages 17 and 20).

Second, ALPA plays a key role in making sure pilots’ voices are heard in U.S. and Canadian government negotia-tions with other nations to develop air services agreements (see pages 9 and 15) that directly affect who will be doing what flying in the years to come.

Third, ALPA pilots are very involved in two of the three global pilot alliances (see “Why Global Pilot Alliances?” page 23) that were created several years ago in anticipation of the airlines’ development of global airline alliances (see “Why Global Airline Alliances?” page 22).

Fourth, ALPA’s International Affairs Committee (IAC), of which I am a member, is active on several fronts that have implications for the airlines we fly for and for all airline pilots.

Continental changes alliancesOne of the biggest changes among global airline alliances during the last year was Continental’s move from SkyTeam to Star Alliance in late October 2009. The move has led to substantial changes in the global pilot alliances, too.

Capt. Chris Lynch (Continental), a member of the IAC, says, “From the airline’s perspective, SkyTeam and Star are fairly similar. But Star is the oldest alliance, so it has moved farther ahead in certain areas—especially in terminal relo-cation at major hubs so all the members are in the same terminal. And the Star Alliance actually has a livery—a requirement for joining Star is to paint part of your fleet in the Star colors.”

From the Continental pilots’ perspective, however, their employer’s switch to Star, which moved them from the SkyTeam Pilots Association (SPA) to the Associations of Star Alliance Pilots (ASAP), put them in their third pilot group alliance. “We started with Wings and the Northwest pilots in

1998,” Lynch recalls, “before Wings merged into SkyTeam. “SPA was a smaller, more cohesive pilot alliance than

ASAP (SPA had only nine union pilot groups, including Continental), so it was a little easier to manage on the in-dustrial side than ASAP,” Lynch remembers. “But we’ve seen big changes recently within ASAP. For example, United and Continental pilots joined a rally recently in Frankfurt in sup-port of the Lufthansa pilots—and Swiss and Austrian pilots were there, too. On April 12, we had United, Continental, and Delta pilots—and other ASAP pilots as well—at a second rally in Frankfurt supporting the Lufthansa pilots’ efforts to obtain the contract they deserve.”

ASAP sharpens industrial focusLynch is right—in ASAP, we enjoy a good working relation-ship with Star management and individual airlines on safety issues, but we’re also increasing our capacity to deal with industrial issues across the globe.

ASAP is made up of the leaders of the pilot unions and associations of the Star Alliance’s 26 member airlines plus three prospective members whose managements have announced their intention to join Star. Star and ASAP col-lectively represent more than 50,000 pilots. Forty delegates from around the globe attended our semi-annual Executive Board meeting, which was held in mid-March in Marrakech, Morocco, a few days before the 65th IFALPA Conference.

Among the critical items discussed by the delegates at the ASAP meeting during working sessions was the status of bar-gaining at Lufthansa, TAP (the national airline of Portugal), and LOT (the Polish flag carrier), the possibility of pilots’ tak-

ing industrial actions at those airlines, and the actions ASAP will take to demonstrate its complete support for the pilots at those airlines.

ASAP also held a meeting of its Industrial Committee, which consists of those member associations that are legally permit-ted to engage in, or have an interest in, industrial issues. The Committee adopted additional bylaws and

F/o ron Abel (united) is a member of ALPA’s International Affairs Committee.

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a five-point strategic work plan for the coming year.The ASAP Industrial Committee is committed to taking a

leadership role in making certain that the interests of labor are adequately considered by each Star airline. It anticipates a wide range of activities during the next year to meet the various efforts of some airlines’ managements that threaten to undermine the airline piloting profession, such as the United-Aer Lingus joint venture and Lufthansa outsourcing pilot jobs (see “Pilots, Flight Attendants Picket to Protest Outsourcing,” page 6).

Capt. Robert Arnesen (SAS), ASAP chairman, notes, “It is critical that the pilots of Star act in concert to engage in lawful activities to meet the aggressive actions of the airlines that will negatively affect all of the pilots of ASAP. I am very pleased that significant progress in this area was made at this meeting.”

The Continental Master Executive Council will host ASAP’s next regular Executive Board meeting in New York City the first week in November.

SPA reaches out Capt. Rick Dominguez (Delta), IAC chairman, is also active in SPA.

“The Delta Master Executive Council is hosting the next SPA meeting in Boston on May 11,” Dominguez notes. “SPA is going to consider making changes to our bylaws so that we can include pilot representatives from countries in which pilots are forbidden by law from being in a union. China Southern, which has about 270 mainline aircraft, is a member of SkyTeam now, and Vietnam Airlines will join this summer; the pilots of these airlines don’t have unions.

“Also, TAROM, the Romanian airline, will join SkyTeam

Why Global Airline Alliances?by Ana McAhron-Schulz, Director, ALPA Economic & Financial

Analysis Department, and IFALPA Industrial Advisor

A major development in the globalization of the airline industry has been the emergence of three main global airline alliances. Star Alliance was born in 1997, one‑world in 1998, and SkyTeam in 2000. These alliances now comprise more than half of global airline capacity, and nearly 60 percent of passengers travel on an alliance member airline.

The goal of alliances continues to be to provide the most comprehensive network to customers and to enhance revenue and profits for all members. For passengers, especially frequent fliers on international routes, airline alliances offer more destinations, better value, more rewards, smoother transfers, superior quality, greater support, and other customer services and benefits.

For the member airlines, the benefits are higher revenues, a certain level of cost savings, and the ability to attract passengers away from the other alliances and unaligned carriers. Sharing facilities (co-locating terminals and gates), developing common information technology systems, setting up joint ventures, leveraging combined purchasing power, and feeding passengers into the routes of each other have improved alliance members’ revenue and profit-generating abilities significantly.

Today, these alliances continue efforts to recruit un-

aligned airlines in Latin America, Russia, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific region to provide better networks than their competition. Decisions to join alliances are based on contributions to the network, not airline size, and many emerging-market airlines must work to meet technology, safety, and infrastructure requirements before joining an alliance.

Looking at these intercontinental business arrange-ments and their consequences for ALPA members and other airline employees, we have seen two significant developments as the members of these alliances move toward greater cooperation. These are the development of joint ventures between airlines and granting antitrust immunity to cooperative arrangements, including joint ventures. Antitrust immunity allows airlines within the group to coordinate fares, schedules, marketing, and other operations. Joint ventures are even closer relation-ships whereby airlines within the joint venture agree to share revenue and/or profits on various routes regardless of which airline operates that route. We need to pay extra-close attention to these types of arrangements be-cause without the necessary protections in our contracts, they could have a negative effect on flying opportunities for our members. (See “Pilots, Flight Attendants Picket to


this summer as an associate member. TAROM’s pilots do have a union, so we’ll be reaching out to them.”

Dominguez acknowledges, “The Continental pilots, in switching from SPA to ASAP, saw the need for ASAP to be more industrial. On the other hand, we in SPA want to be included in SkyTeam’s safety, security, and quality assurance efforts. We need to get our nose in the tent on safety issues.”

Fluent in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, Dominguez will attend the EU-Latin American Civil Aviation Summit, hosted by the European Commission and the Latin American Civil Aviation Commission, in Rio de Janeiro on May 24. Several items are on the agenda, including removing barriers to transport. “The phrase ‘removing barriers to transport’ raises red flags for us in ALPA and for our colleagues in South America,” says Dominguez. “We’ll work with our fellow pilots, as we did in Europe during the U.S.-EU negotiations, to ensure the best possible outcomes for our members and our profession in any ‘open skies’ or bilateral agreement.”

Hiring overseas: No level playing fieldCapt. Andrew Sallee (ASTAR) has been active in the Global Cargo Pilots Alliance, an international pilot group alliance created exclusively for pilots flying for members of the DHL network.

Sallee notes, “The organization did a lot to bring the pilots together, but DHL basically won’t talk to us; their approach is one of ‘divide and conquer.’ [ALPA First Vice-President, Capt.] Paul Rice came to talk to us at one of our meetings. He urged us to not reinvent the wheel, because the IAC had already done a lot of this work.”

A member of the IAC for about a year, Sallee unfortu-nately has brought another, deeply personal perspective to our Committee. Recently furloughed as ASTAR parked all its B-727s, Sallee has made us aware of another global asymme-try that ALPA members face.

“A number of foreign pilots came over here to the U.S. and got flying jobs recently,” Sallee explains, “but it would be pretty hard for me to get a flying job in a lot of other countries.”

The IAC has alerted ALPA’s national officers to this imbal-ance and, with their support, is trying to find ways to level the playing field for our members who are furloughed and willing to take flying jobs out of their country.

Foreign domicilesThe other cargo pilot on the IAC is Capt. John Walsh (FedEx), who points out that passenger and cargo pilots share “much common ground, but how the issues manifest themselves differs—for example, in the U.S.-Japan open skies agreement, there are carveouts for cargo.”

A big issue for FedEx pilots has been and continues to be foreign domiciles, Walsh reports. “We used to have a hub operation and domicile in Subic Bay, the Philippines. We now have a hub in Guangzhou, China, and an adjacent pi-lot domicile in Hong Kong. And we actually came very close to having a domicile in Paris recently. The company put out a bid on it, but rescinded it after some pilots had gone so far as to sell their homes.

“It is important to note,” he continues, “that we have negotiated Letters of Agreement and scope language establishing how these foreign domiciles will work and that we operate under the rules of the Railway Labor Act. So that’s the perspective that the FedEx pilots bring to the IAC—cargo’s been there already.”

Walsh concludes, “the bottom line is that some of these foreign business dealings offer not only an opportunity for growth, but also the opportunity for ‘creative mischief.’ The mischief we’ve seen recently involving the United-Aer Lingus joint venture is a prime example.”

Why Global Pilot Alliances?

Paralleling the development of the big three global airline alliances are three global pilot alliances—the Associations of Star Alliance Pilots (ASAP), created in 1997; the oneworld Cockpit Crew Coalition (OCCC), which dates to 1998; and the SkyTeam Pilots Association (SPA), formed in 2000, with the three members of the Wings Pilot Coalition (KLM, Northwest, and Continental) joining SPA in 2004.

These pilot alliances have the same basic goals and objectives—to promote and maintain the highest levels of safety; to promote and protect their members’ interests, including providing mutual assistance; to work for a fair and equitable distribution of flying opportunities; and to share information. The three global pilot alliances have become more formalized, with signed protocols spelling out their purpose and how they work. They have officers, regular meetings, websites, and other means of communication.

These pilot alliances were formed as a result of air-lines’ establishing global alliances. However, two addi-tional pilot alliances have been created. One is the TUI Pilots’ Alliance, which represents the pilots of a group of mostly nonscheduled airlines flying throughout Europe and the Middle East. The other is the Global Pilots Cargo Alliance, which represents pilots within the DHL/Deutsche Post ownership group, including the pilots who fly for ASTAR. The goals of these two pilot alliances are similar to those of others except that they are more exposed to whipsawing, given their common ownership bonds.—F/O Ron Abel (United)


International Airline Industry Updateby Ana McAhron-Schulz, Director, ALPA Economic & Financial Analysis Department

n recent years, abnormal weather conditions have wreaked havoc across the globe, leading to heavy rains and snows, droughts, heat waves, and super cyclones, among other things, making it more and more difficult for

weather forecasters to accurately predict the weather.This same phenomenon is now occurring in another

discipline as well. Trained and experienced financial analysts are diligently working to try to forecast the financial condi-tion of the international aviation marketplace. Just as with the weather, the airline industry has been beset by violent storms, as well as viruses, volatile fuel prices, and terrorist attacks that have clouded the horizon, making it difficult to predict what will happen next.

However, initial indications suggest that the winds of change may be blowing smoother air toward the airline industry.

Terrorism, wars, economic recession, volatile fuel costs,

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Chart 3: Demand Showing Signs of Improvement

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2010 average FtK

Contribution to average 2010 growth from starting point in January

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Chart 2: Over the Past Decade, Airline Employment Has Decreased While Productivity Has IncreasedEmployee Statistics, Index 200=100

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Chart 1: Though the Industry Is Expected to Post a Net Loss in 2010, the Results Are Expected to Be an Improvement from 2008 and 2009Global Industry Net Profits (Losses) 2000 Actual—2010 Forecast

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SARS, and H1N1 took a toll on the international airline industry this past decade. From 2000–2009, the industry posted an estimated $46.6 billion pretax loss. The global airline industry was profitable only 3 years out of the decade—2000, 2006, and 2007 (see Chart 1).

As airlines struggled to regain their footing, massive restructuring altered their cost structure. Labor became the prime target of restructuring. Total airline employment fell by 11.9 percent from 1999 to 2008, while worker productiv-ity increased significantly (see Chart 2). During the past decade, the volatile price of jet fuel overtook labor as the highest industry cost. Fuel costs have since declined but remain the leading industry cost.

Despite these challenges, industry revenue increased

46 percent, passenger capacity was up 18.5 percent, and passenger traffic increased 26 percent throughout much of the decade—mostly as a result of new-entrant airlines and growing low-cost airlines. Cargo traffic was up 20.4 percent, while cargo capacity increased 17.5 percent over the same time period.

As the airline industry looks to the future, it must learn from the lessons of the last decade, i.e., that the global mar-ketplace is affected by worldwide conditions, raising the risk that something will happen somewhere to affect interna-tional travel. All pilots will be affected, no matter who they work for or what and where they fly. Yet, signs of growth indicate that the industry will recover from the recession this year (see Chart 3).

Chart 4 depicts four traditional phases of the airline industry cycle: the recovery phase, the expansion phase, the contraction phase, and the trough phase—which would then move into a recovery phase. While many have argued


Chart 4: Four Phases of the Airline Cycle

TroughPhase

Recovery Phase

Contraction Phase

expansion Phase

The hope is that the

recovery phase has begun.

hopefully be offset by recovering demand and revenues (see Chart 5).

Both cargo and passenger revenues are expected to improve in 2010. Although the global airline industry is expected to post a net loss in 2010, the results are expected to be an improvement over 2009 (see Chart 6). Signs of recovery in cargo and passenger markets are appearing in most of the world’s regions. Passenger revenue is expected to increase more than 7 percent with cargo revenue increasing more than 14 percent. Global traffic is expected to increase more than 7 percent in 2009. Premium traffic is returning, and fares are expected to increase leading to higher yields. As a result, IATA has revised its forecasts for 2010—from an earlier projection of an annual loss of more than $5 billion to a $2.8 billion loss.

that the industry is no longer cyclical, ALPA’s Economic & Financial Analysis Department analysts disagree. Some of the downturns and troughs are lasting longer than they have historically; however, we believe that the global airline industry is entering the recovery phase.

What emerging signs lead us to this conclusion? First, the global industry is forecast to lose roughly $9.4 billion in 2009, an improvement over 2008 losses of $15.9 billion. While an uneven and slow improvement is expected with continued losses through 2010, growth in traffic is expected to be concentrated in Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. North America and Europe, however, still remain slow, but signs of increased demand and capacity discipline, along with more efficient operations, are expected to restore the industry to profitability.

Traffic improvements began in late 2009 while capacity

growth was modest, and these trends appear to continue into the beginning of 2010. However, due to the sharp traffic declines in late 2008 and the first half of 2009, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimates that passenger markets lost more than 2 years of growth while air cargo markets lost 3 years of growth, which indicates that the industry will take several years to fully recover.

In 2009, weak demand for air travel overshadowed lower fuel costs. In 2010, the opposite is expected to occur—an improving economy will spur higher fuel costs, which will

As the airline industry looks to the future, it must learn from the lessons of the last decade…. All pilots will be affected, no matter who they work for or what and where they fly. Yet, signs of growth indicate that the industry will recover from the recession this year.

Chart 6: Traffic Expected to Recover In All World Regions in 2010

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Chart 5: In 2010 Results Will Depend on Interplay Between Fuel and Revenues

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2009: A Rough Year for All Regions Of the World

the decade closed with what was likely one of the worst years, if not the worst, for the airline industry around the world. Every region was affected in some way—and very little improvement occurred. Fortunately, the airline industry is now showing signs of recovery around the world, and 2010 is expected to yield improved results with a likely return to profitability for the entire industry in 2011.

So how did the world’s regions fare?

l european airlines are expected to post a loss of $3.8 billion for 2009—down significantly from a slight profit of $100 million in 2008. both traffic and capacity were down more than 4 percent. In fact, the number of passengers on European airlines fell by 20 million in 2009 over 2008, the largest recorded annual traffic loss. Airlines responded by implementing major restructuring plans, which included capacity reduc-tions and large reductions in labor costs in the form of job cuts, wage and pension reductions, and increased productivity and outsourcing. Airlines that experienced such massive restructurings include Aer Lingus, british Airways, CSA Czech Airlines, SAS, and Spanair. Despite re-structuring, recovery will be slow in Europe, and current forecasts are for European airlines to record another loss in 2010 of approximately $2 billion.

l North American airlines expect a loss of $3.1 billion for 2009—an improvement over a loss of more than $9 bil-lion in 2008. North American airlines continued to focus on capacity discipline and enhancing revenues through ancillary charges throughout this past year. traffic in 2009 was down almost 6 percent, and capacity was down almost 7 percent. Revenue trends began to improve in the late part of the year, led by international passenger revenue. Current forecasts are for U.S. airlines to see mainline industry revenue grow between 8 and 12 percent this year. the revenue trend, if it remains positive as seen in the first quarter, may result in a break-even year for the North American airline industry.

l The Asia-Pacific airline industry, which had experi-enced strong growth in the middle part of this decade, expe-rienced its worst years in 2008 (losing $5 billion) and 2009 (losing $2.7 billion). In 2009, revenues in this region fell 20–25 percent due to the collapse in business travel and intense price competition. both traffic and capacity were down more than 6 percent. however, Asia-Pacific airlines received a boost from government aid and bailouts. In fact, the bailouts continue into 2010 with approximately $10 billion planned for Air India, China Eastern, Garuda Indonesia, Japan

Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, and thai Airways. Asia-Pacific airlines are expected to return

to profitability this year with current forecasts at just short of $1 billion.

l Latin American air-lines, while not hit as hard by the global recession, were affected by h1N1 fears yet managed to post gains of $800 million in 2009—an improvement over the $1.2 billion losses in 2008. In this region, both traffic and

capacity grew year over year. however, results varied

by geographic area. Mexico’s domestic market declined 11

percent in 2009 as a result of the h1N1 virus and the global recession.

other markets, including Colombia and brazil, experienced growth, and Copa, Gol, LAN,

and tAM are expected to be profitable well into 2010.

l Mideast airlines continue to pursue dramatic route growth. In 2009, international passenger capacity was up more than 13 percent, and traffic grew 11 percent. these airlines are expected to post a loss of $500 million for 2009 as capacity growth outpaced demand for air travel.

l The African airline industry, which is beset by a lack of infrastructure and financial capital, along with the effects of political upheaval, is expected to continue to post losses. South African Airways is expected to have a better year in 2010 with the boost from the 2010 World Cup. traffic in this part of the world was down almost 7 percent, and capacity was down 3.3 percent in 2008.


ver the past year, ALPA welcomed AirTran, Air Trans port Inter na -

tional (ATI), and North Ameri-can Airlines (NAA) pilots into its ranks due to overwhelm-ing support from the pilots and crewmembers at these airlines. In fact, at both ATI and NAA more than 90 percent of the pilots voted for ALPA representation. And at NAA, in the 90-day mem-bership drive following the National Mediation Board (NMB) election for ALPA representation, every single pilot in the group joined the union. So, what’s the secret to a unified and successful organizing campaign?

That’s simple: a group of dedicated airline pilots. All three of these campaigns shared a common thread—a committed organizing committee on the property made up of pilots and crew-members who worked hard to inform their coworkers about the benefits of joining an international union with pilot-dedicated resources. Here are just a few recent comments:

“ALPA is the finest industrial pilot labor organization in the world. The ALPA officers and staff provided our pilot group with overwhelming support. The NAA pilots were highly motivated to resurrect their careers by stating to manage-ment that they want respect for their collective bargaining agreement. Our pilots were willing to make the necessary representational changes to achieve this goal.”—Capt. Al Gallo, NAA Master Executive Council chairman

“On Christmas Eve, one of the ATI crewmembers called the hotline on the ALPA Orange Card, and within

undertake a full-fledged organizing campaign. “The next thing we do is spend substantial time with the local organizing commit-tee,” says Ron Rindfleisch, staff organizer in the Representation Department. “We want to make sure that interested volunteers have every one of their own ques-tions answered about ALPA, the work that lies ahead, the Railway Labor Act repre-sentation process, and steps that the Association will take to help the group negotiate and enforce a collective bargaining agreement as soon as the organizing drive is successfully completed.”

AlPA’s organizing checklistAmong other items on ALPA’s organizing checklist are3a reliably complete con-tact list for all pilots at the airline.3a motivated and active organizing committee rep-resenting a large and diverse cross-section of the pilot group.3volunteers who have completed ALPA training courses.3comprehensive assess-ments of pilots to under-stand their commitment to, and support of, organizing.3Executive Council review and approval for launching

SucceSSful Organizing

DOeSn’t ‘JuSt Happen’by AlPA representation Department Staff

Every ALPA Pilot Can Be an OrganizerImplementing an initiative from ALPA’s strategic plan, the Associa-tion developed tools to help every ALPA member talk to non-ALPA pilots about their union. Find the top five reasons to join ALPA at www.wearealpa.org—an interac-tive website that builds awareness about ALPA resources, services, and programs.

30 minutes two ALPA at-torneys and a staff member from the Engineering & Air Safety Department helped the crewmember out. If you only look at two of the ALPA ‘tools’ that are available to the crewmembers, ALPA’s Aeromedical Office and the Orange Card alone make ALPA a superior union.”—Capt. Tom Rogers, ATI Master Executive Council chairman

When the Association works with a pilot group seeking ALPA representation, there are clear steps to confirm that organizing is taking place for the right reasons, is likely to be successful, and involves a pilot group that will act together to have a voice in its own future. ALPA’s Organizing Task Force, comprised of pilot represen-tatives and staff from the Representation Department, works with interested pilot groups to develop a contact list, form a large onsite organizing committee, and implement tools and tech-niques that have been “road tested” by the Association to objectively evaluate the pilot group’s interests in, and commitment to, ALPA representation.

After accomplishing the early steps, ALPA then helps provide the staff and resources necessary to

the organizing drive.“Unlike many other

unions, ALPA does not use ‘authorization cards’ to as-sess support for an organiz-ing drive. Rather, cards are circulated only to confirm the support that we know already exists and trigger an election,” Rindfleisch says.

ALPA’s organizing philos-ophy—talking carefully with each crewmember during the campaign, understand-ing the issues the pilots face and surveying them for negotiating priorities, and piecing together a strategic plan that is well under way at the conclusion of a

drive—has the added benefit of shortening the time it takes to begin substantive work at the conclusion of the drive. New pilot group representatives typi-cally waste little time getting started with real work once ALPA is designated the col-lective bargaining agent.

While new pilot groups successfully secured ALPA representation in 2009, the union is hard at work in 2010 discussing representa-tion with other groups. Any questions or inquiries con - cern ing a potential ALPA or-ganizing campaign should be directed to Ron Rindfleisch at 703-689-4179 or [email protected].

O


T he year: 1985. ALPA’s Board of Directors called a rare special session to repair the Association’s bal-ance sheet after two strikes—the first at Continen-tal and a second at United—drained the general membership fund. Determined to raise the money

needed to meet the threats to the airline piloting profession, this group of ALPA representatives voted overwhelmingly to increase dues by a full percent—from 1.35 to 2.35—to build ALPA’s war chest, otherwise known as the Major Contin-gency Fund (MCF).

The 1985 BOD members also established the ground rules for accessing the Fund, designating a twofold purpose for the money: (1) treating “issues of urgent concern that adversely affect the airline piloting profession,” which normal Association channels could not fund, and (2) paying “benefits,” as described in the sidebar, authorized by the Executive Board. The intent of the 1985 BOD and ALPA policy is that individual strike benefits are separate from the MCF, paid to individual striking members by a national assessment of ALPA members authorized by the Board of Directors or the members themselves.

By the Numbers: Pilot Contributions to the MCF

Year Dues Rate/MCF Contribution

1984 1.35%/0.0%1985-1991 2.35%/1.0%1992 2.35%/0.5%1993 2.25%/0.4%1994 2.15%/0.3%1995 1.95%/0.0%

Members continued to contribute 1 percent of their dues strictly to the MCF through 1991, and that percentage was reduced to zero when the Fund reached a cash balance of $50 million. Expenditures since 1994 have been solely funded from investment returns and the sale of real estate.

ALPA pilot groups rely on the Fund, which currently has a balance of more than $56 million, to finance com-munications initiatives such as the Pilot-to-Pilot® program, the Family Awareness program, and establishing a strategic preparedness committee for pilot groups in advanced stages of negotiations.

The union has also used the Fund for activities, as directed by ALPA policy, that are “in defense of the integrity of the Association through litigation brought by or against the Association.” This includes support for ALPA’s insurance and reinsurance program through Kitty Hawk Insurance Company, which played an integral role in preserving the

War Chestfinancial viability of the union in the settlement of the Mansfield lawsuit.

While $56 million provides the Association with signifi-cant financial resources, ALPA’s Constitution and By-Laws

Exploring AlpA’s


War Chest by Molly Martin, Contributing Writer

requires the Executive Council to undertake a review process when the balance falls below $65 million to evaluate the sustainability of the Fund. The Council and the Executive Board received a 5-year MCF Balances and Cash Flow

Projection report in 2009, and established an MCF Review Committee for further study. This Committee will propose policy changes to the Executive Council, based on its findings, this spring.

The primary purpose of the Major Contingency Fund is to provide crisis financing for pilot groups in advanced stages of negotiations and during strikes. This triggers several ALPA-provided services,

depending on the pilot group’s situation, which can include organizing Pilot-to-Pilot® programs to disseminate accurate information between pilots and the mas-ter executive council, control rumors, build trust with pilot leaders, and increase pilot participation in

securing the best contract. implementing Family Awareness programs designed to get families

involved in union issues, establishing two-way communication to build unity and support between pilot leaders and a pilot’s family. providing the office infrastructure with needed tools and technology such as sophisticated tele-phone systems at each local strike center—complete

with a staffed strike hotline for pilots’ questions—and high-tech computer programs used to track individual pilots, flight crews, and flights. training pilot spokespersons, ensuring that a consistent and clear message reaches the target audiences during the negotia-tions and/or strike. guiding pilots through the legalities of a strike, including the dos and don’ts regarding actions against the company. creating signs and leaflets to explain the issues for the public’s education. advising the strategic preparedness or strike committee on permit requirements and procedures/pilot demeanor during the informational picketing events and/or an actual strike. contacting the news media to counter inaccuracies, put addi-tional pressure on management, and build pilots’ credibility with

the traveling public.

ALPA’s War Chest in Action

ILLUSTRATION: CONCEPT BY MOLLY MARTIN; EXECUTION BY WILLIAM A. FORD


64 things you can do for your union and your profession

l Attend your local council meetings l Volunteer for an international, ALPA national, or MEC committee position l Contribute to the ALPA Emergency Relief Fund l Read your ALPA mail

l Document your safety concerns and share them with your Central Air Safety Committee l Carry your ALPA membership card l Become a Fan of WeAreALPA on Facebook l Reach

out to your congressional representatives and members of Parliament l Sign up for the ALPA-PAC checkoff l Wear your ALPA pin and lanyard l Read Flying the Line and Flying the Line II l Discuss union matters in the crew room l Learn more about ALPA’s structure l March in an ALPA demonstration l Run for ALPA office l Connect with your fellow pilots and professional staff on LinkedIn l Attend your MEC meetings l Tell an aspiring pilot how important it is to be an ALPA member l Observe ALPA’s Code of Ethics and Canons l Lend your time and talents to your union l Read Air Line Pilot l Discuss the advantages of ALPA representation with non-ALPA pilots l Visit www.alpa.org regularly l Make an online credit card donation to ALPA-PAC l Think of 10 ways ALPA could improve member services and share them with your LEC representative l Make informed choices in union elections l Carry the ALPA Accident/Incident Hotline orange card with you l Visit an ALPA office l Subscribe to ALPA’s RSS Feeds l Carefully document any contract violations you observe—share them with your local council representative l Write an article for Air Line Pilot l Get involved in your pilot group’s Family Awareness Program l Listen to fellow pilots’ views on union issues l Give ALPA your e-mail address l Volunteer for ALPA’s Critical Incident Response Program l Prominently display ALPA stickers and bag tags l Memorize your ALPA member number l Read your MEC and LEC newsletters and messages l Spearhead a grassroots effort for favorable change l Offer constructive criticism to your MEC l See pictures from the latest ALPA events on Flickr l Complete and return contract surveys l Call ALPA’s toll-free, 24-hour Air Safety Reporting Line (1-888-FLY-ALPA) to share safety observations l Thank pilot volunteers for their service l Join an ALPA-PAC Club l Make sure ALPA Membership Services has your correct address and phone number l Know the history of your profession and your union l Subscribe to the WeAreALPA channel on YouTube l Participate in dues checkoff l Provide thoughtful responses to ALPA’s telephone and web polls l Rise above political infighting l Write a letter of support to a fellow ALPA pilot group that is on strike or in a crisis situation l Disregard rumors and get your information from a credible union source l Take pictures for use in ALPA publications l Share positive news stories with fellow ALPA pilots l Get involved in the legislative campaigns for candidates who are pro-ALPA and pro-labor l Attend other pilot groups’ pickets and demonstrations l Attend the ALPA Air Safety Forum l Carry and follow your contract/scheduling quick guide l Attend a congressional hearing about pilot/aviation safety issues l Help your furloughed union brothers and sisters l Follow WeAreALPA on Twitter l Peruse ALPA FastReads l Become a Pilot-to-Pilot® volunteer A member service of Air Line Pilot.


Training the MeC Secretary-Treasurers

benjamin Franklin was right: “Watch the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves.”

Case in point, explained recently by Chris McCarthy, supervisor of ALPA’s IT Operations and Services Department: “We negotiated a ‘pool plan’ for cell phones issued by the Association and got the cost of domestic voice service re-duced from 5 cents to 3 cents per minute. That may not sound like a lot, but it’s a 40 percent reduction—and it’s saved ALPA about $13,000 per month in cell phone charges.”

A full syllabusMcCarthy’s audience was the 30 pilots from 22 pilot groups who converged on ALPA’s Herndon Conference Center March 9–11 to attend the Association’s annual Secretary-Treasurers Conference. The intensive 2½-day training session serves as both initial and recurrent training for master execu-tive council leaders in this important position.

Capt. Randy Helling, vice-president–finance/treasurer, and Capt. Bill Couette, ALPA’s vice-president–administration/

secretary, hosted the Conference. The two ALPA national officers and members of several ALPA departments—Legal, Finance, Human Resources, Information Technology and Services, Communications, and Government Affairs—discussed a broad range of subjects, including the details of ALPA’s current financial status; MEC budgeting policies, procedures, and reports; required U.S. government reports; new MEC applications from ALPA’s IT Department; strike oversight boards; ALPA member insurance plans; flight pay loss; expense reimbursements; electronic document manage-ment; ALPA policies and procedures for printing, purchasing, and renting office space and furniture; and much more.

“budget discipline a must”Helling opened the Conference by reviewing ALPA’s finan-cial performance over the last few years, adding, “We are by now all too familiar with the financial challenges the Association has faced and the painful, yet necessary, steps we have taken to bring our costs in line with revenue. Those

decisions are starting to bear fruit.”Noting that he called upon the

MEC secretary-treasurers during last year’s Conference to “Live within your budget!” Helling said they had done an admirable job; ALPA’s finan-cial situation has been stabilized, thanks in no small measure to their efforts.

ALPA’s president, Capt. John Prater, a former MEC secretary-treasurer himself, noted, “This union runs on members’ dues. Thank you for accept-ing the responsibility for the positions your members elected you to.”

Prater brought the Conference attendees up-to-date on the sev-

Thirty pilots from 22 pilot groups attended ALPA’s annual Secretary-Treasurers Conference.

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eral front-burner national and international issues the Association is currently working on.

Helling again reminded secretary-treasurers that the once important, yet routine, administrative task of minding the pilots’ money has now become absolutely critical to the success of our union. “It’s never fun to tell people what they don’t want to hear,” he acknowledged, “but I can’t overem-phasize the importance of maintaining strict financial disci-pline. If we are to be successful, we must earn and keep our pilots’ trust—the trust that their money is being managed as wisely and prudently as possible. Keep doing the great job you’ve been doing.”

Primarily for those coming into that job for the first time, Couette provided a detailed course on many aspects of run-ning local executive council and MEC meetings, the founda-tion of ALPA’s bottom-up representative democracy.

During his many years of participation in ALPA gover-nance on the local and national levels, Couette observed that he had witnessed “challenges with meetings and how they’re conducted,” so he gave the Conference attendees a thorough briefing on such subjects as ALPA policy manuals, procedures, quorums, proxies, and Robert’s Rules of Order—the fundamental tools and resources that MECs need to conduct business.

“These administrative matters might not be exciting,” he acknowledged, “but, like the electrical system in your airplane, they’re vitally important to keeping the overall operation running smoothly and efficiently and staying on

course. They provide the structure to help you conduct the Association’s business in an efficient, fair, orderly fashion—and thus take actions that improve the quality of life for your members.”

Highlights of the Conference included• Couette discussed the hierarchy of governing documents that ALPA leaders must follow, “just as pilots use the FARs/AIM, the AFM, and the company ops manual, whichever is most appropriate.” At ALPA, the hierarchy is, in descending order, the Association’s Constitution and By-Laws; the ALPA Administrative Manual; MEC policy manuals; and Robert’s Rules of Order.• Clay Warner, managing attorney in ALPA’s Legal Department, laid out basic rules for fiduciaries, including the requirement to carefully follow the ALPA governing docu-ments described by Couette. Warner cautioned, “It’s easy to violate policy with all good intentions.” To illustrate the point, he used some real-world examples demonstrating the difficulties they face in everyday decision-making. • Andrea Griffith, a manager in ALPA’s Finance Department, said, “PeopleSoft is our general ledger software. We went from 5 reports to 20 reports [that MECs receive monthly]. We’d like to cut that back. We’ll be reaching out for your input on what’s useful to you and what isn’t.” • Kelly Hardy, senior government affairs specialist in ALPA’s Government Affairs Department, and Marcus Migliore, managing attorney in ALPA’s Legal Department, explained that, regarding mandatory government lobbying reports, “lobbying” has to do with private, off-the-record communi-cations and activities (phone calls, letters, e-mail messages, meetings) by certain ALPA pilot leaders and staff members who are engaged in congressional and/or federal agency advocacy efforts.• Margarita Lorenzetti, director of ALPA’s Finance Department, repeated one of her core mantras—“Your signa-ture means something!” She advised that it is the secretary-treasurers’ responsibility to ensure that an expense complies with ALPA policies and procedures before it is approved. She

Capt. randy Helling, vice-president–finance/treasurer.

F/o Michael Hamilton (united), Group A eVP, explains the workings of AlPA Contingency Fund oversight boards.


Pilot Commentsalso stated that any member in good standing can come to the Herndon, Va., offices and see any expense ALPA incurs.• Charlie Murphy, director of ALPA’s Information Technology and Services Department, said the Association’s MEC toolbox application will be available in June for all MECs to use for membership and MEC committee manage-ment, along with other MEC functionalities. The Dispute Tracking System, designed to help attorneys and MEC griev-ance committee members monitor grievances, will debut this summer, with oversight by pilots from five MECs. • Betty Ginsburg, managing attorney in ALPA’s Legal Department, discussed ALPA’s new Document Management Program (DMP), the gist of which is “keep what you need, throw away what you—i.e., ALPA—don’t need,” she advised.

“A record is a subcategory of documents—anything that is a substantiation of any filing that you make. The record retention schedule is the cornerstone of the DMP. One reason for the DMP is to limit litigation costs—but any docu-

FedEx, Jazz, and United MECs, already are using SharePoint, which Harrell said is “coming soon to an MEC near you!”

Watching the (big) dollarsWhile Ben Franklin was right—“Watch the pennies and the dollars will take of themselves”—some of the presentations demonstrated that ALPA also has taken smart steps to save members millions of dollars.

Marie Schwartz, director of ALPA’s Communications Department, briefed the group on the Association’s upcom-ing Board of Directors (BOD) meeting, which will be held October 11–14 at the Westin Diplomat in Hollywood, Fla.

The Communications Department organizes the BOD meeting, which is held in the fall in even-numbered years and is the Association’s largest regular governing bodies meeting. When the hotel industry was in a slump, Schwartz negotiated contracts with the hotel for the BOD meetings in 2010, 2012, and 2014, saving the Association thousands of dollars.

Also in the category of watching the big dollars is pilots’ flight pay loss expense.

Helling said, regarding negotiating company-paid flight pay loss for ALPA work in collective bargaining agreements, “It is a cost of doing business. If management is benefiting from the pilots’ work, for example, in the area of safety and security, management should pay its fair share of the costs incurred to produce that benefit.”

F/O Chris Notaro (Alaska) also stressed the importance of bargaining for and obtaining strong flight pay loss language in the collective bargaining agreement.

Helling said that the more company-paid flight pay loss an MEC can negotiate, the more flexibility it will have in al-locating existing resources.—Jan W. Steenblik, Technical Editor

Marie Schwartz, director of ALPA’s Communications Department.

Clay Warner, managing attorney in ALPA’s Legal Department.

ments subject to a legal hold must be retained until the legal hold is lifted.

“Remember,” she warned, “if you do personal business on an ALPA computer, we can’t guarantee its privacy—if your MEC is involved in a lawsuit, everything on your ALPA computer is discoverable. Likewise if you do ALPA business on your home computer. Try to keep your personal business separate from your ALPA business.

“E-mail lasts forever, and it multiplies. Never send an e-mail you don’t want to see up on a screen in a courtroom. It will see the light of day.” • Rick Harrell, a manager in ALPA’s IT Network and Operations Department, related, “About one terabyte of storage is devoted to ALPA e-mails.” To cut down on neces-sary e-mail traffic and storage, the Association is deploying SharePoint, which Harrell described as “a web-based tool available from anywhere in the world if you have an Internet connection—secure access to your files from any-where, and a great working collaboration environment.”

All Association departments, plus the Air Safety Committee, the Professional Development Group, and the

Capt. Matthew Harrington (AirTran): “As new-comers, one thing we often hear from more experienced MEC secretary-treasurers is, ‘I come every year, because I always learn something new.’ I think that shows the value of recurrent training for MEC officers. I was a first-timer last year; it definitely was training by fire hose. this was my second year, and I learned a ton. I’m leaving office May 1, so I brought my replacement, [Capt.] Mike Schoettle.”Capt. Mike Schoettle (AirTran): “I attended the Leadership training Conference in February, and the Secretary-treasurers Conference reinforced some of the training I received earlier. I enjoyed meeting the people I’ll be working with at National—I have a feeling they’ll be instrumental in helping us achieve our first ALPA contract.”Capt. Andy Danziger (North American Airlines): “the whole Conference was awesome—meeting and interacting with the other pilots who hold the same position at the other pilot groups was great. If our pilots have a problem, they call in, and the reps—with staff support—take care of it. the pilots don’t know how much is going on behind the scenes—so much more than anyone realizes if they’re not actively involved in ALPA work. the support is outstanding.”


“In our opinion, the current Canadian aviation regulations [regarding flight time/duty time] are not

science-based and therefore are not ICAo-compliant,” Canadian pilot safety reps said in their joint letter to Director General of Transport Canada Martin Eley.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has linked pilot fatigue to at least 12 airline accidents during the last decade, and ALPA continues to aggressively push

for flight-time/duty-time regulatory reform. Spearheading these efforts is the ALPA Flight Time/Duty Time Committee for Canada, which in December 2009 convened ALPA pilot safety representatives with those from pilot groups at Air Canada, Morningstar Air Express, WestJet, Skyservice, and Sunwing. These cockpit crewmembers met to discuss the

compliant,” pilot safety representatives said in their letter to Eley. Eley replied that a Canadian Aviation Regulation Advisory Council (CARAC) working group will be “assessing the feasibility of implementing an alternative regulatory framework to manage crew fatigue related to flight opera-tions….” He added, “The terms of reference for this working group will be discussed at the upcoming CARAC Committee meeting, which is being planned for June 2010…. I encour-age your participation.”

ALPA’s Canadian pilots and members from the other pilot groups met again on April 14 to prepare for the June meet-ing. However, they share concerns that the CARAC option is not the most expeditious approach and, even more impor-tantly, that it may not produce the desired results.

“ICAO has made its position clear that flight- and duty-time rules and rest requirements must be based on scientific studies on fatigue, and our one-size-fits-all regulations are anything but science-based,” said Capt. Martin Gauthier (Air Transat), who chairs the ALPA Flight Time/Duty Time Committee for Canada. “The U.S. FAA has announced plans to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) later this year to address this matter, and the time has come for Canada to make some changes.

“Airline flight crews are working under duty regula-tions that date back to 1987, which have not significantly changed in the last 23 years. Transport Canada has expressed an interest in applying fatigue risk management systems (FRMS), a systematic method for determining risks associ-ated with fatigue-related error, but we believe that FRMS is only part of the solution,” said Gauthier. “We need a com-prehensive approach.”

The CARAC process can take years to yield regulatory change. After industry stakeholders provide feedback during the CARAC Committee phase, the Committee forwards rec-ommendations to the Civil Aviation Regulatory Committee (CARC). If a proposal is approved, the language is then formalized during a two-part stage before new regulations can be established.

ALPA’s president, Capt. John Prater, and ALPA’s Canada Board president, Capt. Dan Adamus (Jazz), have both dis-cussed pilot fatigue with Eley, and Gauthier has shared his concerns about the current rules as part of a presentation in May 2009 to the Canadian Aviation Executives’ Safety Network. These concerns include duty days that can be extended to 17 hours, split duty rules that do not allow for adequate rest, vague reserve rules, no limit on the number of segments flown in a duty day, lack of consideration for back-side-of-the-clock flying, and no mention of ultra-long-range operations.

Capt. Don Wykoff (Delta), ALPA’s executive administrator, is the chair of ALPA’s Flight Time/Duty Time Committee, which is connected and works in coordination with the ALPA Canada Committee. Wykoff and Gauthier served together on the Association’s Fatigue Blue Ribbon Panel, which reviewed the science and economics surrounding pilot fatigue as well as the flight-time/duty-time regulations in both Canada and the U.S. The Panel’s findings were the basis for The Airline Pilots’ Guide to Fighting Fatigue, tech-niques to manage and minimize pilot fatigue during daily flight operations.—John Perkinson, Staff Writer

Canadian Pilots Continue Fight for Flight-Time/Duty-Time Reform

shortcomings of current Canadian regulations and to develop a plan to prompt needed changes to aviation regulations.

The first step was to send Director General of Transport Canada Martin Eley a joint letter, asking him to initiate pro-ceedings to revise Canadian aviation regulations (CARs) that address flight and duty periods and rest requirements. The pilots noted that doing so would ensure that Canada con-forms to Amendment 33 to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Annex 6, Operation of Aircraft, Part 1. This Amendment calls for flight- and duty-period regula-tions based on scientific principles and knowledge with the aim of ensuring that flightcrew members are performing at an adequate level of alertness.

“In our opinion, the current Canadian aviation regula-tions are not science-based and therefore are not ICAO-


ALPA’s National Security Committee (NSC) met March 9–11 at the Association’s Herndon, Va., offices to learn about the mindset and radicalization

of terrorists, receive briefings from government security of-ficials, and review Association security-related projects and initiatives.

“Events during the last year involving several of our airlines remind us why pilots need to continually advocate for the latest, most comprehensive security measures,” said Capt. Robb Powers (Alaska), ALPA’s NSC chairman. “We need to make sure that we are doing everything possible to stop those who would commit terrorism and other criminal acts.”

NSC members met with representatives of the FBI’s Civil Aviation Security Program and its Behavioral Sciences Unit. They conferred with supervisory personnel from the Federal Air Marshal Service about the Federal Flight Deck Officer program and day-to-day operations. The pilots also talked about the threat of chemical/biological attacks on aircraft, the status of secondary barrier standards, and the Committee’s ongoing efforts with law enforcement officers.

Capt. Bill McReynolds (FedEx), NSC director of cargo and chairman of the ALPA President’s Committee for Cargo, noted that the latest B-777 cargo model is being delivered to airlines with no cockpit door and that this decision further erodes security in the all-cargo arena. ALPA staff also provided briefings on the status of Canadian and international security issues and CrewPASS, which continues to move forward. ALPA is working with a consortium of six airlines and their pilots to develop standards for CrewPASS and solicit bids from vendors to implement the program.

The group also discussed the NSC’s January 2010 white paper, Meeting Today’s Aviation Security Needs, which calls for the adoption of a new security screening philosophy—one

that places greater importance on detecting individuals with hostile intent. The policy recommends a trust-based ap-proach to assess passengers before they arrive at the airport to improve airport screening efficiency.

“The final white paper was well received, and we have been asked by the Transportation Security Administration to expand on the concepts,” said Powers, who added, “It’s a huge undertaking, but one we believe must be done.”

Powers, who touched on each of the NSC projects in his chairman’s report, put the Committee’s work into perspec-tive. “We must all recognize that there is an inherent differ-ence between safety and security. Safety failures are the result of unintended consequences. Security failures are the result of intended consequences.”

The NSC’s next meeting is planned for late August in conjunction with ALPA’s Air Safety Forum.—John Perkinson, Staff Writer

AlPA’s NSC: We Must remain Vigilant

Capt. robb Powers (Alaska), AlPA’s NSC chairman, addresses Committee members.

Throughout the year, AlPA’s Communications Department conducts news media spokesperson workshops designed expressly for pilot leaders who will represent the Association in the news media as a significant part of their AlPA committee, MeC, or leC responsibilities. At AlPA’s most recent workshop, Capt. Chuck Hogeman (united) is asked questions on camera as he and other participants hone interview techniques and work through real-world media relations scenarios.

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FroMTHEHILL

u.S. Senate Vote: Important Step in FAA reauthorizationby linda Shotwell Contributing Writer

on March 23, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a version of the Federal Aviation Admin-

istration reauthorization bill that con-tained important policy action on top ALPA issues ranging from combating pilot fatigue to improving training and enhancing runway safety.

“This represents a major step toward improving aviation safety and moving forward on the essential modernization of the U.S. national airspace system,” said Capt. John Prater, ALPA’s presi-dent. “Modernizing our air transporta-tion system will help return our airlines to profitability.”

The bill includes important mea-sures to enhance aviation safety and to modernize the U.S. national airspace system. The bill does not include a mis-guided proposal by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) to allow the use of cockpit voice and flight data recorder informa-tion for punishing pilots, rather than for accident investigation as intended.

More than 7,800 ALPA members from all 50 states participated in ALPA’s Call to Action and made clear their adamant opposition to the ill-advised proposal.

The FAA has been operating through a series of “short term” extensions since the last reauthorization bill expired in 2007. The current extension runs through April 30, 2010. Another extension is likely to occur before the Senate and House reach agreement on a final bill to send to President Obama.

The FAA legislation now advances to a Senate-House conference committee. ALPA will continue to collaborate with legislators from both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House to ensure that Congress sends a strong final bill to the White House that contains investment in the U.S. national airspace system and critical aviation safety reforms.

ALPA Pilots Rally to Protect Workers in International Airline AlliancesNearly two dozen ALPA pilots con-vened on Capitol Hill on March 25 to call on members of the U.S. House of Representatives to support the Aviation Jobs Outsourcing Prevention Act (H.R. 4788). The bill would direct the Department of Transportation to ensure that new revenue-sharing agreements between U.S. and foreign airlines are beneficial to U.S. airline workers as well as to their airlines.

ALPA pilots from Continental, Delta, FedEx, and United joined Capt. John Prater, ALPA’s president, to meet with Rep. Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.), who intro-duced the legislation.

In his remarks to the ALPA pilots gathered, Bishop acknowledged the critical support of Rep. Mike Michaud (D-Maine) and Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich.) for cosponsoring the bipartisan legisla-tion. Bishop told the pilots that the legis-lation now has more than 13 cosponsors from both sides of the political aisle.

“I appreciate that the Air Line Pilots Association was the first to make me and my colleagues in Congress aware of the job losses pilots would face under these joint venture agreements,” said Bishop. “I am happy to once again be leading the charge...on another impor-tant issue that affects all pilots and their families. I know we will be successful in addressing this concern, as both of us know that when we work together, we make things happen.”

After meeting with Bishop, the pilots visited other congressional offices to send a message that the legislation is good for U.S. workers whose companies participate in international alliances and

must be swiftly passed. This legislation will establish basic requirements for U.S. airlines that enter into international revenue-sharing agreements to ensure that these airlines conduct an amount of the flying that is in proportion to the amount of revenue the airline receives. A U.S. airline will be able to share revenue with a foreign airline, but that revenue will be based on the amount of flying each airline performs.

United recently entered into a joint venture with Aer Lingus to fly a Washington-to-Madrid route. The inaugural flight took place on March 28. Under the joint agreement, United pro-vides marketing and a feed of passen-gers, and splits the profits, even though no United flight crews or aircraft will be used (see “Front Lines,” page 6).

“The situation at United is the foot in the door for other U.S. airline man-

agements to also profit from international alliances without giving U.S. pilots alliance jobs,” said Capt. Randy Hodge, secretary-treasurer of the Conti - nental Master Execu-tive Council. “We

hope Congress will act now to close this loophole and safeguard these jobs for the pilots who have dedicated their careers to building these airlines.”

“This is an ALPA pilot issue,” concluded Prater. “United pilots have the support of their union, and this event on Capitol Hill is just the start of ALPA’s campaign to advance this legislation.”

“There’s no question that this is-sue affects every single ALPA pilot,” said Capt. Bill Sawtelle (Delta). “Our strength will come from working together as one union to support our brothers and sisters at United to the benefit of all ALPA members, now and in the future.”

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History Lessons: IFALPA

[MANY] NAtIoNs RePReseNted At 3Rd IFALPA CoNFeReNCe APRIL 4-7

[S]eventeen air line pilot del-egates from air line pilot associa-tions the world over gathered in Dublin, Ireland, at the third meeting of the International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ As-sociations, which just this month reached the first anniversary of its founding with an impressive record of first-year progress….

Thirteen member Associa-tions were represented at the four-day conference that was highlighted by• The annual election of of-ficers of [IFALPA] which are the president, vice-president, and secretary.• Action on 15 items of a 19-point agenda that was before the conference, including adop-tion of Articles of Federation.• Productive study and discus-sion of the problems of proper safety, technical, navigational, licensing, operational and airway aids standards in all countries into which the member associa-tions operate….

To ALPA’s President David L. Behncke went the honor of being unanimously elected in absentia as president of IFALPA for the second successive time….

Like his initial election to the IFALPA presidency in Paris, France, on Sept. 21, 1948, Mr. Behncke was reelected in absen-tia due to his inability to attend because of the press of ALPA business requiring immediate attention. In his stead, ALPA was represented at the Dublin Conference by Captain T.L.H. Young, Panagra, who has recently

also been serving as ALPA’s ICAO representative.

“The Irish made great hosts, the meetings were progressive, and all in all great strides were made during the four days,” Captain Young reported upon his return….

Particularly impressive, he said, was the growing realization among all of the pilots present of the need for limitations on hours of service from the standpoint of flight time as well as on duty time—apparently a pilot prob-lem that is worldwide in scope and not confined to United States air line pilots….

Air line pilot associations from the following countries were present: the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Greece, Hol-land, Finland, Sweden, France, Ireland, Denmark, Australia, and Rhodesia….From The Air Line Pilot, April 1949

WHY IFALPA?By C.V. Glines

…IFALPA’s basic aims are to promote the development of a safe and orderly system of air transportation and to protect the interests of individual airline pilots whose pilot groups have joined the Federation. Both of these aims have been achieved during the 27 years of IFALPA’s existence.

The need for an international pilots’ organization became evi-dent in the years immediately fol-lowing World War Two when civil

aviation was being reestablished. The war had spurred technical advances in aviation far beyond the peacetime rate and inter-national flight had gone from the occasional…to the routine. National airline pilot associations soon found that they could not effectively represent their mem-bers across international bound-aries nor could they campaign effectively to correct the many air safety deficiencies coming to light all over the world….

The Annual Conference, usually held in March each year, reviews the work of the past year, establishes guidelines for future work, revises and updates policy, approves the budget for the coming year, and elects IFALPA officers.

The day-to-day activities of IFALPA are supervised by its six principal officers—president, deputy president, and four princi-pal vice presidents. The latter are responsible for representation, membership and regional affairs, administration and finance, and general affairs. Each officer must be an active airline pilot of a member group and is elected for a two-year term….

IFALPA keeps pace with worldwide pilot interests and

problems through 14 standing study groups, each dealing with a specific aspect of the Federation’s activities. Members of the various groups are pilots who have been nominated by their respective associations for their particular interest or expertise in the sub-ject matter. The work program of each group is decided by the Annual Conference, which also appoints the chairman and vice chairman of each group.

Each group meets once or twice a year…to examine exist-ing international standards and new developments in the airline industry and draw up proposals for IFALPA policy. The proposals are then presented to the Annual Conference for approval or, if urgent, circulated to member associations under a postal vote system….

Just as the world’s nations maintain a dialogue through the United Nations, so must the world’s airline pilots maintain relationships with each other through IFALPA. Not to do so would mean that there would be no collective voice expressing the concerns of the airline piloting profession….From Air Line Pilot, September 1975

World headquarters for airline pilots is located in this unostentatious

building in London.


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National officersFor complete biographical infor-mation on ALPA’s national officers and executive vice-presidents, visit www.alpa.org.

Capt. John Prater President

Capt. Paul rice First Vice-President

Capt. William Couette Vice-President– Administration/Secretary

executive Vice- PresidentsFor more information on who executive vice-presidents represent, please visit Crewroom.alpa.org/evp. eVP Groups and the Pilots They represent

Group A: Continental, Delta, FedEx, UnitedGroup b1: Air Transport International, Air Wisconsin, Comair, CommutAir, ExpressJet, Trans StatesGroup b2: American Eagle, ASTAR, Compass, Pinnacle, PSA, RyanGroup b3: AirTran, Atlantic Southeast, Capital Cargo, Colgan, Evergreen, Mesa Air Group, PiedmontGroup b4: Alaska, Hawaiian, Island Air, Mesaba, North American, Spirit, Sun CountryGroup C: Air Transat, Bearskin, Calm Air, CanJet, First Air, Jazz,Kelowna Flightcraft, Wasaya

Capt. Don WykoffExecutive Administrator

Capt. randy HellingVice-President–Finance/Treasurer

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Capt. Joe Fagone Group A

Capt. robert C. Dowell Group A

Capt. Michael Geer Group A

Capt. ray Miller Group A

F/o Michael Hamilton Group A

Capt. John SluysGroup B4

Capt. Tom Zerbarini Group B3

Capt. edward lowry Group B1

Capt. Thomas Maxwell Group B2

Capt. Dan Adamus Group C

Pilot Resources: Preflight Tab

Pilots need all the information they can get before leaving for a trip. The Preflight section of ALPA’s members’ only website contains much of that info in one central location. The one-stop shopping for preflight planning contains the following resources: • The Security Alerts website

contains links to ALPA security bulletins go-ing back to

2000. The site also has links to the

international information available only through first-hand experi-ence and word

of mouth. Pilots can view informa-tion and respond whenever and wherever Internet access is available. The Gouge Container includes links to information regarding health, security, and weather.

There’s also information on flights, weather, and hotels. For more on each of these resources, ac-cess the members’ only site of www.alpa.org and click on the Preflight tab on the menu bar.

Engineering & Air Safety library and the International Directory.• The Jumpseat Guide icon links to

the ALPA jump-seat website, which includes links to airline jumpseat proce-dures, jumpseat

etiquette, CASS participating airlines, and more. The site provides valuable information about using the cockpit jumpseat.• The Federal Flight Deck Officer (FFDO) icon links to ALPA’s National Security Committee website, which contains links to security news, ALPA white papers, Security 101, and the NSC chairman’s monthly updates.• The Gouge Container, which was developed by the President’s Committee for Cargo, provides


ALPA Information Numbers

Membership Services

To obtain membership account information or to update your records or your postal or e-mail address via the Internet, go to the My ALPA area of Crewroom.alpa.org; or dial the toll-free number 1-888-359-2572 (1-888-FLY-ALPA) and choose menu option 3.

Listed below are the telephone numbers of MEC offices.

AirTran–ATN MEC 404-763-5165Air Transat–TSC MEC 1-888-337-2033Air Transport International–ATI MEC 505-263-8838Air Wisconsin–ARW MEC 757-754-7687Alaska–ALA MEC 206-241-3138*Aloha–ALO MEC 808-838-0022American Eagle–EGL MEC 817-685-7474ASTAR Air Cargo–DHL MEC 859-282-1475*ATA–ATA MEC 773-284-4910Atlantic Southeast–ASA MEC 404-209-8566Bearskin–BRS MEC 807-628-5683Calm Air–CMA MEC 204-471-1000CanJet–CJA MEC 902-830-7228Capital Cargo–CCI MEC 360-930-2789Colgan Air–CJC MEC 1-877-MEC-CJC1Comair–CMR MEC 859-282-9016CommutAir–CMT MEC 440-985-8579Compass–CPZ MEC 952-853-2373Continental–CAL MEC 281-987-3636Delta–DAL MEC 404-763-4925Evergreen—EIA MEC 503-474-3880ExpressJet—XJT MEC 281-987-3636FedEx Express–FDX MEC 901-752-8749First Air–FAB MEC 1-877-459-3272Freedom–MAG MEC 602-306-1116Hawaiian–HAL MEC 808-836-2572*Independence Air–ACO MEC ASPEN, ext. 6962Island Air–AIS MEC 808-838-0188Jazz–JAZ MEC 1-800-561-9576Kelowna Flightcraft–KFC MEC 250-878-7950Mesa–MAG MEC 602-306-1116Mesaba–MSA MEC 952-853-2389*Midwest Airlines–MEA MEC 508-360-3112North American–NAA MEC 732-778-6969Piedmont–PDT MEC ASPEN, ext. 3274Pinnacle–PCL MEC 901-527-0355PSA–PSA MEC 603-674-9683Ryan–RYN MEC 1-800-292-ALPA*Skyway–SYX MEC 414-481-1481Spirit–SPA MEC 1-800-662-2572Sun Country–SCA MEC 952-853-2393Trans States–TSA MEC 610-805-5387United–UAL MEC 847-292-1700Wasaya–WSG MEC 807-627-9443

*Pilot group in custodianship

The following ALPA resources may be reached by e-mail or by dialing, toll-free, 1-888-359-2572 (1-888-FLY-ALPA). Once connected, dial the last four digits of the number listed below.

Accident Investigation ([email protected]) 703-689-4312

Accounting and Finance ([email protected]) 703-689-4144

Air Line Pilot ([email protected]) 703-481-4460

ALPA main number 703-689-2270

ALPA‑PAC 202-797-4033

ASPEN 703-689-4220

Balloting ([email protected]) 703-689-4173

Cashiering ([email protected]) 703-689-4385

Communications ([email protected]) 703-481-4440

Computer help line ([email protected]) 703-689-4357

Council Services ([email protected]) 703-689-4311

Disciplinary and discharge 703-689-4226

Economic and Financial Analysis ([email protected]) 703-689-4289

Election dates LEC/MEC 703-689-4212

Engineering and Air Safety ([email protected]) 703-689-4200

FAA legal actions 703-689-4226

Government Affairs ([email protected]) 202-797-4033

Human Resources ([email protected]) 703-689-4262

Information Technology and Services ([email protected]) 703-689-4223

Legal ([email protected]) 202-797-4096 703-689-4326

Membership Services ([email protected]) 1-888-359-2572 (1-888-FLY-ALPA), option 3

IT Operations and Services ([email protected]) 703-689-4245

Organizing 703-689-4179

Publishing Services ([email protected]) 703-689-4185

Purchasing ([email protected]) 703-689-4319

Representation ([email protected]) 703-689-4375

Real Estate ([email protected]) 703-689-4105

Retirement and Insurance (R&[email protected]) 703-689-4115

System Board 703-689-4226

Air Line Pilot is not responsible for un solicited manu scripts, photographs, or other ma te r ials. Unsolicited materials will be re turned only if sub-mitted with a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Opinions expressed by authors do not necessarily represent official ALPA position or policy.

Subscriptions: Subscription rate for pilot mem bers, $25, included in ALPA member ship dues; for students, $37; for U.S. nonmembers, $50; for foreign, $65. Residents of the state of Washington must add 8.8 percent sales tax. To subscribe or to request address changes, call 703-481-4460.

Address Changes for Members Only: E-mail to [email protected].

Air Line Pilot is printed in the United States and published for professional air-line pilots in the United States and Canada who are members of the Air Line Pilots Association, International.

ALPA Headquarters: 1625 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20036

Postmaster: Send address changes to Air Line Pilot, PO Box 1169, Herndon, VA 20172-1169.

Canadian Publications Mail Agreement #40620579: Return undeliverable magazines sent to Canadian addresses to B & M Mailing Services Limited, 35 Van Kirk Drive, Unit 15, Brampton, ON L7A1A5. E-mail: [email protected].

other organizationsALPA Aeromedical Office 303-341-4435ALPA Federal Credit Union 1-800-747-2349Assn. of Flight Attendants 202-434-1300

AlPA Accident/Incident HotlineIf you are involved in an accident, incident, or alleged violation of a federal aviation regulation, contact your local or central air safety chairman, regional safety chairman, or the worldwide ALPA ac-cident/incident hotline at 202-797-4180 (collect calls are accepted) for an immediate response 24 hours per day. As a backup number, call 703-892-4180. To report a safety problem or airspace system defi-ciency, call 1-800-424-2470 or e-mail [email protected].

2010 ebCb ScheduleThe Association’s Election and Ballot Cer t i fi cation Board’s schedule for counting ballots is May 10, June 10, July 12, August 10, September 10, October 12, November 10, and December 10. Any ALPA member in good standing may be present as an observer during any meeting. Contact the Association’s Membership and Council Services Department for scheduling.

Editor Sharon B. VerebTechnical Editor Jan W. Steenblik

Associate Managing Editor Susan FagerDesign and Production Editor William A. Ford

Staff Writer John PerkinsonContributing Writers Susan Burke,

Molly Martin, Linda ShotwellWeb Coordinators Cicely Jenkins,

Chris WeaverDirector of Communications

Marie Schwartz


Have You Moved?Please call Membership Services at 1-888-359-2572, or e-mail your new address to [email protected],

or clip out this form—along with the mailing label on the left—and send it to:

ALPA Membership ServicesPo box 1169, herndon, VA 20172-1169

Name ________________________________________

Member # ____________________________________

Airline ________________________________________

New address __________________________________

Apt. __________ City _________________________

State _________ Zip __________________________

may 2010 air line pilot 1 · 2010. 4. 16. · 4 air line pilot may 2010 43 letters to the editor...

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