Greetings LAXers,

We are approaching the tenth anniversary of the September 11^th attacks on our country. No matter where you were in the world, it was a moment—which began an era—that is clearly and permanently imprinted in our memories. Please take a moment, whether you are spanning the globe or at home with family, to reflect on the impact to our great country and our profession that those attacks have had.

Below are some hot topics, many of which were discussed at the MEC meeting late last month. As you’ll see, there’s plenty going on as summer winds down and the kids are getting back to school. On a local note, we will hold an LEC meeting in October, at the usual location—The Hacienda Hotel near LAX. The date is TBD, awaiting some scheduling resolution; as soon as the date is firmed up, a notification will be sent out. I hope to see you there. Happy reading.

In Unity,

Tony Miller
LEC100 Chairman
Anthony.Miller@alpa.org
760-608-0214

Recurrent Training Hotel and Shuttle Service - When management changed our hotel for recurrent training and took away our rental cars, forcing us to use the hotel provided shuttle, I received many complaints about the viability and reliability of the service. In a case such as ground transportation, Pilot Ops Reports (POR) are the best way to communicate problems to management that there is a problem. In fact, issues with Ground Transportation are one of the mandatory PORs out of the FOM (¶ 2.15). To date, I’m only aware of three PORs that have been submitted on the subject, despite receiving many more reports of problems. If you have had a problem, even if it is in the past, please submit a POR and forward a copy to my e-mail at Anthony.miller@alpa.org. Thanks for your input.

CRS Issues- Since my last update, several crewmembers opted to not return calls to CRS when contacted on their days off. As a reminder, returning calls to CRS while not in an Assignment Window (Reserve or Substitution) is at the crewmember’s discretion. CRS left voicemails indicating that they would be switching the pilot’s R-Period (from A to B, for example), for which they need to actually speak with the crewmember or have a Crew Notification acknowledged more than 18 hours in advance to accomplish. As a result, a few crewmembers received multiple calls, some as early as 0645 in the morning of their day off, at the numbers that they have listed in VIPS. I’ve heard from a few who felt that the early calls at home were unnecessary and intrusive after they chose to not return previous calls or click on any Crew Notifications. I agree with them. To be fair, the schedulers are making every effort to fill a trip and there is nothing prohibiting them from calling at any time of day or night; however, after calling and leaving multiple voice messages and VIPS Notifications, the early morning call seems unnecessary. It is impossible to know whether it is a policy dictated to CRS, or just a few instances of overzealous contact attempts. We have passed these concerns onto management and are looking forward to a professional solution that is more conducive to good employee relations. 

Relief Valve- Our current CBA, ratified this March, has a ‘Relief Valve’ in it that can put us back in formal Section 6 negotiations as soon as next February. In order to exercise that option, the MEC would need to notify the company of its intent to do so by 24 January 2012. There are many factors that will influence this decision to go one way or the other, including the economy, FedEx’s financial outlook, the political climate, performance at the ongoing discussions with the company, strategic goals, and many more. These factors are constantly being evaluated, and will continue to be until a decision is made. Ultimately, whichever direction is deemed best to achieve our contractual goals will be chosen. Any input that you have, as always, is welcome.

Interim Discussions- As those of you who have subscribed to TextCaster have seen, our Negotiating Committee has been holding Interim Discussions with management as prescribed in our current CBA. Whether these discussions will bear fruit has yet to be seen, but the feedback has been positive.  The Negotiating Committee’s September 1^st update is available here.

Flight Time/Duty Time Call to Action- The new, congressionally mandated, Flight Time/Duty Time regulations are being held up at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) due to political influence. If you haven’t already participated in the Flight Time/Duty Time Call to Action, click here.  Literally, it will take less than a minute. You will need your ALPA number and nothing else. Consistently, FedEx pilots have been the highest percentage contributors in ALPA Calls to Action. Thank you for your participation.

Scheduling Survey- The Scheduling Committee will be releasing a scheduling survey sometime in September. It is the first scheduling survey in about a decade and will be a great venue for the entire crewforce to get their inputs and desires to the committee. Please be on the lookout for the survey and take the time to let your voice be heard.

Captain Lee Moak- ALPA President Captain Lee Moak addressed the MEC as well as speaking at the Memphis Joint Council Meeting. He gave a speech on present threats to our industry and profession, including the affects of oil prices and speculation, pay trends, FAA Reauthorization Bill, UAS, Foreign Ownership and Control, Gulf and Chinese Carrier expansion, and budgetary attacks on our benefits. Our Communications department is in the process of editing his speech into smaller, single-topic videos. I highly recommend watching them when they are published in the Positive Rate Weekly.

Back the PAC- I’m proud to report that the Los Angeles domicile has the highest percentage of folks contributing to the PAC as compared to other domicile and Memphis blocks. If you’re not contributing to the PAC, you can do so for as little or as much as you’d like. Click here to sign up. Here is a blurb from Captain Fred Eissler, Chairman of the FDX Legislative Affairs Committee, about ALPA PAC:

The ALPA PAC is a great program that protects FedEx Pilots and our aviation profession. It is only funded by non tax deductible contributions to the PAC. Dues money cannot be used by law. The ALPA PAC supports only Congressional members that support ALPA and aviation. The PAC does not care or focus on Congressional members’ views on other hot topics like abortion, gun rights, environmental issues or anything other than Aviation and taking care of our ALPA-FedEx needs. We are the most bi-partisan Labor Union PAC in Washington. ALPA has professional Lobbyists on staff and Pilot Lobbyists from FedEx, Delta, Continental and a few others.

Only 2% of the bills that are presented ever become law. There are great deals of aviation detrimental bills that are initiated. It is our goal and mission to ensure that they never become law. There are other bills that we initiate and strive to see them enacted to either protect or enhance the aviation profession. The ALPA PAC and Government affairs group is ever vigilant in Washington D.C. protecting our interests. PAC contributions make it possible so that we can support those decision makers that support us and our families.

Some of the things that ALPA PAC has done this year include but are not limited to the following:

1. Support and direction on the Flight Time Duty Time NPRM. We successfully fended off the Inhofe Amendment that would have created a Supplemental carve out. We fended off the Shuster Amendment which would have created uncertainty and more variables in the FAA final ruling of the FTDT rules. We look forward to a positive outcome on the FTDT rules. Due to our FedEx presence on the ARC and on the Hill we were able to ensure (hopefully) that there will be no cargo cut outs.

2. “Known Crewmember” aka crew pass, started a few weeks ago. This enables Pilots to go through an alternate method of screening at airports by TSA.

3. Supporting the safe shipment of lithium batteries and heavily lobbied this summer to allow the FAA to be able to actually regulate Lithium Batteries. We are still waiting on the FAA and DoT’s ruling on the Lithium batteries and their status as DG.

4. Strongly urged caution to legislators in deploying UAS (unmanned Aircraft Systems) into the National Airspace system.

5. Thwarted a very onerous DeMint bill (S.3048) that would have mandated that airline monitor cockpit voice recorders specifically for disciplinary purposes.

6. In the 111th Congress, ALPA successfully advocated for the continuation of the HIMS program.

7. H.R. 386 Securing Aircraft Cockpits Against Lasers Act of 2011 was passed by the house in March 2011. This would require criminal penalties for any individual who knowingly aims a laser pointer at an aircraft within the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States, or its flight path.  The penalties include fines and imprisonment of up to five years.

 

8. Supported many improvements in the FFDO program while lobbying for the TSA reauthorization bill.

These and many other successes are enabled by your generous ALPA PAC contributions.

Thank you to the pilots that are part of the solution and forward thinking enough to support the PAC that supports our families and profession. I also would like to invite and welcome other pilots to be a part of protecting your future. One Hamilton a month will keep the enemy at bay. There are several ways to sign up.
Sincerely,

Captain Fred Eissler
Legislative Affairs Committee Chairman
FedEx-ALPA MEC
ALPA PAC Steering Committee