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What has ALPA done for me lately?

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ualdriver

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 21, 2003
Posts
1,400
This is one example where having a national Union, with influence in the halls of Congress, is good for ALL pilots.


ALPA: New fatigue rules, safety reporting 'protection' necessary

Tuesday February 3, 2009 The Air Line Pilots Assn. asked for US FAA to develop more stringent flight- and duty-time rules to prevent pilot fatigue and called on Congress to pass legislation protecting pilots who report safety concerns.
The world's largest pilots' union, comprising 53,000 members in North America, outlined its 2009 agenda at a Washington briefing yesterday, claiming that the US regulatory and legal framework regarding pilots is weak and open to disparate interpretations. It also warned that freighter aircraft are vulnerable to hijackings.
Citing a recent ALPA poll that found 63% of its members had flown fatigued or with a fatigued copilot in the preceding four months, President John Prater said current flight- and duty-time regulations are "a patchwork of rules developed decades ago before the age of jet airliners" and pushed for a "complete overhaul" of rules that he said should be based on a yet-to-be-funded government-sponsored study that would determine scientifically a single, across-the-board standard.
Such a rules modification "is going to require a strong FAA administrator who is willing to regulate rather than reach a consensus with all parties," he said. He criticized a lawsuit filed in December by seven US airlines to prevent FAA from implementing proposed new regulations aimed at reducing pilot fatigue.
ALPA further stated that Congress needs to "step in" to legislate "protection" for pilots in "voluntary, nonpunitive safety reporting systems" to ensure that such programs are continued by airlines and not used by carriers against pilots. The union also said that nonpilots with access to freighter aircraft, which do not have the same hardened cockpit door requirements as passenger aircraft, "are not vetted or screened to the level we would like to see," creating too high a possibility that cargo planes could be used as "guided missiles" in a 9/11-style attack.
Prater said Congress needs to pass FAA reauthorization legislation that adequately funds an agency that has a variety of responsibilities. "To this point our government has failed to invest in the aviation infrastructure to the level that is needed," he said. He also called on President Barack Obama to appoint an FAA administrator that "understands the industry. . .There are a lot of different parts to what FAA does. We need an administrator that understands that wide breadth."
 
The true test will be if they can actually get it done. ALPA is great about "asking" or talking about "taking it back", but actually doing something is something totally different. Laying out out what we would like to happen is the easy part. I hope they can, but past performance may indicates it will be a tough battle and our win/loss doesn't look all that good.
 
Sounds like a bunch of lobbiest. No real power. Lots of fluff.

Good luck.

M
 
[FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica]In 1990, for example, ALPA petitioned FAA to amend various sections of the rules. Specifically, the Association wanted FAA to amend FAR Parts 121.471 and 135.265 based on scientific knowledge then available.
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[FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica]No change[/FONT]


[FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica]Then, on June 15, 1992, FAA announced that it was establishing a flight crewmember flight/duty rest requirements working group, the ARAC Flight/Duty Working Group. Between that Working Group’s creation in 1992 and June 1994, it met regularly.
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[FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica]FAA hoped that the Working Group would resolve the numerous differences among its members and provide a unified recommendation so that an NPRM would meet approval once introduced. So intransigent was the position of factions within the Working Group that its final report, provided to FAA in June 1994, came to no unified conclusion.[/FONT]



[FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica]FAA’s current NPRM is loosely based on a 1995 NASA Technical Memorandum, "Principles and Guidelines for Duty and Rest Scheduling in Commer-cial Aviation." This was the first NASA document that focuses specifically on operational considerations.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica]FAA claims that "while not every NASA finding or recommendation is specifically reflected in this proposal, the overall thrust of this proposal is consistent with those findings and recommendations."[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica]A careful examination of both documents reveals that the scientific principles of the NASA document are not fully implemented in the proposed flight and duty time regulations.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica]NASA intends to publish a second document in the first quarter of 1996. It should provide the specific scientific references that support the principles and guidelines outlined in the first document. The second document will be longer and focus on the scientific considerations related to these issues.
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[FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica]No change[/FONT]




[FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica]As this article is written, ALPA is deliberating the issues and preparing final comments on the NPRM.
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[FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica]Air Line Pilot,[/FONT][FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica] February 1996, page 19[/FONT]
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ALPA is the very definition of a paper tiger.[FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica]
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Really ???? Just wait until you see USAPA in action. Now there's a real paper tiger for ya', don't 'cha know ??? Right, Marty ???

PHXFLYR
 
Really ???? Just wait until you see USAPA in action. Now there's a real paper tiger for ya', don't 'cha know ??? Right, Marty ???

PHXFLYR

Really? You guys keep insisting that USAPA somehow isn't a real union, but that's not the impression many are getting. Consider these quotes from American Airlines pilot Susan O'Donnell, who was a jumpseater on Flight 1549:

The USAPA representative was on the scene very quickly, and again included the other jumpseat rider and myself with the rest of the crew. I didn't see a flight attendant representative; USAPA took care of the FAs as well. The USAPA representative escorted the entire crew to the hospital (we rode in a NYFD fire truck), where we were joined by other USAPA reps and the USAPA lawyer, all of whom continued to consider me as one of the crew........ The USAPA version of our Flight Assist was also there, and they spoke to me and offered me whatever assistance I needed, again as if I was one of their own. The USAPA reps also brought all of us some clothing and toiletries that they had purchased. ........., and I am grateful for and proud of the response and assistance of both USAPA and APA. I would hope that our union would treat another airline's crewmember as kindly as I was treated.



There is lots of other evidence that USAPA is representing pilots and doing what needs to be done, but convincing the FI.com crowd of anything like this would be like getting 3rd graders to eat broccoli. Results at the table? Of course, these things take time and it's a very complicated environment, but all the bad mouthing from the west about USAPA somehow being less than a real union is nothing more than childish blather.
 
labbats said it. will believe it when obama signs a bill or a new reg is signed by the new FAA commish.
 
The true test will be if they can actually get it done.

Not picking on you, but the true test will be if WE can actually get it done. ALPA is not some third party, it is what the membership makes of it, it is the membership. ALPA-PAC support needs to rise. Less than a third of ALPA pilots routinely contribute to ALPA-PAC. ALPA pilots need to step up to the plate and participate in their union if they want change.
 
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