January 15, 1998
ALPA, Intl
Committees
Change to Flight Operations Manual
Maintenance technicians are no longer on the approved list of authorized jumpseat riders,
according to a recent revision to the Flight Operations Manual. The MEC Jumpseat Committee
was not consulted prior to this change being implemented. Please review the jumpseat
section of the Flight Operations Manual for further details.
Las Vegas Quiet Room
Capt. Olin said the flight attendant file cabinet has been removed from the Las Vegas
quiet room.
Side Letters of Agreement
You will soon receive a ballot on the three scheduling side letters of agreement that have
been operating under a test run since June, 1997. This ballot gives you a choice: make the
three side letters of agreement a permanent modification to Letter of Agreement-13 and
Section 25 or return to LOA-13 unmodified. Unfortunately, the side letters stand as
originally negotiated in the spring of 1997.
The MEC spent several months seeking negotiations with the
company trying to modify the side letters to improve scheduling for America West pilots.
Until recently, the company was unable to discuss substantive changes.
Based on input from the pilot group, the MEC proposed
adding a secondary bid, TAS for relief pilots and other minor changes to the side letters.
The company would not make these changes. Instead, they proposed changes mostly to
alleviate their staffing problems within the Crew Resources department. The decision to
ratify the side letters or return to LOA-13 unmodified is a decision that must be made
democratically by the pilot group.
While the MEC has met all negotiated deadlines pertaining
to the side letters, the company has yet to arrive at its decision to extend or withdraw
them. Company officials are scheduled to meet with Mr. William Franke on Friday, Jan. 16
to discuss their position on this matter.
We will provide the pilot group with further information
via the hotline as it becomes available. Events may require a special hotline. The next
scheduled hotline is Thursday, January 22. Until then, fly focused, stay safe and thanks
for listening.
| MEC Hotline | ||
| 24-Hour Notice Captain Randy Olin clarified the requirement for a pilot to provide prior notice when electing not to deadhead as scheduled. The requirement is solely as stated in Section 8 of the contract. The company’s request for 24-hours prior notice is just that: a request. Capt. Olin also said the 24-hour language would not be added to the Flight Operations Manual. |