October 15, 1998
ALPA, Intl
Committees
FAA and AWA
Despite persistent rumors that the FAA would force America West to park new airplanes and
curtail growth, the company’s new A320 and A319 aircraft are on the ops specs and flying
in revenue service. It’s safe to say that the FAA has assumed an ongoing, more aggressive
oversight role with the airline, and that the aircraft, and flying, were added only after
a careful review by both management and the regulators.
PBS
Discussions have been ongoing between America West and PBS vendor AD-OPT technologies this
week. The parties have reached an agreement in principal to develop the Detailed
Requirements Document, or DRD, which will be a complete specification for the software.
The DRD will be jointly written by AD-OPT personnel, PBS Committee members Del Brummett
and David Weeks, and two management representatives. AD-OPT expects the software
customization process to take approximately 21 weeks. By that time, PBS training should
have begun for all AWA pilots, to be followed by parallel bidding.
1999 Vacation Bid
A number of pilots have raised questions concerning the 1999 vacation bid. First, the
reckoning of vacation days was incorrect for some pilots who had leaves of absence in
1998. In addition, pilots have noted that the bid form has considerably less than
fifty-two lines per category. Planning will accept additional pages if one form is
insufficient. Be sure to clearly mark the forms with page numbers, so that subsequent
pages are not mistaken for revised bids.
AWA Submits Proposed Insurance Changes
America West benefits submitted proposed insurance changes to the MEC this week for
review. The proposals are currently undergoing review by the contract administrator and
the R & I committee to ensure compliance with the contract.
FOQA
The company also submitted a proposed Flight Operations Quality Assurance or FOQA program
for initial review. FOQA will be a topic of discussion between our Central Air Safety and
Negotiating Committees and America West in upcoming weeks.
AWA Board of Directors Meeting
The America West Board of Directors met Monday and Tuesday. So far no announcements have
been forthcoming. The ALPA Board of Directors meets next week in Bal Harbour, FL. BOD
members Don Steinman and Darcy Pierce will attend, as well as MEC Secy-Treasurer Mike
Calabrese, Exec Administrator C.J. Szmal, Contract Administrator Andrew Shostack, and
Communications Specialist Yvette Freeman. The MEC and staff will be back in Phoenix on
Monday, October 26th. For the week of Monday the 19th through Friday the 23rd, pilots are
strongly encouraged to use the KIT system to leave messages for the MEC and committee
members.
Local Council Meeting
On Wednesday October 28th we will have our next local council meeting, at 1:00 p.m. at the
Doubletree Hotel. The agenda for this meeting is devoted to counting nominating ballots
for local council status representatives and secretary-treasurer. By now, all members
should have received a nominating ballot. In order to be counted, your ballot must arrive
at the PHX MEC Office by Tuesday afternoon, or be hand-carried to the meeting on Wednesday
afternoon.
So far the following candidates have announced a
willingness to serve if elected, in alphabetical order: In the captain representative
election: David Chambless, Bob Ewert, John Harms, Mike Martin, Stephanie Pound, and Jack
Ryan; In the first officer representative election: Gary Bakewell, Eric Durnal; In the
secretary/treasurer election: Mike Calabrese
Note that Don Steinman and Darcy Pierce are not running for
re-election as captain and first officer representatives, and request that their names not
be placed on the ballots. However, remember that this election will not effect Steinman’s,
Pierce’s, and Calabrese’ terms as MEC officers, which will continue through August of
1999.
We’re looking for volunteers to serve on a Ballot
Certification Committee at the meeting. Please give us a call at the MEC Office, or show
up a few minutes early if you would be willing to pitch in. Once again, the meeting is
Wednesday October 28th, 1:00 p.m., at the Doubletree Hotel, 320 N. 44th Street in Phoenix.
And just a reminder: this meeting is open only to ALPA members in good standing.
8. America West’s flight attendants will vote in a strike
ballot over the next few weeks, with ballots to be counted on November 2nd. The strike
ballot is one of the steps along a path that could ultimately lead to self-help. If
negotiations do not progress satisfactorily in October and November, AFA has stated that
the flight attendants may seek to be released from mediation. If the mediator releases the
parties, a thirty-day cooling off period would begin, at the end of which the parties
would be free to engage in self-help. For additional information, or for information on
how to assist in fund raising efforts, call the AFA office at 966-1231.
The next scheduled hotline will be Thursday, October 22.
Fly safely, fly the contract, thanks for listening.
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| Don Steinman for the MEC: |