October 22, 1998
ALPA, Intl
Committees
ALPA National Board of Directors Meeting and
Elections
The MEC Officers have been attending the ALPA Board of Directors meeting in Bal Harbor,
Florida this week. Among other business, elections for National officers were conducted.
Duane Woerth of Northwest Airlines was elected ALPA
President. He was formerly ALPA First Vice-President.
Dennis Dolan of Delta Airlines was elected ALPA First
Vice-President. He has been an ALPA Executive Vice-President and also past Delta MEC
Chairman.
Jerry Mugerditchian of United was re-elected ALPA Vice
President – Administration/secretary.
John Feldvary of USAirways, was elected ALPA Vice President
� Finance. Feldvary has previously served on the USAirways MEC, as well as having been an
ALPA Executive Vice-President.
Cres Bernard of Alaska Airlines was re-elected as Group
“C” Executive Vice-President. Our ALPA group is Group “C”.
Both MEC Chairman Don Steinman and MEC Vice-Chairman Darcy
Pierce have been active on various delegate working groups. Steinman served as the
chairman of his working group.
One important topic of discussion at the Board of Directors
meeting was the recent successful pilot strike at Northwest Airlines. It has served as a
model for other pilot groups, and has raised the standard for future pilot contracts.
Local Council Meeting
One meeting that is closer to home is our own Local Council meeting coming up on October
28th. It will be held at the DoubleTree Hotel, 320 N. 44th St. from 1-4 PM. The DoubleTree
is just south of the MEC offices. Commuters at the airport can call the DoubleTree for
transportation to the meeting. The cost for the van ride is $1.50.
This meeting is important. Ballots for LEC representative
nominations will be counted. Volunteers are need to serve on the Ballot Certification.
Committee. An active and involved membership is crucial for your ALPA leadership to be
effective. We encourage all pilots to MAKE TIME to attend your local council meeting.
Vacation bid rules
The Scheduling Committee has received some questions about the manner in which the
Vacation bid is administered. It is worth remembering that pilots bid vacation with the
seniority that they hold for the seat they currently occupy as of the closing date of the
vacation bid, not the seniority in their projected new equipment. This is the contract
language.
The Scheduling and Grievance Committees note that we fought
and won a grievance battle last year to enforce this language in spite of management
opposition.
Maestro Home Access updated
There has been a recent update to Maestro Home Access. If you plan to use Maestro Home
Access, allow time to run the Updater program before attempting to log on to Maestro, if
you have not already done so. The update had some early glitches on Tuesday, but they were
quickly corrected, and the update should run normally.
Preferential Bid System development starts
Meetings with Ad-Opt Technology and management began today to work on the Detailed
Requirements Document for Preferential Bidding. The Working Group meeting lasted all day,
and will continue on Friday developing the DRD.
New aircraft status
Rumors continue to fly about the status of the new A319 and A320 aircraft. It continues to
be said that these aircraft are approved only as “spare” aircraft, and that the
FAA has not approved any expansion of scheduled block hours. The MEC reiterates that in
talks last week with Vice-President of Flight Operations Lee Steele, Steele indicated that
these rumors are not true. The MEC will investigate to see if there has been any change in
this position.
That’s all for this week. The next Hotline update will be
Thursday, October 29th. Until then, know your contract, and fly your contract. No special
deals.
- ALPA National Board of Directors Meeting and
Elections - Local Council meeting
- Vacation bid rules
- Maestro Home Access updated
- Preferential Bid System development starts
- New aircraft status
| MEC Hotline | ||
| This is Communications Committee Chairman David Weeks with the MEC Hotline Update for Thursday, October 22, 1998. Tonight’s topics are: |