April 27, 2000 Hotline

  April 27, 2000

Professional
Standards Seminar

Pat Plumb

R&I Update

Jumpseat Update

Wilson Center
Polling

Since August of 1999,
the MEC has been telling you about the Wilson Center and the purpose of the polling. The
Wilson Center for Public Research is a non-profit organization that works primarily for
unions to gather members’ opinions concerning the activities of the union leaders.
The MEC hired the Wilson Center last August to determine this pilot group’s
satisfaction with the direction of the MEC, and goals for Contract 2000. This is not the
first time the Wilson Center has been hired by the MEC. The Wilson Center was also used
during negotiations for Contract ’95 and throughout 1998, during the PBS side letter
negotiations and roadshows.

We have asked the
Wilson Center to clarify that they are working on behalf of the MEC when they call you.
Thanks for taking the time to answer the questions. It’s for your benefit.

FOQA

Let me emphasize that
we will not be rushed to judgement. It is extremely important that each of you be
completely and thoroughly informed just as pilots have been at every other carrier. Our
Central Air Safety Committee will be working with the Safety Department to come up with
program details for you. We have pilot volunteers who have been tracking this program for
a long time and who are intimately familiar with it. You will have the facts and will see
the side letter in its entirety before the letter is signed and the program begins.

MEC Meeting

Local Council
Meeting

That’s it for this
week. The next hotline will be Thursday, May 4. Thanks for listening. And remember, wear
your ALPA pin and green badge.

  • Professional Standards Seminar
  • Pat Plumb
  • R&I Update
  • Jumpseat Update
  • Wilson Center Polling
  • FOQA
  • MEC Meeting
  • Local Council Meeting
    •   MEC Hotline

    		Good evening, this is MEC Chairman Roger Cox
    with the MEC Hotline update for Thursday, April 27. Tonight’s topics are:


    The week after next ALPA will sponsor their annual Professional Standards Seminar. America
    West captains Joe Sotille and Mike Calabrese, and other selected volunteers, plan to
    represent us there, as well as Chief Pilot J.R. Baker. Their presence there fulfills a
    requirement of our Professional Standards side letter, which was renegotiated in 1998.
    Unless you’ve taken the time to read this revised side letter, you may not realize
    how ambitious it is. The whole idea is to allow your trained peers to help resolve
    problems at work which could otherwise become disciplinary. This is, or should be, a
    benefit to you. It’s only a benefit, however, if you understand it and use it when
    needed.

    It is my sad duty to inform you that Crew Scheduler Pat Plumb passed away yesterday. Our
    most sincere condolences go to her children and her husband Jerry. Pat worked with us at
    America West for 13 years and was well known to most of us. We will miss her. Her funeral
    will be Monday, May 1 at 9am at Melcher Mortuary at Stapley and Main in Mesa. Elli
    Preisendorf in Flight Standards (x1496) can provide you with further details.

    The R&I Committee plans to distribute a new R&I Update to all pilot T4
    mailboxes today. The issue discusses recent events concerning the Ed Sherman case, as well
    as the expiration of LOA 14-1. I encourage all pilots to read this publication thoroughly.

    Take the time to listen to an important new jumpseat briefing on this KIT system. At the
    main menu, select 4, then 5, then 1.

    At the last Local Council meeting, it was brought up that many pilots are not responding
    to the Wilson Center pollsters because they don’t know who the Wilson Center is, or
    who they work for.


    This stands for Flight Operations Quality Assurance. It’s one of the safety programs
    that’s been under consideration here for over two years. As those of you know who
    followed our ALPA safety hotlines and newsletters during that time, FOQA, properly
    implemented, is a valuable safety tool. After many delays, it appears we have now received
    a satisfactory letter of agreement with the company, which will allow us to move forward.
    Because of the delays, we are now the last major carrier to implement such a program.


    The MEC will hold its next meeting on May 8-9 in Phoenix. During this meeting, committee
    chairmen appointments and re-appointments will be conducted. The terms of all committee
    chairmen will expire on April 30. If you are interested in being considered for
    appointment to an MEC committee, please express your interest in writing by May 3 to any
    MEC member or officer.

    The next Local Council meeting will be held next Tuesday, May 9 at 6pm at the Doubletree
    Hotel. All pilots in good standing are encouraged to attend.