April 22, 1999
ALPA,
Intl
Committees
FAA
Maintenance oversight and logbook entries
We recently have had pilots subjected to FAA investigation about not making logbook
entries when maintenance has been performed, or should have been performed on aircraft.
The FAA has made it clear to ALPA that pilots WILL be held in violation if they do not
make the logbook entries required by FAR 121.563.
FAR 121.563
Reporting mechanical irregularities reads: “The pilot in command shall ensure
that all mechanical irregulari-ties occurring during flight time are entered in the
maintenance log of the airplane at the end of that flight time. Before each flight the
pilot in command shall ascertain the status of each irregularity entered in the log at the
end of the preceding flight.”
To quote from the
Flight Operations Manual paragraph 1.201 (f): “The pilot-in-command shall ensure
that each time Maintenance is called out to the aircraft for a discrepancy, a logbook
entry is made and the corresponding corrective action is entered.”
This means that if
you consult with Maintenance Control, via either telephone, or radio, or even with a
mechanic in person, then you MUST make a logbook entry about the condition. This may only
be an “INFO-ONLY” write-up, or it may be a full-fledged discrepancy that
requires corrective action from Maintenance. The point is that to avoid being caught up in
a possible FAA violation, you must document ANY and ALL maintenance issues with your
aircraft. This even means that little things like burned-out reading lights that
maintenance comes on board the aircraft to replace must be written up in the logbook. If
you radio Maintenance Control to send out a technician to look at a tire to see if it
needs changing, and the technician feels that the tire is serviceable, then make an
“INFO-ONLY” write-up to that effect.
Ladies and
gentleman, this is a serious matter. Do not take the chance of be-ing in the hot seat of
an FAA investigation, and have to explain why you did not make a logbook entry about a
maintenance issue that you discovered, or that was brought to your attention by another
crewmember. If another person brings an item to your attention, and you feel it does not
warrant a discrepancy write-up, make an “INFO-ONLY” write-up.
The Grievance
Committee has already defended two of our Captains in pre-liminary FAA investigations
about logbook entries. Neither Grievance Commit-tee Chairman Bill Archer nor Contract
Administrator Andrew Shostack wants to have to defend any more pilots about logbook
irregularities. FAA oversight of America West Airlines maintenance practices is continuing
at intense levels. The FAA has told us that proper logbook documentation, as well as
timely maintenance action dealing with those write-ups, is a high-priority issue for them.
Make it a high
priority issue for yourself!
Airport
security issues in Las Vegas and Phoenix
The FAA has informed America West Airlines of some deficiencies in its’ secu-rity
procedures at LAS. Several rules that heretofore have not been actively en-forced are
being enforced. Air Carrier Security Chairman Barry Kendrick wants to inform our pilots
that as of now, pilots
- Must not walk across
the ramp in LAS - Must stay within the
perimeter of their aircraft while conducting pre-flight in-spections. - Have their ID
visibly displayed when accessing an aircraft via the jetway.
This means that if
you walk through the terminal from one concourse to an-other, and need access to
Operations, you must enter Operations via the stair-way next to Taco Bell. There is no
buzzer to alert anyone inside Operations that you need access. You may very well
experience delays in getting inside the door. It is time for America West Airlines
management to address the crew ac-cess problem at LAS before lack of access significantly
degrades on-time performance.
There are other
procedures that are now being actively enforced that are dis-cussed on the Air Carrier
Security Committee KIT system update. Please listen to it.
Negotiating
and Communications Committee in Herndon
The Negotiating and Communications committees will be at ALPA National headquarters this
coming Monday to work on Contract 2000 issues with negotiating and communications staffers
from national.
The Negotiating
Committee plans to distribute the Contract Comparison in the next few weeks, followed 3
weeks later by the contract survey.
Furloughed
pilot 401(k) problems
If you have been furloughed, you need to check your 401(k) statement for a possible error.
Look at the first page of your 401(k) statement, and see if there are different amounts in
the Ending Balance and Additional Information Vested Balance amounts. If these two amounts
differ, then there is a problem with your 401(k) accounting. Please call Alice in Employee
Benefits at 602-693-8428 or 8853.
MEC
Vice-Chairman Darcy Pierce attends IFALPA meeting in Thailand
MEC Vice-Chairman Darcy Pierce, in his role as an IFALPA SCAMPI Committee member, spent
last week in Thailand at a regularly scheduled IFALPA meeting. Also in attendance were
several ALPA national officers, as well as MEC officers from United, Continental,
Northwest, and representatives from pilot groups from other airlines from around the
world.
The major focus of
the meeting was the continuing growth of global alliances, and how pilot groups from the
affected airlines can deal with the job-related is-sues resulting from these growing
alliances.
That concludes this
week’s update. Remember, if you do nothing, you deserve nothing. What are you doing
to help secure a contract? Get involved with your union.
The next scheduled
hotline will be Thursday, April 29.
- FAA
Maintenance oversight and logbook entries - Airport
security issues in Las Vegas and Phoenix - Negotiating
and Communications committees in Herndon - Furloughed
pilot 401(k) problems - MEC Vice
Chairman Darcy Pierce attends IFALPA meeting in Thailand - FAA
Maintenance oversight and logbook entries
| MEC Hotline | ||
| This is Communications Committee Chairman David Weeks with the MEC Hotline for April 22, 1999. Tonight’s topics are: |