July 8, 1999
First Officers
as Instructors
We are continuing to meet with management to discuss our differences over the First
Officers as Instructor program. While discussions have been positive, some differences are
as yet unresolved and further discussions are scheduled next week.
Our fundamental concern
has been and remains the quality of pilot training at America West in general, and with
the quality of captain upgrade and transition training in particular. In its current form,
there is no guarantee that recruits will have had command experience at all, much less at
America West.
Most of the
program’s volunteers have announced their intentions to withdraw effective with Bid
156. This MEC has and will continue to support the concept of line pilots training line
pilots. We will continue to work with management in an attempt to resolve our remaining
differences.
Ed Sherman
arbitration
As of July 2nd, both ALPA and the company forwarded closing briefs in the
long-term disability age 60 retest (aka Ed Sherman) case. Arbitrator Sinicroppi will
review the briefs, then call an executive session of the System Board, after which he will
hand down his decision. This process may take 2 months, perhaps more.
MEC Officer
candidate interviews
The MEC will begin interviewing candidates for MEC officer positions starting July 13th.
The following pilots have announced their intentions to run for office:
First
Officer Bill Archer
Captain Michael Calabrese
Captain Roger Cox
Captain Bob Ewert
Captain Bill Goin
Captain John Harms
Captain Eric Kothny
The MEC members will
vote at the MEC meeting scheduled for August 3rd-4th to elect an MEC
Chairman, Vice-Chairman, and Secretary-Treasurer from this slate of candidates. New
officer terms begin September 1st, 1999.
Local Council,
LEC, and MEC meetings
The next Local Council meeting will be held July 26th, from 6pm to 10pm, at the
Best Western Grace Inn. The Grace Inn is located at the southwest corner of I-10 and
Elliot Rd. in Chandler.
A Local Executive
Council meeting will be held at the MEC office at 10am on July 26th.
The next MEC meeting
will be held on August 3rd and 4th at the DoubleTree Hotel near the
MEC office. Exact times will be announced later.
Members in good
standing are strongly encouraged to attend the Local Council meeting, as well as the LEC
and MEC meetings.
Retirement and
Insurance Committee appointments
The MEC is pleased to announce the appointment of Captain Joe Heil as the new Retirement
and Insurance Committee Chairman. First Officer John McIlvenna has been named Vice
Chairman. These are interim appointments that will be confirmed at the upcoming MEC
meeting.
Pilot
retirements
Happy 60th birthday congratulations and condolences are in order for Captain
Doug Feauto, who retired today.
Also eligible for happy
60th birthday congratulations and condolences is Captain Don Sherwood.
Don’s last trip will end in PHX on July 12th with flight 658, from DTW, arriving at
1229 local time.
Please be on hand to
meet Don at the gate.
Contract 2000
survey deadline
Don’t forget that your Contract 2000 survey must be postmarked by July 12th.
Please take the time to fill out the survey thoughtfully and completely. If you have not
received your survey, please contact the MEC office immediately at 602-306-1208 or
800-MEC-AWAL.
SafetyNet pilot
fatigue survey
The Central Air Safety Committee has published a survey to evaluate pilot fatigue at
America West. You should find it in your T-4 mailbox next week. Please fill out the survey
truthfully and completely, and fax it to the ALPA office, or drop it in the ALPA box in
the pilot breakroom.
That concludes this
week’s update. Remember: On the flight line, every flight counts. At the negotiating
table, every pilot counts.
The
next scheduled Hotline update will be Thursday, July 15th.
- First Officers as Instructors
- Ed Sherman arbitration
- MEC Officer candidate interviews
- LEC and MEC meetings
- Retirement & Insurance Committee
appointments - Pilot retirements
- Contract 2000 survey deadline
- SafetyNet pilot fatigue survey
| MEC Hotline | ||
| This is Communications Committee Chairman David Weeks with the MEC Hotline update for Thursday, July 8th. Tonight’s Hotline items include: |