America West has resumed limited
operations this afternoon and the airline planned to operate approximately
260 flights today. Crew Scheduling has been contacting crews and
making assignments, but they don’t appear to be following any set
procedure or schedule in doing so. Some pilots were contacted Wednesday
with flight assignments, some pilots were contacted two hours before
their scheduled report time today. If you are being assigned a pairing,
Crew Scheduling tells us that they will contact you. They have asked
that pilots not call them with questions.
Because of the increased security,
pilots are being asked to report two hours before departure. Pilots
are also asked to remove pocket knives, leathermen, nail clippers,
cork screws or any other item that could be used as a weapon from
their flight bags. All aircraft are required to be searched prior
to boarding and after catering is completed. Station managers have
been assigned the responsibility of coordinating this so captains
at outstations should communicate with the station manager if they
have concerns about this. As always, the ultimate determination
of safety rests with the captain in command. We urge you to use
your discretion if for any reason you feel your flight cannot operate
safely. ALPA will support any decision a captain makes in regard
to safety. ALPA issued a security bulletin today on resuming flight
operations. You can read the bulletin on the MEC web site at www.awalpa.org
or on the ALPA board in the Terminal 4 Pilot Lounge.
Many pilots have called with questions
about the MEC’s agreement with the company to temporarily suspend
a certain number of our work rules. The MEC has agreed to relax
scheduling provisions of our collective bargaining agreement during
the current national emergency. That means it is the individual
pilot’s option to waive work rules or not. This week’s disaster
presents a situation that is outside the parameters of our working
relationship. We encourage everyone to do what you can in this team
effort. But, remember to take care of yourself, your family and
your friends. Do not violate the FARs, be extremely vigilant, and
do not exceed your own limitations.
Some statements attributed to the
company regarding commuters and deadheading are outside the agreement
with the MEC and are not accurate. Again, any efforts made by pilots
that are outside regular contractual provisions are encouraged by
the MEC, but are entirely voluntary.
Several pilots have reported for
duty with expired company ID cards. Please check your ID to make
sure it is current. If you have an expired ID and are in Phoenix,
go to company headquarters to get a new card. If you are at an outstation
and have an expired ID, you will need chief pilot authorization
to get past security. Call the chief pilot’s office at (480) 693-2926
if you are at an outstation with an expired ID.
There may be some confusion as to
who is authorized to ride in the cockpit jump seat. Per the chief
pilot’s office, cockpit jump seat privileges are temporarily limited
to only U.S. certificated pilots employed by domestic Part 121 carriers.
No pilots from non-U.S. carriers, no flight deck authorization card
riders and no pilots employed by Part 135 carriers will be authorized
to use an America West jump seat.
As we return to normal flight duties,
it is extremely likely that our children, our spouses and significant
others will likely have major issues and worries with us as pilots
returning to the flight deck. America West does have an EAP plan
in effect and you and your entire family can use this plan for counseling.
Please call 1-800-837-4292 if you live in Arizona, or 1-800-321-2843
anywhere else to make use of these benefits.
Please be patient when returning
to work as this is a stressful time for all of us. It will be critical
for you to maintain constant communications with fellow employees,
especially your cabin crew.
http://lists.pilotnews.org/mailman/listinfo/pilotnews
Current subscribers will continue
to receive Pilotnews as usual. Other improvements to the list include
the ability of subscribers to change their e-mail address via the
Web, archival of postings and the ability to temporarily suspend
postings without unsubscribing from the list.
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| Good evening, this is MEC Communications Specialist Scott Sherrin with the hotline update on Thursday, Sept. 13 at 1650 Mountain Time. Today’s topics are: |
| Resuming Operations |
| Local Council Nominating Ballots |
| Pilot News Improvements |
| Resuming Operations |
| Local Council Nominating Ballots |
| As a reminder, nominating ballots for the upcoming first officer representative election must be delivered to Council 62 by 1800 on Sept. 18. If you have not already mailed in your ballot, it is probably too late because of the current mail delivery disruptions. Instead, please drop your completed ballots in the ALPA box in the Terminal 4 Pilot Lounge or arrange to have them hand delivered to the MEC office or the Sept. 18 Local Council meeting. |
| Pilotnews Improvements |
| David Weeks has implemented several improvements in the ALPA Council 62 Pilotnews mailing list. Pilots may now sign up through a Web page. While the old e-mail sign-up process will continue to work for awhile, pilots who wish to subscribe to Pilotnews should go to this Web page: |
| That’s all for tonight. We will update this hotline as events warrant. Thanks for listening. |