MEC Hotline

Good evening, this is Herb Holland with
the MEC hotline for Thursday, August 22. Tonight’s hot topics are:

Major Contingency Fund
I Don’t Want No Freedom
Mesa Jumpseats
Labor Day Parade
A Non-Sched Airline
Local Council Meetings
Professionalism

MCF Approval
Wednesday afternoon, the MEC made its Major Contingency Fund (MCF)
presentation before the ALPA Executive Council. The presentation took
about 10 to 15 minutes and was followed by a few minutes of questions.
The Executive Council, which consists of all the ALPA Executive Vice Presidents
and the national officers, unanimously reaffirmed our entire MCF budget
of $3 Million and authorized $817,000 funding for our expenses over the
next five months. The additional $2.2 million is available, as our needs
require. The Executive Council was extremely enthusiastic about committing
all available ALPA resources to our crusade.

I Don’t Want No Freedom
While I was in DC this week, Mesa MEC Chairman and ALPA EVP Andy
Hughes briefed me thoroughly on the status of “Freedom Air.”
On Monday, Aug. 19, 22 Mesa pilots who requested “leaves of absence”
began training at the Mesa Training Center on Van Buren and 42nd Street.
We have compiled a list of these pilots and will publish it as soon as
we can verify every name. The MEC does not want to make any false accusations.
Give us a few days.

Meanwhile, we are evaluating whether or
not these “volunteers” are even allowed jumpseat privileges,
not because of any anti-union behavior, but because we have to ask the
questions: Are they active airline employees? Are they qualified to ride
in a jumpseat per the FARs? What ID are they using? How can we even consider
letting them ride if they are working for a carrier that doesn’t even
have a certificate? And how can they occupy a jumpseat if they are not
a qualified crewmember? Until we publish this list, do nothing different
with Mesa jumpseaters. NOTHING. Do not assume any Mesa pilot is a “freedom.”
The ones still flying for Mesa are our brothers and sisters. Your MEC
will stay on top of this developing story. Also, wasn’t “Freedom”
the proposed name of Francisco Lorenzo’s stillborn BWI airline?

Labor Day Parade
We are going to start the fall season off right by participating
in the annual AFL-CIO Labor Day Parade. The Parade is a short one, just
an hour long, 8 to 9 a.m. We are going to assemble between 6:30 and 8
a.m. on 5th Street between Washington and Jefferson. The parade will end
at Adams and 17th Avenue. ASSUMING we get our lease signed and the electricity
on by September 2nd, we will be having a reception and lunch at the new
strike center starting at 10:30 a.m. The proposed location is on McDowell,
near 44th Street. We’ll have the exact address for you after we sign the
lease and have security in place. It is about two miles from the office.
It will be hot out there, so conservative shorts or jeans, comfortable
shoes and your solidarity T-shirt will be the uniform of the day. If you
don’t have your T-shirt, we’ll have some extras available.

A Non-Sched Airline
Last weekend’s transition from BP 195 to 196 once again turned AWA
into a non-sched operation. The company took the concept of trip ownership
to new lows. Pilots were not only rerouted before they even reported,
they were being shifted from day pairings to night pairings. This abuse
has gotten totally out of hand. Reserves, beware, if you are on the first
day of a four-day reserve assignment and get called out for a TUS turn,
you better pack for the full four days or until you break down. But remember,
Crew Scheduling had better have an assignment for you when you get back
or release you. There ain’t no “hot reserve” in the crew lounge
anywhere in the contract.

Local Council Meetings
The next Local Council meeting is on Tuesday, Sept. 3 at the Doubletree
Suites at 6 p.m. That evening, we will be nominating and electing a permanent
F/O rep to fill the vacancy that expires on February 28, 2003. Local Executive
Council Chairman Bill Goin has also scheduled a Local Council meeting
for Wednesday, Oct. 2. The guest speaker will be AWA President and CEO
Douglas Parker.

Professionalism
Professionalism goes well beyond obeying the FARs, obeying the FOM
and following the contract. Professionalism includes courtesy to your
flying partners, courtesy to your fellow employees and courtesy to your
passengers. And professionalism also means making those difficult go,
no-go decisions. Do I call in sick when I’m not certain I can finish a
trip safely and might lose some pay in the process? Do I call in fatigued
knowing that if I go below 77 hours the company will illegally reduce
my pay? Do I write up that broken item, or do I “carry it” back
to PHX? Do I violate clear-cut contract language by cutting a deal or
looking the other way? As professionals, we all know the answer. Because
in each of the above examples, if we behave like the professionals that
we are, we may inconvenience ourselves, we may inconvenience a few passengers,
and we may inconvenience the company, but we will truly be obeying the
FARs, obeying the FOM and following the contract. And remember, at AWA,
safety is our number one priority.

Good evening.