Reroute

CAPA Calls for release of new Flight/Duty Time Regulations

Washington, D.C. (August 8, 2011) —The Coalition of Airline Pilots Associations (CAPA) representing over 28,000 commercial passenger and cargo pilots, is calling on the Federal Aviation Administration to release the New Flight /Duty Time regulations addressing airline pilot fatigue as required by the Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Extension Act of 2010.
Congress, in H.R. 5900, called for new, scientifically-based limitations on the hours of flight and duty time for pilots in order to address fatigue. Furthermore, Congress mandated those rules be released no later than August 1, 2011. That deadline has passed while the rule is being analyzed at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
“The concern is that the scientifically based set of flight time/duty time regulations addressing pilot fatigue is now at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and faces a possible rewrite due to overstated airline management cost concerns and not scientific facts regarding human fatigue,” comments Captain Carl Kuwitzky, President of CAPA.

CAPA and the FAA each agree in providing comprehensive solutions to regulatory reforms, and have long advocated “One Level of Safety” for all commercial flight operations: both passenger and all-cargo. Tremendous steps forward were made in the proposed rules such as “One Level Safety” and strongly defined pilot rest requirements. For more than 25 years the National Transportation Safety Board has called for meaningful reform of these regulations to no avail, but now they are within reach.

It is vitally important to the safety of our nation’s aviation transportation system that these new rules be implemented without further delay.

The Coalition of Airline Pilots Associations is a Trade Association, representing over 28,000 Professional Airline Pilots at carriers including American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, UPS Airlines, US Airways, Southern Air, ABX Air, Atlas Air Cargo, Kalitta Air, Polar Air Cargo, Arrow Air, and Horizon Air, Miami Air, USA 3000, Omni Air, Gulfstream Air.

Herman

Does anyone have an estimate on Delta's Pilot Alpa dues annually? Again...I'm just curious.

FlyingViking

Delta Pilots Association

Carl Spackler

What a completely wacky thing to say. What on Earth does this have to do with some ALPA apologists referring to the DPA as the Detroit Pilots Association? Especially given the fact that the largest base of DPA supporters is....Atlanta.

But don't let me get facts in the way of your good times.

Everyone knows there's a real person attached. What we're saying is: Should that real person be paid over double what the going rate is for that position in the non-ALPA world? That's a legitimate question. My answer is - absolutely not. Elaine may do a good job, but this is a business. You can find other good people too who aren't over double the going rate. To do otherwise is poor stewardship of the dues-payer's money.

I'm saying no such thing. I've never said it, and I've never even intimated it.

Carl

Carl Spackler

Nobody's ever said they don't pay their lawyers top dollar. I'm sure they do - especially if they're worth it.

That's probably right. That's not where any savings would come from. Savings would come from changing our current model...which is that we Delta pilots get back less than 40% of our dues money from ALPA. That's the problem.

The pilots will get that money because they won't have given it to a national union that gives them less than 40% of it back. If Delta pilots need more for their specific representational needs, our union can ask for more knowing that it will only be used for Delta pilots...not to prop up the unions of our regional direct competitors.

Lawyer pay may not change...but that's a small piece of the wage puzzle at ALPA. Go look at that list again and you'll see that high priced lawyers are a relatively small piece of the high priced puzzle. There are scores of administrative staff people who are paid double the going rate for the same job outside of ALPA. That's a problem, and it is not excusable.

Carl

gloopy

Yeah, well how do you explain that Detroit has a D in it and the DPA not only also has a D in it, but its the first letter!

Wait, it also has an A in it...

Detroit Pilots for ALPA? Wait!

Delta Pilots of Atlanta????!?!?!?! OMG!!!!

I knew it!!!

Carl Spackler

Now that the bubba base has the most DPA members, I heard it stood for 'Da Pilots Association.'

Carl

zoomiezombie

So far no one with an icky green tag has been able to prove to me what that means. A third of our dues comes back as direct operating cash for the MEC. The other thirds fund all the things we use. The LEC budget that pays for the office and secretary in DTW (example) comes from this "other two thirds." Aeromedical, Safety, Security and all that other stuff that, apparently, no one ever uses comes from that two thirds. The ALPA office in ATL and the previous one in MSP are paid for out of that national budget, not the MEC budget. So, yes, it does come back to us. Maybe not every penny in a straight line from the bank but we use a lot more of that "remaining" money than you give credit for. Is it a full 60% return, who knows? The DPA isn't offering a 60% reduction in dues, so there must be a catch in paying for all these services.

Three reps in DTW. Three cell phones. Three cell phone bills. Three computers. An office with equipment and a secretary (who makes $35,470 BTW). All of that goes to the Herndon office from our dues and then straight to Council 20. How does that not come back to us?

Voodoo math. The DPA's own website shows that the amount a Delta pilot shares with all the ALPA carriers is around 16%*. The amount you spend out of pocket in an entire year is less than you spend on beer on one good night in RJAA. ($57.41)I dispute that you know how much of your $57.41 goes to help a pilot at Comair vs a pilot at United. United seems to have used a lot out of the Contingency Fund. How much of your personal $57.41 went to United if they borrowed a few million? Maybe the FedEx pilots are tired of subsidizing us?

I agree that it's likely that you have helped another pilot some time in your life, but that should be a good thing...

forgot to bid

Rescued. This thread almost fell out.

Alright, WHY doesn't ALPA put out a "Not only no scope relief, but we're recapturing scope. Period. End of story." I'm kind of being dramatic.

I was talking to someone about this and we were trying to figure out why no comment say like UAL/CAL.

He brought up something and I wanted to throw it out. Is it because as an opener we could walk in and say end outsourcing and the company could say scope relief to 100 seats. Throw both out and settle somewhere in the middle which is status quo.

I don't know, I'm just trying to figure out the advantage of not saying anything. I know what everyone is going to say, I was just trying to review possibilities.

Carl Spackler

DALPA is waiting for the survey results. The results they can't ever show you. The results that show nobody cares about scope.

Carl