Any "Latest & Greatest" about Delta?
11-11-2010, 09:06 AM
Da Hudge
Joined APC: Oct 2006
Position: Poodle Whisperer
Posts: 17,473
Originally Posted by Superpilot92
Welp. Where's ALPA? The crickets are chirping and even USAPA is looking out for its members....
11-11-2010, 09:07 AM
Underboob King
Joined APC: May 2005
Position: Guppy Commander
Posts: 4,412
USAPA Stance
US Airline Pilots Association President’s Statement in full:
Fellow Pilots,
The TSA’s rapid deployment of Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) screening machines, followed by the new Enhanced Pat-Down procedures, have caused turmoil for airline pilots and the traveling public alike. These changes are far reaching, intrusive and have been implemented almost overnight, leaving little time for groups who are adversely affected to form a response.
On October 21, USAPA’s Security Committee issued an update on the new AIT scanners and outlined our options for dealing with the new rules. Since that time several pilots and flight attendants have encountered problems with TSOs and their implementation of the rules. One US Airways pilot, after being selected for an enhanced pat-down, experienced a frisking that has left him unable to function as a crewmember. The words this pilot used to describe the incident included “sexual molestation,” and in the aftermath of trying to recover, this pilot reported that he had literally vomited in his own driveway while contemplating going back to work and facing the possibility of a similar encounter with the TSA. This is a very serious situation, and it represents a crossroads for all U.S. airline pilots.
One of the difficulties is the TSA’s intentional random application of the rules. While it might be effective for their purposes, it wreaks havoc with our ability to inform our pilots on how to handle each and every situation.
Here is a summary of USAPA’s current position on AIT screening machines and Enhanced Pat-Down procedures:
• Pilots should NOT submit to AIT screening. The TSA has offered no credible specifications for the radiation emitted by these machines. As pilots, we are exposed to more radiation as a function of our normal duties than nearly every other category of worker in the United States. Based on currently available medical information, USAPA has determined that frequent exposure to TSA-operated scanner devices may subject pilots to significant health risks.
• Pilots should employ the following method of avoiding AIT screening:
• Make every effort to use security access lines that utilize standard magnetometer devices. If security access points with magnetometer devices are not available, or if there is a change in the device being used once in line, pilots should elect to submit to a private TSA-agent pat-down.
• When submitting to a private, enhanced pat-down procedure, pilots must be sure that a witness, preferably a crewmember, accompanies them during the pat-down.
• After being subjected to an enhanced pat-down procedure, pilots must evaluate their fitness for duty. As has been determined, there is a wide range of possibilities once you submit to a private screening, and the results can be devastating. Unacceptable as this is to all USAPA pilots, and until these invasive measures are no longer implemented on airline pilots, it is your responsibility to make sure you are emotionally fit and not stressed in any way by your close encounter with the TSA.
• Remain professional and courteous in all situations.
• Contact any member of the Security Committee if you need any assistance.
[Names redacted.]
Let’s be perfectly clear: the TSA procedures we have outlined above are blatantly unacceptable as a long-term solution. Although an immediate solution cannot be guaranteed, I can promise you that your union will not rest until all U.S. airline pilots have a way to reach their workplace … the aircraft … without submitting ourselves to the will of a TSO behind closed doors. This situation has already produced a sexual molestation in alarmingly short order. Left unchecked, there’s simply no way to predict how far the TSA will overreach in searching and frisking pilots who are, ironically, mere minutes from being in the flight deck. As we all know, it makes no difference what a pilot has on his or her person or in their luggage, because they have control of the aircraft throughout the entire flight. The eyewash being dribbled by the TSA in this instance is embarrassingly devoid of common sense, and we will not stand for it.
USAPA’s Security Committee and USAPA Legal are working diligently on several fronts to find an acceptable remedy. I directed our legal team to request of the TSA, pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, any written materials that contain the protocol for conducting these enhanced pat-downs. Should this situation not be resolved by working with the TSA, we will take our concerns to Capitol Hill. On a parallel track, we are working with the other CAPA pilot unions to find allies in our struggle. Make no mistake; this is a fight to restore the dignity we deserve as the last line of defense against terrorists who would use airplanes as weapons of mass destruction. We are not the enemy, and we will not stand for being treated as such before each duty period. The TSA needs to recognize professional airline pilots for the security asset that we are, even as many of us serve as Federal Flight Deck Officers. There are a number of access mechanisms available as a remedy, including CrewPass and biometric identification. These solutions will allow the TSA to capitalize on airline pilots as security assets.
This letter is meant to provide you with important interim guidance as we seek long-term solutions. Please stay up to date on this critical affront to our profession. Documentation will be a critical element to this battle. Therefore, should you have any difficulties traversing security, please outline the incident with as much detail as possible, including TSO names and badge numbers, and send it immediately to [email protected]. I urge each of you to continue to maintain your ultimate professionalism in the face of these attacks on our profession. As you maintain your composure, your union will fight unequivocally with all of our resources and allies to right this wrong.
Sincerely,
Captain Mike Cleary
President
——————————————————————
Fellow Pilots,
The TSA’s rapid deployment of Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) screening machines, followed by the new Enhanced Pat-Down procedures, have caused turmoil for airline pilots and the traveling public alike. These changes are far reaching, intrusive and have been implemented almost overnight, leaving little time for groups who are adversely affected to form a response.
On October 21, USAPA’s Security Committee issued an update on the new AIT scanners and outlined our options for dealing with the new rules. Since that time several pilots and flight attendants have encountered problems with TSOs and their implementation of the rules. One US Airways pilot, after being selected for an enhanced pat-down, experienced a frisking that has left him unable to function as a crewmember. The words this pilot used to describe the incident included “sexual molestation,” and in the aftermath of trying to recover, this pilot reported that he had literally vomited in his own driveway while contemplating going back to work and facing the possibility of a similar encounter with the TSA. This is a very serious situation, and it represents a crossroads for all U.S. airline pilots.
One of the difficulties is the TSA’s intentional random application of the rules. While it might be effective for their purposes, it wreaks havoc with our ability to inform our pilots on how to handle each and every situation.
Here is a summary of USAPA’s current position on AIT screening machines and Enhanced Pat-Down procedures:
• Pilots should NOT submit to AIT screening. The TSA has offered no credible specifications for the radiation emitted by these machines. As pilots, we are exposed to more radiation as a function of our normal duties than nearly every other category of worker in the United States. Based on currently available medical information, USAPA has determined that frequent exposure to TSA-operated scanner devices may subject pilots to significant health risks.
• Pilots should employ the following method of avoiding AIT screening:
• Make every effort to use security access lines that utilize standard magnetometer devices. If security access points with magnetometer devices are not available, or if there is a change in the device being used once in line, pilots should elect to submit to a private TSA-agent pat-down.
• When submitting to a private, enhanced pat-down procedure, pilots must be sure that a witness, preferably a crewmember, accompanies them during the pat-down.
• After being subjected to an enhanced pat-down procedure, pilots must evaluate their fitness for duty. As has been determined, there is a wide range of possibilities once you submit to a private screening, and the results can be devastating. Unacceptable as this is to all USAPA pilots, and until these invasive measures are no longer implemented on airline pilots, it is your responsibility to make sure you are emotionally fit and not stressed in any way by your close encounter with the TSA.
• Remain professional and courteous in all situations.
• Contact any member of the Security Committee if you need any assistance.
[Names redacted.]
Let’s be perfectly clear: the TSA procedures we have outlined above are blatantly unacceptable as a long-term solution. Although an immediate solution cannot be guaranteed, I can promise you that your union will not rest until all U.S. airline pilots have a way to reach their workplace … the aircraft … without submitting ourselves to the will of a TSO behind closed doors. This situation has already produced a sexual molestation in alarmingly short order. Left unchecked, there’s simply no way to predict how far the TSA will overreach in searching and frisking pilots who are, ironically, mere minutes from being in the flight deck. As we all know, it makes no difference what a pilot has on his or her person or in their luggage, because they have control of the aircraft throughout the entire flight. The eyewash being dribbled by the TSA in this instance is embarrassingly devoid of common sense, and we will not stand for it.
USAPA’s Security Committee and USAPA Legal are working diligently on several fronts to find an acceptable remedy. I directed our legal team to request of the TSA, pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, any written materials that contain the protocol for conducting these enhanced pat-downs. Should this situation not be resolved by working with the TSA, we will take our concerns to Capitol Hill. On a parallel track, we are working with the other CAPA pilot unions to find allies in our struggle. Make no mistake; this is a fight to restore the dignity we deserve as the last line of defense against terrorists who would use airplanes as weapons of mass destruction. We are not the enemy, and we will not stand for being treated as such before each duty period. The TSA needs to recognize professional airline pilots for the security asset that we are, even as many of us serve as Federal Flight Deck Officers. There are a number of access mechanisms available as a remedy, including CrewPass and biometric identification. These solutions will allow the TSA to capitalize on airline pilots as security assets.
This letter is meant to provide you with important interim guidance as we seek long-term solutions. Please stay up to date on this critical affront to our profession. Documentation will be a critical element to this battle. Therefore, should you have any difficulties traversing security, please outline the incident with as much detail as possible, including TSO names and badge numbers, and send it immediately to [email protected]. I urge each of you to continue to maintain your ultimate professionalism in the face of these attacks on our profession. As you maintain your composure, your union will fight unequivocally with all of our resources and allies to right this wrong.
Sincerely,
Captain Mike Cleary
President
——————————————————————
11-11-2010, 09:12 AM
Happy to be here
Joined APC: Jun 2006
Position: A-320A
Posts: 18,563
Like I said, call you Security Committee Chair and Vice, their phones are open! 
11-11-2010, 09:12 AM
Underboob King
Joined APC: May 2005
Position: Guppy Commander
Posts: 4,412
Originally Posted by acl65pilot
Super, and to anyone else. Call you Security Chair and Vice Chair about your concerns. I am sure they want to hear from you.
11-11-2010, 09:14 AM
Da Hudge
Joined APC: Oct 2006
Position: Poodle Whisperer
Posts: 17,473
I'm sure they are. Do we need to get a bunch of people to call so they actually put out communication to us, though? That logic does not work and it is not their function to idley sit back and wait for us to call them while this mess is going on.
11-11-2010, 09:15 AM
Happy to be here
Joined APC: Jun 2006
Position: A-320A
Posts: 18,563
Super, call em too.
11-11-2010, 09:19 AM
Inventory survival kit ..
Joined APC: Jul 2008
Position: Seeking no jacket required rotations
Posts: 1,069
11-11-2010, 10:09 AM
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Dec 2007
Position: No to large RJs
Posts: 369
Thanks USAPA. Another example of independent unions being in touch with its members and ALPA being out to lunch. Good thing the guys at DPA have given us a choice.
11-11-2010, 10:20 AM
seeing the large hubs...
Joined APC: Oct 2006
Position: 73N A
Posts: 3,707
Originally Posted by PilotFrog
I didn't know about the MOU for BOG, but I looked at the NY ER Dec parings and it has an A,B line and a B line for the RP, the route shifts to the 73 mid month, and there is only one line with A,B. The flight into Bog is now not on the backside of the clock though.
I looked up the MoU #13 and did not see anything that had to do with Bogota, it had to do with the ASAP program.
I looked up the MoU #13 and did not see anything that had to do with Bogota, it had to do with the ASAP program.
MOU #13
MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING Between DELTA AIR LINES, INC. and the Air Line Pilots in the service of DELTA AIR LINES, INC. as represented by the AIR LINE PILOTS ASSOCIATION, INTERNATIONAL JFK-BOG Overnight Operations
This Memorandum of Understanding is made and entered into under the provisions of the Railway Labor Act, as amended, between Delta Air Lines, Inc. (the “Company”) and the Air Line Pilots Association, International (the “Association”).
WHEREAS, the Company and the Association are parties to a collective bargaining agreement setting forth the rates of pay, rules and working conditions for the Company’s pilots (“Pilot Working Agreement” or “PWA”) effective October 30, 2008, and
WHEREAS the Company intends to schedule overnight flights between JFK-BOG; and
WHEREAS Bogota’s El Nuevo Dorado International Airport is considered a Special Airport Qualification (SAQ) airport due to the surrounding mountainous terrain; and
WHEREAS the Company desires to add an additional First Officer to this overnight pairing in order to further enhance flight safety.
NOW THEREFORE, it is mutually agreed:
1. “Overnight JFK-BOG flight” means any flight segment between JFK and BOG that is scheduled to depart JFK on or after 2000E and prior to 0459E.
2. Effective January 18, 2010, overnight JFK-BOG flights will: a. be scheduled and operated with an additional First Officer, b. not contain any other scheduled flight segments within the same duty period, c. operate under all applicable two-pilot, non-trans-oceanic maximum scheduled duty
time and hours of service limits under Section 12 D. 1. (table), and d. operate only on aircraft equipped with a pilot relief seat under Section 16 C. 2.
3. For purposes of crew duties and rotation construction, the additional First Officer will be considered a relief pilot.
-1-
MOU 13
4. Overnight JFK-BOG flights shall not be construed to be operating with an augmented crew.
This Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) will become effective on January __, 2010 and will remain in effect concurrent with the PWA. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the provisions of this MOU may be terminated by either party by providing written notification to the other party at least 60 days in advance.
11-11-2010, 10:48 AM
Underboob King
Joined APC: May 2005
Position: Guppy Commander
Posts: 4,412
Well alpa finally put out a response to the TSA disaster. While I'm glad that a message was put out I was a bit miffed that the delay on crewpass is only because of a $50 yearly cost per pilot. Alpa says that companies would t fit the bill so basically that was that but now they're going to look other ways to cover the cost, alpa should have put some of my dues towards crewpass IMHO. That would be putting my dues towards a good cause!! The majority of our dalpa dues are used for other pilot groups needs instead of our own. We could have easily put a portion of our dues for this.
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