Good point
 

Good point about alpa paying = us paying. I should have thought of that. The government paying is us paying also. Pretty much any way it is paid for is us paying for it.

The problem is the TSA. They have not written any specifications on CrewPASS. Airlines could put in place, then TSA comes out with specifications that are completely different.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jayray2 (Post 964562)

They should go to all the airport checkpoints where they have 14 TSA people standing around for one line with one x-ray machine and only 5 people waiting in line to go through and fire two TSA employees (we all see this on a weekly basis). Take that money and use it for CrewPass. Now you can fire two more TSA people because instead of 5 people standing in line there will only be 3. In the end the TSA saves money.

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That is exactly what I was thinking. Why can't they reduce the excess labor to pay for the cost?

I went through it for the first time this morning and it was amazing. One guy with a laptop got 6 pilots through in less time than it took for them to molest one passenger.

lobbying: Using personal contacts, public pressure, or political action to persuade legislators to vote in a particular manner.


AKA - the only way it will get done.





November 15, 2010—In This Issue:

§ TSA Removes CrewPASS Implementation Hurdle

TSA Removes CrewPASS Implementation Hurdle
Last week, ALPA president Capt. John Prater met with the secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, and the TSA administrator, John Pistole, to urge their support for obtaining CrewPASS in the near term. Late on Friday, ALPA received an invitation to meet with the TSA this afternoon to discuss this important program. ALPA was informed that the administrator had taken ALPA’s message seriously and that he wants to see CrewPASS implemented as quickly as possible. To help facilitate that, TSA has now dropped its previous requirement for pilots to be enrolled with a biometric (e.g., a fingerprint); this provision will be restored in the future, but what it means for now is that CrewPASS becomes much simpler and less expensive to implement than previously.

The TSA is meeting with the airlines tomorrow (Tuesday) and has asked us to coordinate with the other parties in an effort to facilitate the success of this program. Capt. Prater has reached out to the other crewmember unions and industry officials to develop a consensual solution.

TSA today emphasized that ALPA had “cleared the way” for CrewPASS to become a success.



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February 7, 2011

ALPA-PAC Gives $1.5 Million to Aid Congressional Candidates in 2010 Elections;
ALPA Members Donate Over $900,000 to ALPA-PAC in 2010

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The ALPA-PAC Steering Committee announced that the 2010 ALPA-PAC Annual Giving Campaign raised $916,000 in voluntary contributions from U.S. ALPA members. The participation rate was 14 percent, or roughly 5,500 pilots, with an average annual contribution of $165.35. More than 94 percent, or $863,000, of the revenues came from the ALPA-PAC checkoff program.

The announcement was made by the new ALPA-PAC chairman, Captain Lee Moak, ALPA’s president; the new ALPA-PAC secretary-treasurer, Captain Sean Cassidy, ALPA’s first vice president; and the five national Steering Committee members, Captains Konstantinos (Dino) Atsalis, Fred Eissler, Jeff Greco, Doug Ralph, and William Sablesak.

The Steering Committee also reported that ALPA, through ALPA-PAC, played an active role in the 2010 congressional elections, contributing just over $1.5 million to 279 candidates for the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. Of those candidates, 214 won, meaning that 77 percent of all federal candidates who received ALPA-PAC’s financial assistance were successful on Election Day. No ALPA national treasury funds were used in connection with any federal elections.

In announcing the 2010 results, Moak reminded ALPA members that “our active involvement in last year’s elections took a toll on our PAC resources. We must rebuild those funds as soon as possible to be ready for the upcoming 2012 election cycle. Our allies on Capitol Hill are already asking for our financial support, as political fundraising has become a nonstop activity.”

“As pilots, we face a wide range of issues this year,” Moak advised, “from CrewPASS to bankruptcy reform, job protections in international alliance/joint ventures to illegal use of lasers against aircraft, the cost of fuel to RLA changes, FFDO program enhancements to lithium batteries, and yet again, the FAA reauthorization legislation and all the pilot issues it addresses.

“One thing is certain,” he cautioned, “we will only succeed in advancing our legislative agenda if we have a strong lobbying program complemented by a fully funded political action program.” Moak reminded ALPA members that the 2011 ALPA-PAC Annual Giving Campaign is under way and urged them to visit the ALPA-PAC website at Alpa > Alpa Login to make a contribution today.

Once again in 2010, the PAC checkoff program provided the foundation for the success of ALPA’s political fundraising efforts. With over 5,000 U.S. ALPA pilots enrolled in the checkoff program, ALPA-PAC can count on a steady and dependable income of $72,000 each month. The average annual contribution from checkoff participants was $171.13.

ALPA-PAC checkoff programs are operating at the following 18 pilot groups: AirTran, Alaska, American Eagle, ASTAR, Atlantic Southeast, Capital Cargo, Compass, Continental, Delta, ExpressJet, FedEx Express, Hawaiian, Mesa Air Group, Mesaba, Piedmont, Pinnacle, Spirit, and United.

During 2010, ALPA-PAC implemented a new electronic contribution option for ALPA members to make voluntary PAC donations online via credit card at the ALPA-PAC website. More than 500 pilots “Backed the PAC” last year by credit card, generating $42,300 in PAC revenues.

For more information on ALPA-PAC, visit Alpa > Alpa Login or contact the ALPA Government Affairs Department at 1-888-359-2572, ext. 4033, or via e-mail at [email protected].
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I just thought of something else. Maybe I'm crazy or the 5 am vans are getting to me this week...but I wonder if the Airlines will push for it after the new duty time rules take effect. I'm not 100% sure because I haven't read the rules myself yet, but don't they base duty start time when we leave the hotel in the new rules?? Getting us through security faster will benefit the airlines if that that is the case as time spent in security will be wasted duty time.

All in all guess its time to write the gov't reps again.

Yeah I find it ridiculous that funding is the issue here. Laptops are cheap and it seems like they wouldn't need to hire additional screeners as enough of them are standing around doing nothing at every checkpoint already. I would imagine that if they bought just one less nudie booth crewpass would be able to run for at least a few years.

I actually laughed out loud for that. Hilarious but true. It's sad that those of us that spend so much time going thru security all have the same opinion, overstaffed and horribly inefficient. Somehow they manage to be slow AND have too many people.

TSA wouldn't even need to staff another person. Just give the laptop to the guy that sits in the chair watching people leave the sterile area. They look pretty bored, I'm sure they wouldn't mind having something to do.

That's how it's done in BWI. Works great, takes 30 seconds tops.

Eh, just go through the machine, make as big a hassle for those TSA morons... if we all do this they will change things quickly...just like the scanner opt outs.