MEDIA STATEMENT Contact: Karen Absalom, Communications Director

January 30, 2007 Re: Age 60 Rule Change Announcement

SWAPA President, Capt. Carl Kuwitzky, said he is looking forward to the end of the Age 60 Rule and will work with Federal Aviation Administration officials to expedite the rule making process.

“I am pleased at the direction the FAA is going and we are looking forward to working with them on the Aviation Rulemaking Committee,” Capt. Kuwitzky said.

Capt. Kuwitzky joined Southwest company officials in expressing their support for the Jan. 30 announcement from FAA Administrator Marion Blakey about the FAA move to adopt the new international standard for age 65. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) on Nov. 23, 2006 adopted a standard allowing one pilot to be age 60-65 so long as the other pilot is under age 60. The “over/under” age 65 rule has applied for foreign pilots coming into the U.S. since that time. Administrator Blakey said at the National Press Club luncheon that she is working on “global harmonization” and allowing U.S. pilots to have the same rules as foreign pilots is “the right thing to do.”

Administrator Blakey said she will extend the function of this past fall’s Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) to help gather data and make recommendations for implementation of the new age 65 rule. The ARC will help the FAA generate a Notice for Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) possibly by late fall. The NPRM is the first step in the rule making process, which could take as long as a year depending on public comment periods and other procedural issues.

SWAPA has been aggressively pursuing repeal of the Age 60 Rule since the late 1980s. The rule prohibiting commercial airline pilots from flying past age 60 has been in place since 1959. Southwest pilots, in a referendum on continuing efforts to repeal the rule during the 110th Congress, reaffirmed their desire to fly past age 60 by voting 60 percent in favor in a referendum that closed at noon CT, ironically, just as the Administrator was making her remarks.

“Our pilots have worked tirelessly to end the Age 60 Rule for more than 15 years,” Capt. Kuwitzky said. “We have had the lead in this fight, thanks to the very dedicated grassroots effort from a number of our pilots as well as support from our Company. This past fall, the momentum to change the rule took flight as we saw the ICAO standard go into effect. Today, our pilots reaffirmed their commitment to see this through until the final rule is in place.”

 

If the choice is an in-house, or ALPA... then the correct choice is ALPA. I know of no less than 3 good size carriers where the union expenses each year well exceed the dues revenue. Mostly due to hostile management intentionally causing the unin to expend as much money as possible.

When times get tough at JB - and they will eventually hit a rough period - the company will have the money and resources to bankrupt a small in-house union. It has happened time and time again in many industries.

another issue is this... ALPA has been doing this longer than anybody else. Look at the APA, they just recently contracted with ALPA to use their negotiating teams...

ALPA isn't great, but it is the best around for us all at this point in time. The side benefits just aren't matched by any other union or association.

Another thing to keep in mind is that if you joined ALPA, you are NOT joining a national union.... you are forming your own in house union - just like the complainers actually want - and it is only affiliated with the national association. ALPA is an association of dozens of smaller local unions. Each union has it's own MEC and runs iteself.

So, the reality of it is that you get the best of both worlds... you get to have, run and control your own local union; while at the same time being affiliated with a national association.

The haters don't want you to take the time and learn about unions and associations; they just want to play on your emotions one way or another.

I got NO dog in your fight... I don't work there.... and while I'm at it, I'm also not ALPA, although I was at one point a member.

National has virtually no control over your local MEC... and it's designed that way on purpose. So, do your own research, and make up your own minds.

Is ALPA perfect; nope. But it is the best thing out there right now.

 

We have our "10%ers" on either side of this, but for the most part I think you have summed up the masses right here. No one here really wants a Union to deal with or ALPA for that matter, but it is the best choice right now. Most of us came here looking for something different, it doesn't take too long to find it's the same o'l song.

 

I agree with you 1000% Windrider.

 

Yes it would.

The company itself could "represent" the pilot group under McCaskill-Bond if it so desired. I'm not sure having our leadership "represent" me with our crack-squad of lawyers is what I would want.

 

Wow. What an incredible lie. ALPA will control all your finances as well as your access to the experts. Other than that, you control everything.

 

MC-Bond would only apply if the transaction involved a single carrier status. There is currently no requirment to merge the operation. If the operation is not merged then it's easy to just phase out one side of the operation.

This is one of the open ended issues we have here in the JB experiment.

 

I stand corrected.

 

JetBlue pilots should take notice of what they did to TWA pilots, a founding member carrier of ALPA. TWA pilots just won their DFR lawsuit against ALPA, and damages are to come. B6 can do better without ALPA, IMHO.

 

Just received a couple days ago (quotes in place to protect the retarded)

Good Afternoon Captain,

It has come to our attention that some of your airline has ceased deducting your ALPA dues through the dues check-off (DCO) program. In an effort to accurately update your ALPA account, we are requesting that you provide a copy of your final paystub for 2010 and most recent pay stub for 2011 as soon as possible and return it to ALPA either by fax at 703-481-2462, email or by mail to:

Attn: Membership Svc Dept. (" ")

Air Line Pilots Association

535 Herndon Parkway

Herndon, VA 20170

I have copied the " " MEC Secretary - Treasurer, Captain " ", on this email. Please feel free to contact either of us if you have any questions or concerns. I can reached at 1-888-FLY-ALPA, option 3 then 3 again.

Thank you,

" "

Membership & Council Services
Air Line Pilots Association, International
535 Herndon Pkwy
PO Box 1169
Herndon, VA 20172
1-888-FLY-ALPA, option 3, then 3 again


A) I left that company almost a year ago
B) I received confirmation that they received notice of my resignation from the company
C) They still want my money but took practically a year to wake up and realize it
D) Now I "owe" them a years worth of back-dues

All you can do is laugh, but wait, people make mistakes...(who said ALPA national has no control over our MEC!?!?)

Go ALPA! F'en joke. Now let me hear the whine, whine, whines.....