Airline Division News Items
Airline Division Director Supports Next Gen at DOT
David Bourne, IBT Airline Division Director, submitted testimony to DOT Undersecretary Roy Kienitz on May 13, 2009, stating strong Teamster support for moving forward and funding Next Gen, the name given to the initiative necessary to upgrade our antiquated air traffic control system. David Bourne said the current system, "causes significant delays and a terrible inconvenience to America's commercial airline passengers".
Teamsters Testify on Hill Regarding FedEx Express Carrier Loophole and Aircraft Maintenance Outsourcing
Ken Hall, Vice-President at Large and Director of the Package Division of the Teamsters, testified on May 13, 2009, before the Senate Aviation, Operations, Safety and Security Subcommittee. He stated the Teamsters strongly supports HR 915, authored by Chairman Jim Oberstar, which closes a loophole in the current law allowing one company, FedEX, to misclassify thousands of workers under the wrong labor law. HR 915 restores the original intent of the Railway Labor Act by stipulating that employees of an express carrier are covered by the Railway Labor Act only if their work relates directly to aircraft operations, while employees that have nothing to do with aircraft operations are covered under the National Labor Relations Act.
The second part of Mr. Hall's testimony addressed the dangerous trend of outsourcing heavy aircraft maintenance on American commercial aircraft to foreign repair stations. FAA-certificated foreign repair stations are not subject to the same safety and security standards as domestic repair stations. Current language in HR 915 attempts to close some of the safety loopholes in the current FAA regulations. In addition IBT has proposed additional legislation, "the Aircraft Maintenance Safety And Security Act of 2009", which would require the FAA and TSA to insure that passengers on U.S. airlines are provided with the same level of safety and security regardless of where the aircraft are maintained.
Airline Division to Add Podcasts to the Weekly News
The Airline Division is planning to add a podcast by the Division Director, David Bourne, in the near future. This will allow the Director to speak directly and on a routine basis to all the Teamster members on important topics.
Colgan Accident Hearings
David Bourne attended several days of National Transportation Safety Board hearings in Washingtonon the Colgan Airlines' accident last winter near BuffaloNew York. These hearings are very important and were held "en banc" with all the members of the NTSB in attendance. The safety issues under investigations cover, pilot selection, crew experience, pilot fatigue, regional carrier pay scales, sterile cockpit procedures, stall recovery training, among others. The results of this investigation could be "a game changer" for the Regional airline industry said Davis Bourne. Senate hearings on the issues uncovered in the NTSB hearings are likely to be held in June.
David Bourne Attends CRAF Hearings
The "Economic Viability of Civil Reserve Air Fleet" was the topic before the Senate Aviation Subcommittee on May 13, 2009. "A large number of our Teamster air carriers are participants in the CRAF program," said David Bourne, "and this is a very important topic for them". The hearing gave David Bourne the opportunity to talk to a number of airline CEO's in attendance. One important topic he was able to discuss was the addition of counter measures against manpads (man-portable-air-defense-systems) to the CRAF fleet. These systems would be paid for by DOD. The Teamsters strongly support the addition of these defense systems for the safety of the CRAF fleet.
Week in Review News Items
Labor Developments
When the seniority dispute between pilots at US Airways went to trial two weeks ago, US Airways CEO Doug Parker said that the airline hoped it would resolve the divisive issue. The verdict came in Wednesday — in favor of the former America West pilots who sued their new union — and early signs indicate it won't bring closure anytime soon, due to legal maneuvers. Continental Airlines said Wednesday it is closing a call center in Tampa, Fla., and cutting 500 reservation agents companywide. The carrier cited a weak economy and customers' growing preference for Web-based reservations.
Regulatory
The Department of Transportation plans to rescind its plans for slot auctions at New York-area airports. The DOT had planned to take a number of takeoff and landing slots from airlines operating at Newark, LaGuardia and Kennedy and auction then to the highest bidder. Revealed last fall under the Bush administration, the slot auction plan immediately drew fire from airlines, airport operators and analysts.
Crew Resource Management
The head of the National Transportation Safety Board on Wednesday told executives of Colgan Air, whose plane crashed outside Buffalo in February, that paying new pilots very low wages without taking into account that some would commute across the country to their jobs constituted "winking and nodding" at safety policy. The testimony this week about the fatal crash will spawn a series of congressional hearings and could lead to changes in pilot rest and duty rules. If regulators require that pilots have more rest, regional carriers such as American Eagle will have to hire more pilots, increasing their costs when the industry is on pace to lose several billion dollars this year because of low demand. Other reports can be found at The New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal.
Airline Industry Economics
Passenger traffic at New York City area airports dropped by 11.6 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, reflecting the declining economy, the Port Authority of New York and New Jerseysaid Tuesday. The Port Authority also reported that area ports suffered their biggest quarterly drop in more than 15 years, with volumes falling 17.4 percent. Air cargo traffic was down 29.8 percent. And the current global economic crisis is hurting the aviation industry more than the downturn that followed the September 11 attacks of 2001, leaving a recovery of the commercial jet market unlikely before 2011, according to Embraer CEO Frederico Curado. Weakened by a charge for a stalled military transport plane and an economic downturn that has cut into orders for its Airbus jets, European Aeronautic Defense and Space reported a 40 percent drop in first-quarter earnings on Tuesday.