In Memoriam
It is with great sadness that the Airline Division has been advised that Local 1224 notified their Atlas Air members of the tragic death of First Officer Rafael Monterroza Jr., who passed away on Wednesday, August 13th as the result of a motorcycle accident.
Rafael was hired at Atlas in February of 2013 and had been a B-747 FO with Atlas for 18 months. He would have celebrated his birthday on August 14. His father, Rafael Sr. is also an FO with Atlas.
For those wishing to attend services; there will be a wake held on Monday, August 18th, from 6:00-10:00 p.m. at the Memorial Plan Southern Memorial Funeral Home, 15011 West Dixie Highway N., Miami, FL 33181. Funeral services will be on Tuesday, August 19th, from 11:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. The union requests all pilots attend in uniform as a show of brotherly solidarity.
Further information may be found at the following link:
http://www.memorialplanlbp.com/dm20/en_US/locations/25/2563/index.page
Airline Industry News
Governmental and Regulatory
Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx is pushing lawmakers to start work on renewing the Federal Aviation Administration's funding. The current funding bill is set to expire in Sept. 2015.
The Federal Aviation Administration announced that an unmanned aircraft systems test site at Griffiss International Airport is now up and running. Researchers at the Rome, N.Y., site will focus on studying agricultural uses for drones as well as methods for avoiding collisions with other aircraft.
U.S. airlines transported 65.8 million passengers in May, the busiest May on record in six years, according to the Department of Transportation. U.S. carriers posted a 1.5% increase in passengers in May on a year-over-year basis, including a 4.7% boost in international travelers for the month.
Airlines, Industry and Labor
United Airlines has changed the method for determining employee bonuses to rely less on on-time rankings. "Incentive programs need to evolve so that they reward the right outcomes," said Christen David, a spokeswoman for United. Employees eligible for bonuses can earn up to $125 a month under the new method.
