Airline Division News Items
FAA Policy Change
Airlines will no longer be called ''customers'' of the FAA, the agency responsible for regulating aviation safety said. Randy Babbitt, the new Federal Aviation Administration chief, said Thursday that the agency will stop calling air carriers its ''customers'' — a practice adopted by the Bush administration. Lawmakers have complained the agency places the welfare of industry above the safety of passengers.
FAA Creates an Office of Audit and Evaluation
The Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday that it will overhaul the way it processes whistle-blower reports after Congress and the Department of Transportation slammed the agency last year for mishandling safety complaints
The FAA said it will create an Office of Audit and Evaluation to accept, track and coordinate action on reports from whistleblowers. The changes stem from congressional and DOT inspector general probes into safety lapses by American Airlines and Southwest Airlines last year. Some of the lapses had been brought to light by FAA whistle-blowers.
"One of the lessons we clearly learned is that we need to make sure we give people the latitude to speak up, and they should be able to do so with immunity," agency Administrator Randy Babbitt said.
Amerijet Pilots and Flight Engineers Ratify Contract
We congratulate the pilots and flight engineers for their long fight for a fair and equitable collective bargaining agreement with their employer, Amerijet International. After five years of negotiations, mediation and a strike, the crewmembers overwhelmingly voted to accept the collective bargaining agreement that was negotiated on their behalf in a two day ratification session. This ratified collective bargaining agreement addresses all of the issues that forced this group to strike.
We must point out that the crewmembers' tenacity and conviction to stay the course until the company negotiated a contract that would give them a standard of working conditions, benefits, a grievance procedure, wages, along with safe and sanitary conditions is something that should be applauded. This small group, which had support from a broad spectrum of unions, both Teamster and non-Teamster, has made history in the airline industry.
United Mechanics Section 6 Negotiations Focus on Contract Clean-up
The Teamster Negotiating Team met with the Company on September 15th and 16th. The parties had an extended discussion on the subject of contract clean©\up, specifically discussing Letters of Agreement (LOAs) contained in the contract that are outdated or should be in the body of the contract. The parties agreed to remove fourteen LOAs that are no longer applicable. The goal of this clean©\up process is to remove the chaos inherent in interpreting a collective bargaining agreement that currently contains fifty©\seven LOAs. With a clean collective bargaining agreement more easily understood by the membership and stewards, the contract can be more effectively enforced.
Also extensively discussed were disagreements about 14G attendance issues. The
United Mechanics Proposes Auditor for 20 Percent Outsourcing Analysis
The Teamsters Airline Division has proposed Miller, Kaplan, Arase & Co., LLP as the auditor to perform the 20% outsourcing audit. The Company is currently reviewing the proposal and the IBT expects an answer very shortly.
Horizon Pilots Discuss Contract Issues
Horizon pilots negotiating committee met in
World Airways Section 6 Negotiations
World Airways negotiations will take place in
Week in Review News Items
Labor Developments
Amerijet agreed to install toilets on its cargo planes as part of settling a three-week strike by the
Regulatory & Safety
It is not a good thing for its credibility when FAA releases a four paragraph press release about allowing Southwest to continue flying planes with bootlegged parts and a public interest group responds with more questions (7) and more comments (2 pages) questioning the rationale for the agency's permissiveness. One suspects here another example of the FAA's customer service initiative at work. And FAA, responding to criticisms they had grown too "cozy" with airlines, said Thursday they will stop calling carriers customers and start collecting employee and public complaints about airline safety. FAA said today it's setting up the Office of Audit and Evaluation to take aviation safety hotline calls.
DOT said today that it fined Spirit Airlines $375,000 for violations of rules on bumping passengers as part of a crackdown on "unfair and deceptive practices." First it was shoes, then water bottles and snow globes. Now dried baby formula, makeup, talcum and other powders have joined the long list of seemingly innocuous household items drawing closer scrutiny from airport screeners as potential security threats. And the $53.5 billion FAA reauthorization bill that has passed the U.S. House of Representatives has a provision that would allow the FAA to inspect foreign repair stations twice a year, and to require those facilities that work on
Airline Industry Finances
Global airlines are on pace to lose $11 billion in 2009 amid declining passenger numbers, decimated yields and fuel costs that are creeping back upward. IATA, however, stated there are now "early signs" of an upturn in premium travel demand, although further improvements are likely to be "relatively weak". While Jul-2009 numbers are still "well below" levels seen in the previous corresponding period, slipping 14.1%, they represent an improvement from the 21.3% decline in Jun-2009. IATA also warned that while premium demand has mirrored a bottoming out in world trade volumes since May-2009, an improvement in yields has not followed. As a result, average premium fares remain weak, down 23% year-on-year, with revenues from premium travel down even further, slumping 35-40% year-on-year. The
Miscellaneous
American Airlines shored up its balance sheet Thursday with $2.9 billion of new financing to help it survive a strangling decline in travel¡Now working its way through Congress as part of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2009, passenger rights provisions would establish minimum passenger standards for food, fresh air and water, comfortable cabin temperatures and rest room facilities on delayed or diverted flights¡Don't put off plans to travel around the world much longer — a new survey shows hotel prices are at their lowest in over five years.