Fall 2003 a publication for the ALPA pilots at Council 37 at Comair
Transcription
Fall 2003 a publication for the ALPA pilots at Council 37 at Comair
Fall 2003 Upfront a publication for the ALPA pilots at Council 37 at Comair TABLE OF CONTENTS PUBLICATION POLICY UPFRONT is a forum for member pilots at the Air Line Pilots Associations Council 37 at Comair. Contributions are welcomed from all members in good standing. Material submitted should not be libelous, plagiarized, or in obvious poor taste. Contributions are subject to editing. Material published in UPFRONT authored by other than a representative or committee of the MEC or either LEC will be presented as the opinion of the individual author. No anonymous material will be considered for publication. We welcome comments regarding the newsletter and its contents and urge you to submit recommendations as to how the publication can be improved. SUBMISSION FORMAT: Most word processor languages are supported. NO FAX or handwritten submissions, please. All printed submissions must be clear enough for OCR software processing. Please use paragraph indent and single space throughout; single spacing between paragraphs. DEADLINES: The next issue of the UPFRONT will be published January 1. Its deadline for article submission is December 1. Deadline December 1 March 1 June 1 September 1 Issue January, 1st Quarter April, 2nd Quarter July, 3rd Quarter October, 4th Quarter Council 37 ................................... 4 MEC ............................................ 8 Tailends ..................................... 16 Editorials .................................. 18 Volunteer Directory ................. 20 Accident/Incident Guide ........ 23 Editors Note Welcome to the UPFRONT, ALPA Local Executive Council 37s quarterly newsletter. We hope that the content herein will inform you, entertain you, and perhaps most importantly, provoke youprovoke you to thought, reflection, and action. Of these, action may well be the most important. I invite you to peruse the Volunteer List included in this issue and see how many positions remain vacant. Positions that call out for you; for if you dont step forward, who will? Who will carry on the work of serving the pilots of Comair if not the pilots of Comair themselves? Yes, it takes time. Yes, it takes effort. Yes, it can be frustrating. But, in the end, we largely make our own destinies by our diligence and perserverance. Some I speak with complain that ALPA doesnt do enough; the MEC doesnt communicate, the LEC does this or that incorrectly. Well, the answer lies in participation. If you dont like a particular aspect of our union performance, GET INVOLVED AND CHANGE IT. Thats how we work. Democratically. By vote. So attend meetings. Volunteer. Get involved and help shape your destiny. As one of the founding fathers said in the dark days of 76, We must all hang together, or we shall surely all hang separately. All material to be considered for publication must be submitted prior to these dates, which will be posted on the ALPA bulletin boards in CVG, announced on VARS and ASPEN, as well as printed in the current issue. With this in mind, please note: This is your UPFRONT. If we receive only two articles, we will publish a two-page UPFRONT. We will no longer hold material until we have enough to publish. If you are an officer, we strongly encourage your input. And all other ALPA members are invited to submit articles as well. Material may be forwarded as follows: ELECTRONIC MAIL: [email protected] STANDARD MAIL Ashley Messenger 4318 Hwy 10 Alexandria, KY 41001 (859) 694-3508 Layout and Design by Peggy Messenger Cover Photo by Ashley Messenger 2 UPFRONT / Fall 2003 If you dont see it, ask where it is. If youre not wearing itwear it! When youre wearing itwear it proudly. Display your ALPA pin! It is the symbol of our Association, our profession, our Unity! by Bart Groeneveld by Bart Groeneveld Through the years... Strength from Within 3 COUNCIL 37 Cincinnati LEC VICE CHAIRMAN Allen Cook, First officer Another summer has come and gone. Before long, we will be deicing, and the last month of hot steamy weather will be a warm memory while starting a cold airplane at 0600 somewhere in the north. The 1,400 pilots who spent 89 days away from work and the 400-plus pilots who have joined us since have endured some of the worst airline economic hurdles in our history. Working together, Comair has continued to grow and prosper in this difficult economic environment. This growing family must continue to adapt and stay focused on the goal of protecting our careers and livelihoods. I have highlighted some of the major accomplishments and some of the major hurdles that will help us in the near future. When the company came to us and asked us to help by Peggy Messenger with cost savings by limiting the APU usage, doing reduced thrust takeoffs, and single engine taxis, we all stepped up to the plate. It is important to remember not to sacrifice safety or passenger comfort to save some money. I am not asking you to make the passengers swim in their own sweat or freeze them into ice cubes. If you need it, use it. If you dont need it, dont use it. 4 UPFRONT / Fall 2003 It is important for everyone to remember to listen to the VARS: (800) 441-3745. It is best way for the MEC to pass on important information to the pilot group. We try to update the message every other week unless breaking news requires an immediate update. We now have a button 4 that is for LEC business and local pilot updates. If you have an update, please contact Gwen Alletag, Kevin Weilein, or me. It is also important to attend LEC meetings if you are able. Before too much longer we will be preparing for contract negotiations again. The MEC takes its direction from the pilot group and your issue may not get attention unless you speak up. In the last two months, four probationary pilots have been terminated. In most, if not all, of the cases, the pilot would still be employed if they would have contacted a status representative prior to meeting with a chief pilot. Nn case of termination, probationary pilots have all of the rights offered by ALPA except the grievance process. We recommend that all pilots, not just the probationary pilots, contact a status rep prior to meeting with a chief pilot. If you have a conflict with another crewmember, please contact Pro Standards instead of the Chief Pilots Office. Steve, Max, Jack, and Jim are very busy, and our taking care of our own problems will save them time and may save you from an unpaid vacation. Who knew when we signed the contract two and a half years ago that the terrible events of September 11th would have major negative ramifications on the airline industry? Between the massive furloughs and the race to the bottom of the cost structure, Comair pilots have come through mostly unscathed. I believe this is a testament to the hard work and determination of the entire pilot group to make the best of a bad situation. If you have any questions, please contact me or any other status rep. Our phone numbers are listed on the back page of the UPFRONT magazine. Council 37 Cincinnati LEC SECRETARY-TREASURER Gwen Alletag, Captain SHOW ME THE MONEY As your SecretaryTreasurer for Council 37 it is my job to keep track of the allocated dues dollar expenditures for your local council. Youll be delighted to know that your elected representatives have been doing a good job of staying within their budget for the year. Out of the budgeted $4,526 for this quarter, $1,471 has been spent. We were budgeted for $54,306 for the year and have spent $10,745 as of the end of July. There are expenses incurred that are not reflected in the total; however, we are still within our budget for the year. As always the majority of our expenditures are for the phone systems that are used to make your representatives available for you. Hotel meeting rooms for our union meetings are another huge expense, so make sure you get the full use from your dues dollars and attend those meetings! The rest of your dues dollars spent to date have been on postage and other small expense items that add up over time. Thats about all I have for you right now so, until the next UPFRONT. Take Care and Fly Safe! Try your hand to identify our next oddity of the air! Strength from Within 5 COUNCIL 37 Cincinnati sional Standards can be consulted, we cannot enter the situation for legal reasons if it becomes abusive. LEC PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS Another question that still keeps coming up concerns the protocol involving conflict situations out on line. We have developed an acronym that sums up the process for you and is easy to remember. The word is ACTION and here is what it stands for: Evan Smith, Captain Greetings to all! I hope that everyone had a chance to enjoy the summer a bit and take a break from the day-to-day pressures we face in our jobs. You may be one who sails on unaffected, but most of us are feeling the pressure more these days. All of us need to keep control of our tempers when things get tough. Dont forget that were all on the same team out on line, and the worst thing we can do when things get tough is to alienate one another. Captains should be making sure your crews are taken care of and not pushed too hard. First officers should be maintaining a positive attitude at all times. Dont let a hot day and deferred APU get the best of you. Losing your temper only makes things worse and could get you in some serious trouble. by Bart Groeneveld UPFRONT / Fall 2003 Address the issue with the crewmember in a secure location. C Consult Professional Standards if the issue is unresolved. T Talk the issue over with mediation if necessary. I Indicate and rank importance of issues based on safety and professionalism, not personality disputes. O Offer compromise while always respecting the crewmember. N Never sacrifice confidentiality by discussing the issue with others. The idea is to take ACTION before a problem builds up and a serious incident results. I hope that this will help anyone with questions. Please call us if you still dont understand. If you have an issue to discuss, you can call any one of us, although I am currently expanding the committee again to have representatives in both seats of the aircraft. I have listed our contact numbers below, and they are posted on the ALPA boards in operations as well. Write them down where you can reach them if you need them. I apologize for anyone who has had a problem reaching us, and that is one reason the committee is expanding. Our workload has also been increasing, and we want to always be available to you. If we are flying, leave us a message and we will get to you as soon as possible. If you have a time-critical issue, try another name on the list. I have been surprised at the number of crewmembers whom I have talked to who have no idea that they can be suspended for swearing at another employee. The company has strict guidelines for situations involving swearing, verbal abuse, and any conflict that could be viewed as threatening to another employee. We have had way too many cases of hot tempers and verbally abusive or foul language. Watch what you say. Once you say something, it cant be taken back, and its fully preventable. This is a very serious matter and could result in disciplinary action, so please refrain from using inappropriate language or comments in the workplace. If someone is abusive to you, report the incident to a supervisor or chief pilot so that it will be handled properly. Although Profes- 6 A Another concern we have at Professional Standards is the increased amount of personal issues that are overflowing into the work environment. As pilots, we are trained to handle situations no matter how heavy the load is. We follow checklists and methodically load shed the problems we encounter. It would be great if it were that easy in our home environments, wouldnt it? Unfortunately, its not, and oftentimes we hit stress limits that can affect us on the job. Please remember that as pilots we have to be mentally and physically fit to fly, and if things get severely tough on you, take a sick day for a mental time out. Safety can be compromised if your head isnt clear regardless of which seat you sit in. Keep in mind that this isnt an excuse to go fishing anytime you feel like it, but we all have our limits and need to ob- COUNCIL 37 Cincinnati serve them. Dont create situations you cant handle, and attempt to diffuse the potential time bombs in your personal life before they explode. If you do get in over your head, remember you can go talk to a counselor at EAP (Employee Assistance Program) confidentially at the company. Call home once a day to check on things if you have a family to look after instead of escaping into a three- or four-day trip. This usually helps diffuse home stresses for everyone. to keep an eye on the big picture. Respect and help those around you, and theyll do the same for you. Dont be afraid to ask for help if you need it, and give it if you see a need. All of us have worked hard getting where we are and need to stay focused in todays changing environment. So, take care, fly safe, and give us a call at Professional Standards if we can help you. by Bart Groeneveld No matter how rough things get in the industry, we all can help each other deal with the variety of issues affecting us. We should be looking after one another and not fighting amongst ourselves. Weve been through tough times before and we were successful because we stuck together. We have a great pilot group and an incredible amount of things to be thankful for, so lets try PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS CONTACT NUMBERS Name Cell Phone Home Phone MEC Chairman: Evan Smith MEC Vice Chairman: Bobby Lay Council 37 LEC Chairman: Ryan Miles (301) 992-5846 (817) 980-1858 (513) 307-3982 (301) 714-0988 (817) 558-8372 (513) 871-6241 Captain Representatives: Luis Acevedo Todd Barrows Tim Miles Todd Whitaker Mark Jensen (432) (859) (859) (859) (859) (423) (859) (859) (859) (859) First Officer Representatives: Brian Murphy Charles Duncan Ben Jacobs (305) 742-9541 (859) 912-0775 (214) 415-9280 316-5848 907-1107 466-3454 466-4541 240-7670 344-4987 363-1107 586-5779 441-6167 485-1476 (786) 293-2665 (859) 426-7255 (859) 686-4961 Strength from Within 7 MASTER EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MEC VICE CHAIRMANS REPORT Cory Tennen, Captain Another edition if the UPFRONT is upon us. To me it seems like I just finished writing for the last edition and now I have to write for this one. Where does the time go? I decided to look at my schedule for a month and really see what I spend my time on. I was a little surprised. sure that your representatives are on the same page when we go to the meeting. So this day began with a breakfast meeting at around 8:00 a.m. at my hotel. From there we went to the GO. We completed that meeting before noon, and then met during lunch to discuss what occurred. Basically, we always have a pre- and post-brief session, as I do with most every meeting I have with any Company personnel. What do you do all month? I had never really thought much about the question even though I have had heard it many times from pilots. Not because they are challenging my position; the pilots who ask really just want to know. Curiosity. They know I do ALPA work, and that I spend a lot of time traveling, but they just didnt know exactly what I do. So I decided to take a typical month and write it out for all to see. Right after lunch, I met with the MEC Grievance Chairman to discuss the then ongoing hotel grievance. As you now know, that grievance resulted in a nine-page MOU. We then proceeded back to the GO, this time to meet with Company personnel for the hotel grievance. This particular meeting was scheduled to put Company and ALPA committees together to review what had been written to date based on the grievance mediation process we had been through. It may seem surprising, but the writing of that MOU took about 8 individual days with the Company as well as numerous hours/days going over notes, flip charts, and individual and conference calls in preparation for writing meetings. This meeting ended around 4:30 p.m. I chose to look at July of this year. July was scheduled in similar fashion to most every other month. By the way, unlike most of you, I dont have my month built in advance. Usually I have a couple of pre-planned days, but most of what I do gets scheduled no more than a week or so in advance. I like to call it ALPA-ready reserve, except that I seem to always be on call and there are no contractual protections to my assignments. July actually began with travel to CVG on June 29 ending on July 1. This trip involved the normal monthly meeting with the president of our airline. This has been a normal occurrence since we came back from our strike. Each month he meets with at least two and sometimes three officers of the MEC. We get a general overview of the Company and of the operation. Small insights into the future are sometimes passed along, but as is typical of business, our managements top brass doesnt really share the entire scoop. Your MEC uses these meetings to pass along any concerns we have about what might be happening at the lower levels of management and any day-to-day issues that pilots would like our president to know. These meetings have always been very cordial and usually last no more than an hour. One thing our strike accomplished was direct communications with top management personnel. In all the years I have been at Comair I only know of a couple of meetings our former president ever had with our MEC, and those meetings were done not out of professional courtesy but due to major problems at the airline. Prior to going into these meetings, I, along with any other ALPA officer who will be present, have a premeeting to en- 8 UPFRONT / Fall 2003 The next day was July 1, and this day was spent with management going over the Flight Crew Policy Guide as well as in Contract Administration. Even though our meeting with management began around 1:00 p.m., I, along with other ALPA volunteers who took part in this meeting, met in the morning to prebrief. Normally the CA meetings take about four hours, but this day with the added agenda of the FCPG, it lasted about six hours. Once that ended, I caught a flight home to Orlando. Then the July 4 holiday occurred, and luckily I was at home. Working, but at home. Ill describe more of the at-home work later. On Monday the 7th I again traveled to CVG. This week I spent Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday with management writing the hotel MOU. We spent about four hours together each day. While I was there I would also talk to other Company personnel discussing a variety of individual pilot problems. Before each of these meetings and again on Monday and Thursday, I worked in the MEC office. While I like going to our office, it is hard to work there. The usual hubbub makes getting any real work accomplished difficult at best. Too many distractions. Not only are pilots coming and going or calling the office, but when it is known I am there, many of our committee members show up to get an under- MASTER EXECUTIVE COUNCIL standing of particular contractual issues which they may be dealing with. While I enjoy their company, it does interfere with the amount of work I can accomplish. I finally traveled home late Friday night the 11th. Saturday morning I went to the airport again, this time to pick up another ALPA committee member. This Saturday and Sunday, the 12th and 13th, I was having a two-day meeting at my house discussing events that are occurring outside our airline but which could affect ours. Advance preparation for what might occur is an ongoing occurrence with the MEC. Many may not understand or like to believe it, but we spend many hours a month observing and planning for contingencies, not just on what has occurred. Saturdays meeting went from around noon to 6:00 p.m. and Sundays meeting from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The topic really isnt a secret; we were planning for what turned out to be managements attempt to adjust areas of our Agreement. Your MEC doesnt like to get caught unprepared, and in fact we had been anticipating such a request for quite a while. Without knowing for sure if it would happen we simply didnt advertise our behind-the-scenes discussions. On Tuesday through Thursday (1517) I was in Washington, DC, to take part in a joint Collective Bargaining/Bilateral Scope Impact Committee meeting. As directed by the ALPA Board of Directors, these two committees have various functions and sometimes they overlap. Currently they are in that overlap scenario, and again I will soon be heading to DC for another meeting, which by the time you read this will have already occurred. I left on the 6:00 a.m. flight out of Orlando on the 15th and arrived back on the 17th around 6:00 p.m. I got back just in time too because I left again on Monday the 21st for three days of recurrent ground. Yup, I had my recurrent in July and the last trip I flew ended on June 22. I did manage to get a quick two-day trip for FridaySaturday in between the ground and sim portions (Bill Baker was kind enough to simply give me his trip and take the personal pay hit), so at least I would fly something during July before my checkride. By the way, that was scheduled for Sunday and Monday (27 and 28). I went home after my checkride on Monday night. But not for long. Early Wednesday morning I left to go to ATL for a meeting with the ASA MEC chairman and other ASA pilots. We try to meet whenever we can to get face-toface time. Sometimes just a phone call wont do. Our ongoing relationship with ASA is better than it has ever been. This meeting lasted most of the day, and I caught a flight home that evening. As I said, a typical month for me. I was out of town for ALPA work 12 days, 5 days for my recurrent, with another day thrown in. For this month, the recurrent caused an even larger problem, as I had to do double duty by performing recurrent and ALPA work on those same days. I managed to have 11 days at home that month. Of course, those arent really days off. Dont forget that two of those days were for a meeting scheduled at my house. When I am home that time is spent doing all the ALPA work that cant be done while on the road. I can typically spend upward of six hours or more just on the phone; talking to the Company, pilots with various issues and questions, committee members with issues and questions, our Contract Administrator on various issues of the day, various ALPA staff dealing with any number of problems/grievances, and with members of our own MEC. I speak at least twice daily with JC and try at least once a week with Bill Baker (who gives enormous help in dealing with transition issues from our 1996 LOA to our current Agreement). Naturally, I am also available to the status reps when they need assistance, and I usually speak with one or more of them several times a week. Additionally, I am available to our various committee members and speak with many of them on a daily basis. Many a day I have gone through the batteries of both my home phones and two batteries on my cell, and then, egad, I need to hook up that dreaded old fashioned phone with that attached handset. But my time at home is not yet done. I also have e-mails to read and answer. Try as I may, it sometimes seems like a long time before I answer your e-mails or phone messages, but often it is because either I am not at home right then, or more often than not, I need some time to research the issue or get an answer from the Company. I dont like giving spur-of-themoment answers. I learned a long time ago that can get me into trouble. I also have various meetings (many of which I stated above) to prepare for. That entails researching contracts, schedules, legalities of law, etc. Of course, lets not forget that wonderful Web board. I try to get there once a day if possible to answer any contractual questions I see. You may notice I occasionally answer other questions as well, but I try to stay away from the no-win threads that appear. Anyone can argue on any given subject, and, frankly, I know for a fact that you cant really have a one-sided conversation there because too many pick and choose snippets to try to make a point. Besides, it takes very little effort to say something disparaging about any particular subject matter or person without any facts to back it up. I try not to lend my hand at it. But sometimes Oh and by the way I also talk regularly with MECs and nego- Strength from Within 9 MASTER EXECUTIVE COUNCIL tiators from other airlines that are, or are soon to be, in direct negotiations with their management. the MEC then. But there are no secret documents, never have been that I know of. So in the month of July, you might wonder how many days off I really had. I might have taken most of a couple of days off, but the reality of it is that any day I have usually comprises some ALPA work. It is a never-ending job. With close to 1,800 pilots now we have a lot of work being done, and I am basically an administrator with many committee members working in coordination under me. My usual at-home day is 46 hours of direct ALPA work (not including the phone) with the rest of the day for my personal life. That then leaves me with the extra time I need to write the Q&As and UPFRONT articles. Ive also heard lately there are those who want to recall the entire MEC. That happens periodically. I suppose they have a reason, though not one of those who are involved in that movement has ever discussed any issue in dispute with me, so why they want to recall me is always a complete unknown. I cant help but wonder who they will replace us with and what history they may have in leadership. I remember a while back someone who ran to be a status rep claiming that he would clean up the corrupt MEC. Unfortunately, he was already on the MEC, and I could never figure out if that meant he would clean up himself or not. But I digress. By the way, I am writing this article during the week of September 19. Your MEC has been in Seattle for a special MEC meeting. From there I am going to CVG for four days. All in all, I will be on the road this time for 78 days. And this week I am on vacation. Vacation, I might add, that had been deferred during the entire time we were in negotiations. I didnt take any vacation during that five-year period (leading up to and through negotiations and implementation and now into this year). My vacation was scheduled a year ago (during the normal vacation bid process), and now that I have it, guess what I am doing? I also hear we dont communicate enough. But when was the last time you listened to the VARs, or called a status representative to get some info, or went to an LEC meeting, or read the Q&As sent to your home, or...? Well, you get the point. We do try to communicate. Each and every status rep and committee member is always ready and willing to help and discuss any issue you might have. If they dont know the answer (and that happens a lot when dealing with the contract), they will get you the answer. Can we do more? Sure we can always do more and we are always on the lookout for new ways to accomplish this. But it is not always as easy as you may think, nor as inexpensive. Any form of communication costs money and when the MEC spends money, then we are accused of misappropriation of funds and the recall nonsense begins again. Its an interesting circle. But dont get me wrong; I actually like the work I do. It is a very satisfying feeling, for instance, when I am able to call or e-mail a pilot to tell him or her that I solved their problem and a check is on the way. Of course, not all answers are what a pilot may want to hear. I certainly feel the pain when a pilot calls to complain about a situation that just happens to be contractually allowed. I try to give an honest answer and even go into some negotiating history to help explain the issue. Most of the time that helps the pilot understand the reasoning, but sometimes no answer is good enough and the pilot goes away upset. I cant change the Agreement; I wont argue a position with management I know wasnt agreed. So what do I do when I am off doing your ALPA work? Not much, I guess. Well, thats certainly the position of some who are always trying to discredit the MEC. It doesnt matter what MEC or who is in charge, there are always those who feel we dont do anything or are always doing the wrong thing. Even now, there are those out there who feel the MEC has signed some secret documents with management. Where and why do these rumors start? I wish I knew. Ive heard that ever since I got hired at Comair, and I wasnt a part of 10 UPFRONT / Fall 2003 So thats my month. But remember, there are many ALPA volunteers. Not all have schedules like I do, but all of us do quite a bit of work. We do it not only because it needs to be done, but also because we care about our fellow pilots. All of us feel that Comair pilots are the best in the industry, and we want to ensure we remain so. Your MEC is always looking for additional volunteers, and if this hasnt scared you away, please contact your status representative and offer your services. You dont need to spend as much time as I do, even a couple of hours a month can help. On another note, we all know that management has been trying to get costs under control. I wont go into the pluses and minuses of whatever they may be doing. Ill leave that to others. Just remember one thing. This pilot group is the best there is. We proved that through 89 long days. Let us not lose that unity. Our fight is and always has been with management, not ourselves. MASTER EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MEC GRIEVANCE REPORT Robert Renko, Captain Representative In summary, Grievances 02-01GG, 02-08-37, 03-02-GG, and 03-03-GG are the only OPEN grievances. Ive posted the hotel grievance with a brief overview because of the immense amount of work and effort that went into the eventual MOU, all nine (9) pages of it! I would like to convey my special thanks to the following individuals, all of whom were deeply involved in the hotel grievance from beginning to end. Captain Cory Tennen, CMR MEC Vice Chairman Captain Matthew Lamparter, CMR MEC Hotel Committee Chairman Mr. Walter Darr, Vice President Labor Relations Mr. Pat Ryan, Director Crewmember Services GRIEVANCE SUMMARY Grievance # 02-01-GG Status The grievance was filed and processed in a timely manner. Right from the very beginning, the Association and the Company have agreed to disagree, thereby proceeding to the System Board of Adjustment. The System Board, which consists of a formal hearing with the Association, Company, and a Neutral Arbitrator, took place between December 2002 and April 2003. This arbitration required two (2) formal hearings. The hearings are chaired by the Neutral and are similar to a Bench Trial. The Initial decision has been received and is not positive, therefore the Association and Company have exercised their rights to Executive Session. The process going forward can be lengthy and for the most part, is out of our control, reference timeframes. 02-08-37 (FORD) The grievance was filed and processed in a timely manner. The Company denied the grievance at the Initial hearing. The decision has now been made to proceed to the System Board of Adjustment. Next on the agenda is to find a mutually acceptable Arbitrator. This will probably be complete by mid November 2003. 02-11-GG The hotel grievance has traveled down a path where no grievance has ever gone before on the Comair property. For the first time ever, Grievance Mediation was used to work through years of disagreement between the parties. The process is positive with hope to find common goals between the parties. Prior to the hotel MOU being signed, the hotel section of the current PWA was about four (4) paragraphs in length. Weve added a completely new process on hotel selection. It is very specific with checks and balances in place, if and when disagreements arise. The new hotel MOU is approximately nine (9) pages in length. A lot of hard work went into this agreement by a lot of people volunteering their time. If you encounter a problem at one of our hotels, be sure to contact Captain Matthew Lamparter, CMR Hotel Committee chairman, or one of his committee members. 03-02-GG This grievance comes to life because of disagreements between the parties in the area of NonFlying Pilot duties. It was filed and processed in a timely manner. The Company denied the grievance at the Initial hearing. The decision has been made to process the matter to the System Board of Adjustment. The process to find a mutually acceptable Arbitrator takes place in early October 2003. Once an Arbitrator is chosen, the timelines vary on when a formal hearing will convene, two (2) months and to as much as eight (8) months are possible. 03-03-GG This grievance comes to life because of a disagreement between the parties in the area of integration or transition issues and the appropriate remedy. It was also filed and processed in a timely manner. The Company denied the grievance at the Initial hearing, and therefore we have decided to proceed to the System Board of Adjustment. The process to find a mutually acceptable Arbitrator takes place in early October 2003. If you have any questions regarding any of these files, please feel free to contact me or Captain Bob Luther, Council 37 Grievance Chairman. You can also get up-to-date information from any of your status reps or MEC officers. Strength from Within 11 MASTER EXECUTIVE COUNCIL HOTEL REPORT Heres where you come inPLEASE COMMUNICATE ANY AND ALL PROBLEMS WITH LODGING VIA CCL! We cant fix a problem if we dont know about it. (More on CCLs later.) Hello again from your MEC Hotel Committee! As this is being written, summer is winding down and fall is slowly drawing near. This means that in no time youll be worrying more about deicing than about avoiding thunderstorms. With any luck youll get this copy of UPFRONT during a time when youre worrying about neither. That will give you time to read this and the other informative articles in this publication. Your various officers and committees are working hard to make your working experience a good one, so make sure that you take this information with you when youre out on line. Knowledge is power! In short, know what standards your lodging facilities must meet, and if they are not met, let us know. Rick Sanders, Captain With that in mind, your Hotel Committee would like to bring you up-to-date on the developments of the last few months, as well as remind you of the usual stuff. NEW MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING In July, your MEC and the Company signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to clarify the contractual obligations of both the company and the union as they pertain to the selection and approval of crew overnight accommodations. This MOU is a significant step for us and will help the Hotel Committee ensure the quality of your lodging. While you should read the entire MOU, much of it refers to timelines used by the union and the company during the hotel selection process, and this process will be more or less invisible to someone not involved. For the line pilot, the most important part of the MOU is Section E.2. This section lists the core criteria that all hotels must meet. In short, all facilities must be clean, safe, quiet, and secure, must provide reliable and prompt transportation, and must provide a suitable eating facility (the company or hotel may provide free transportation to the eating facility if one is not available on site). By now you should have received a Get Real Answers Q&A handout from your MEC, which details your rights and responsibilities under the MOU. Knowing what criteria your lodging must meet is the first step. The second step is to communicate any deficiencies to the Company and your Hotel Committee so that we can either rectify the problem or, if necessary, move to an alternate property. 12 UPFRONT / Fall 2003 PROPER CCL PROCEDURE Per the MOU, CCLs are the only way to communicate hotel issues (both positive and negative) to the committee and the Company. There are three ways to submit a CCL (Comair Communication Log). Two of the ways have been around a while; one is fairly new. One: The paper CCL method is tried and true and has been around the longest. These are kept in the pilot lounge with the other Comair forms. The paper format is just fine with us, with one condition: If you turn in a paper CCL, please put both copies of the CCL in the V-file of the Hotel Committee chairman, Captain Matt Lamparter. Matt will keep one copy of the CCL, and turn the other copy in to the company. This will ensure that the committee is notified of the problem at the same time the company is. Two: The EPIC website has a section where you can fill out a digital CCL. This can be a quick and easy way to complete a CCL. However, we still need a copy of your information. Make a copy of your form, copy it into your word processing program, and either e-mail it to Matt Lamparter or leave a hard copy in his V-file. Three: Very soon (hopefully by the time you read this), there will be a CCL function on the Hotel Committee section of the Comair MEC Web page. The advantage of submitting a CCL using this method will be that a copy of the CCL will be automatically submitted to the committee, eliminating the extra steps in options one and two above. This will be the preferred method of submitting a CCL to your Hotel Committee. A tip of the pilots cap to Captain Brian Moynihan, whose computer expertise makes this new function possible. One last word on CCLs. Quite often, either out on the line or in the pilots lounge, I get feedback on one of our hotels from someone who knows that I am on the Hotel Committee. I welcome this feedback, which helps the committee focus its energies on problem hotels. However, after getting this feedback I will often ask if a CCL MASTER EXECUTIVE COUNCIL was filled out, and a majority of the time the answer is no. This is a continual source of frustration to me and to the rest of your Hotel Committee. We spend a great deal of time on hotel issues, yet a number of you will not spend five minutes to effectively communicate these issues to us. Without a CCL, our effectiveness is drastically reduced. Think about it: Whats more effective? Going to the company with five CCLs in hand describing the same problem, or calling them up and saying, Well, um, ah, a lot of people are complaining about In short: Dont complain if you didnt write a CCL! TRANSPORTATION Transportation issues are historically the number one issue we deal with. In an ideal world, on every overnight we would be greeted by a smiling driver who arrives just as we are walking out of the terminal. Alas, this is not always the case, so knowing your contractual rights and responsibilities is very important. I will cover two transportation issues in this article. Transportation Issue #1: Calling the hotel for a van pickup. DONT!! The Hotel Committee is trying to break pilots of this habit, which persists from the old days. A few years ago, the Company and the Hotel Committee created a new way to ensure that transportation would be waiting for crews when they were done with their day. Our hotels had become dependent on a call from either the crew or the ramp personnel to send the van. Since both groups are often attending to more pressing matters, no van was the frequent result. To fix this, we have made the hotel solely responsible for knowing our arrival time and having the transportation ready. The hotel staff have a number of ways to accomplish this: the Delta website or reservations line, or a call to the company hotel desk. This system has markedly reduced transportation problems. The problem is this: if you are still calling the hotel for pickup when you land, you are training the hotel to depend on that call. And, if the following nights crew doesnt make the call, the van might not show up, since that hotels been trained to wait for a call. To put it another way, if you call every night when you get in, you might get your van, but in the long term youll decrease the transportation reliability for all the crews that stay after you. Were all in this together, so do the right thing and let the system work as it was designed to. Transportation Issue #2: The 35-minute rule. Your working agreement (Section 5.A.4(a)) spells out how soon the van must pick you up upon arrival. Simply put, the van must arrive no more than 35 minutes after block-in, after which time you may take a cab to the hotel. The hotel must pay for this cab ride, but if they refuse, the captain should pay the driver and submit the receipt to the Chief Pilots Office for reimbursement. Before you use alternate transportation, you must notify Scheduling. After notifying Scheduling, ask them to transfer you to the hotel clerk so that they can remind the hotel of their obligation to pay for this alternate transportation. (In cities like MCO or SAV, where a third party provides transportation, the hotel will not pay for the cab, and the captain should submit the bill directly to the Chief Pilots Office.) The 35-minute rule is an excellent example of why it pays to know your working agreement. It is very frustrating to hear of a crew who waited an hour for transportation. This is completely unnecessary. Your working agreement is quite clear on transportation issues, so take advantage of the benefits negotiated for you! (Of course, when all is said and done, fill out a CCL so your Hotel Committee can track the problem.) PROBLEM HOTELS At a recent meeting, the MEC Hotel Committee and the Company selected MKE and JAX to be evaluated for new lodging facilities. The process takes a couple of months, but before long each city should have a new overnight hotel. We also determined that the hotel in GSO was deficient in several core criteria. Both parties are monitoring this facility to see if it can improve its standards to meet the criteria. Feedback via CCL on GSO will be especially helpful! SUMMARY Your Hotel Committee hopes that the paragraphs above are helpful. As always, we are here to discuss hotel issues that arise or to receive suggestions on improving your lodging. Contact MEC Hotel Committee Chairman Matthew Lamparter at ALPA Aspen #8039, Vice Chairman Seth Kornblum at Aspen #1394, or this author at Aspen #3587. A note in any of our V-files will also work. Your Hotel Committee wishes you blue skies, tailwinds, and enjoyable overnights! Strength from Within 13 MASTER EXECUTIVE COUNCIL Mitch Serber, Captain Your Central Air Safety Committee has remained very active in promoting a positive safety culture at Comair and in the airline industry. In the past year we have had some roster changes to the committee that you will note on the Safety Bulletin Board as well as in the UPFRONT. Please join me in thanking all past and current committee members for their dedicated volunteerism. After over three years of planning and nurturing the seeds of an Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) with Management and the FAA, we are in the final stages of implementing our ASAP for the Comair pilots. Altogether, 28 airlines in the United States have signed ASAP Memorandum of Understanding along with their companies and the FAA. ASAP will fundamentally change our relationships with the FAA and Management by providing an incentive for your participation in addressing safety issues with positive corrective action. In the coming weeks a detailed pilots guide to ASAP will explain this exciting program. Please read the guide carefully and become knowledgeable of your rights and responsibilities under the program guidelines to be eligible for the incentives offered by ASAP. Also note that your Safety Committee is available to help guide you through the process of filing an ASAP report if requested. Although ASAP will add an entirely new tool to our toolbox, dont forget the NASA Form in addition to the new ASAP form. The NASA database is separate from the ASAP program and still needs our data to fuel many important safety activities. One important exception applies with both of these programs: If you have been involved in an aircraft accident as defined by Part 830 or believe that it may be classified as an accident due to injury or dollar value of damage, call the ALPA Hotline immediately, and do not file any reports without first consulting with your ALPA legal counsel. ALPA Safety Committee members have been active participants on several Company committees addressing many operational areas. Several issues of concern cover both ground and flight operations with altitude deviations and taxi incursions leading the list. While the Company has implemented several changes, the CASC continues to evaluate our flight operations and provide further input for any fu- 14 UPFRONT / Fall 2003 ture procedural changes. Our taxi environment can be especially challenging and we have unfortunately seen several runway and taxiway incursions in the recent months. Good pre-taxi briefings along with both pilots staying in the loop with a taxi chart will help trap potential errors before they become a runway incursion. Use active CRM techniques and consider delaying that on the deck call for a low workload time when all runways have been cleared. We need to collectively begin to change our mindset on the flight deck and actively monitor the performance of our aircraft regardless of who is the Flying Pilot. The concept of Non-Flying Pilot promotes a passive mentality that has not served us well since its introduction. Perhaps we should consider the active process of Pilot Monitoring as a better moniker. This more appropriately describes an active process that complements the Pilot Flying. In fact, recent data presented at ALPAs annual Air Safety Forum shows that a lack of active pilot monitoring was among the leading causes of pilot deviations. The highly automated airline flight deck of today is a modern-day miracle when we look back at the first 100 years of powered flight. However, with all of the improvements to safety that automation and technology have brought, it is still the human that controls the aircraft. That is true if you are hand-flying the aircraft or flying the autopilot. Fly the airplane, dont let it fly you! Fly safe! by Bart Groeneveld CENTRAL AIR SAFETY COMMITTEE MASTER Executive council MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE Baron Bryan, Captain So far this year, as of September 1, Comair has hired over 200 pilots. Our seniority list now stands at 1,734 pilots: 1,368 active members, 317 apprentice members, 15 nonmembers. The rest are military leave (22), and personal/ medical leave. Hiring is not as brisk as it was in the beginning of the year. But that is typical. 2002 Retirees Date of Hire Retirement Bruce Lange 02-02-90 02-17-03 Years of Service 13+ Hector Castro 06-24-85 03-23-03 17+ Once again, if you have moved, please let us know your new address. It is not hard to do. You can do it online at ALPA.org, you can call the MEC office at 859-282-9016, or you can leave the new address in my V-file in the pilot lounge. John Simon 07-05-88 05-18-03 14+ Alvin Kontrick 04-23-90 05-18-03 13+ Arthur Allison 08-14-89 05-27-03 13+ Steve Mote 11-26-90 06-01-03 12+ Do not forget to give a helping hand to the new-hires if they need it. They are being given the half-wing ALPA pins to help you recognize them. Donal Scott 01-16-89 07-15-03 14+ James Day 05-08-89 08-25-03 14+ Michael Tate 05-04-90 08-26-03 13+ As always, volunteer. Use your talents to make this a better union and a better company. NON-ALPA Pilot MEMBERS Seniority # 2 5 8 11 26 47 55 56 67 139 140 147 314 385 1400 Pilot William Moore Mike Stuart Don Adams Mike Walker Gene Johnson Mike Piper William Brundage Rick St. Onge Brian Schimp George Brengel Matthew Braun Wayne Wolke Morris Morgan David Soaper Charles J. Via III This list is for informational purposes only. Any questions should be addressed to your LEC and MEC by Bart Groeneveld The following individuals are on the Comair pilot seniority list and, as of this printing, are not members of the Air Line Pilots Association. representatives or the Membership Committee. Strength from Within 15 Tailends items of opinion, interest, and humor Note: This section of the newsletter is tailored for publication of material written by ALPA members who want to make their views and opinions known to the pilot group. Material included does not necessarily reflect the policies and views of ALPA, the Comair MEC, or this publication, and is meant only to be thought-provoking and informative. I OPINE by Captain Lee T. Napoli It has been a long while since I have written down my thoughts in this publication. I am especially appreciative of Ashleys time and efforts in making this medium available to us. It has long been my view that differing opinions are healthy in any organization, and the UPFRONT is unique in that it allows anyone to express his or her opinions for all to see. Ive had some thoughtprovoking conversations with individual pilots, but I just wish that some of you would put pen to paper for others to see. More importantly, without open discourse, we are limiting our knowledge by which to make sound judgments. For example, did you know that if our brethren down south were foolish enough to strike, we would have to cross their picket lines? Its because of a benignlooking letter of agreement (page XI) signed in 1988. This benign-looking LOA abrogates what would have been our right under the Railway Labor Act, and violates ALPA policy. How about scope? Oh, dont go there, girlfriend! If only you could have witnessed the havoc created by a then unknown and seemingly insignificant corporation in the early eighties. Texas Air Corporation and its famous founder Frank Lorenzo would become an anathema to an entire industry. We can all thank Frank for any scope agreements around today. So, do we throw away the baby with the bathwater, or do we sit down and 16 UPFRONT / Fall 2003 reach some kind of amenable agreement? That would be my desire, but unfortunately a third party (judge) might make that decision now. Court decisions are like a box of chocolates, if you will. That is not to say that we dont have a reasonable grievance, but I would rather attempt to settle it without attorneys involved. ALPA has certainly had its share of acrimony in years past: American Airlines, circa 1963, TWA-Ozark and NorthwestRepublic mergers, and the Eastern Airlines debacle among others. We are in such a dynamic industry that what appears to be a sound judgment today might come back and haunt us tomorrow, e.g., the United ESOP. In the end, ALPA has weathered these storms, and my guess is that they will weather this one, too. Now, there is just one more thing that I would like to get off my chest before I end this cathartic endeavor. I want to go on record declaring that I favor hiring any furloughed union pilot, regardless of whether they give up their seniority number, because its the right thing to do. William F. Buckley Jr. once said, The best defense against a usurpatory government is an assertive citizenry. I prefer to think that an assertive citizenry will prevent a government from becoming usurpatory. Thats where you come in. Regardless of what you think of my opinions, participation without fear of reprisal or ad hominem attacks is what makes a democracy work. GALEN GAY &LESBIAN EMPLOYEE NETWORK Mission Statement: Our mission is to support and foster positive and professional attitudes toward GLBT employees, their coworkers, and members of management. We will provide educational and resource information to all employees at Comair/ Delta Connection. Objectives: Provide leadership and a positive role model for other GLBT employees. Provide a support system, encouragement, and to foster positive GLBT attitudes in the workplace. Organize employees into a professional GLBT employee group. Provide educational and resource information to senior management concerning GLBT issues. Provide fun, social events, and professional contacts for GLBT employees and their supportive coworkers. GALEN Homepage: www.hometown.aol.com/galenpride Meeting Schedule: October 2 & 20, 2003 November 6 & 17, 2003 December 4 & 15, 2003 Contact the following for location of meetings and any information: Captain Russ Stark, Chairman FA Larry Sprouse, Co-Chairman F/O Paul Baltzer, F/O Representative Monica Furr, Maintenance Robert Humes, CAK operations TailEnds MYSTERY AIRPLANE by Ashley Messenger, Captain The French, it turns out, borrowed the name Airbus from none other than Giuseppe Bellanca, whose firm designed last issues Mystery Airplane. This is the P-200 derivative of the Bellanca Airbus, fitted with a 375 horsepower Wright Cyclone engine. The name was selected to convey the impression of a big, reliable, everyday air transport. First flown in 1930, the P-100 version, powered by a geared 600 hp Curtiss Conqueror engine, was envisioned to be an aircraft that could haul heavy loads at high speeds, easily convertible from 12 to 15 passenger seats to all cargo or cargo-passenger mix. The unusual configuration of this airplane is what makes it particularly noteworthy. Often referred to as sesqui-plane, it features a large, highmounted main wing and lower stub wings of wide chord, set at an exaggerated anhedral. The fixed main landing gear is mounted to the ends of these stub wings, and bracing struts extend from here to the upper wing. Never one to accept drag without payback, Bellanca even configured these struts as lifting surfaces. Mounting the landing gear in this fashion produced a tread stance of nearly 18 feet, making the big taildragger docile in ground operations. Otherwise, the aircraft was of conventional construction for the time, with a welded chromemoly tube fuselage, spruce wing spars with plywood truss ribs, all covered with fabric. One unique feature of the Airbus interior was that the steel-framed passen- BELLANCA P-200 AIRBUS ger seats were raised from the aisle floor over 12 inches, providing under-seat baggage stowage without sacrificing legroom, a feature that might find passenger approval even today! The aircraft could be fitted with floats (Model P-200A), and several were outfitted with plush custom interiors for private owners. The Army Air Corps bought 14 of the aircraft for utility transport work, 4 with the geared Conqueror water-cooled engine (Y1C-27) and 10 powered by the 650 horsepower Pratt and Whitney Hornet radial (C-27A). All of these airplanes eventually received higher powered Wright Cyclone engines, becoming C-27B and C designations. Even with only 575 horsepower, the Airbus posted some impressive performance numbers for the day. The airplane was big, 42 feet 9 inches long with a 65-foot wing span. The design empty weight was 5,155 pounds and useful load 4,435 pounds. Equipped with a speed ring engine cowl, the airplane could attain a top speed of 143 mph, but cruised at 122. The flexible interior design allowed the operator to choose either short-range, high-payload operations or maximum range, as the 200-gallon fuel supply could feed the Hornet for six hours. It was unfortunate for Bellanca, as it was for a number of airplane manufacturers, that this wonderfully capable design hit the market in 1931, when world-wide depression meant few customers lined up to buy it, and like many other aircraft of its day, the Bellanca Airbus faded into obscurity. Here is an interesting side note, however. Rick Sanders asked me if the airplane was a Noorduyn Norseman, which of course, it wasnt. But if one were to check the Bellanca Companys corporate officers for this time period, as vice president and assistant engineer, you would find one Robert B. C. Noorduyn! Strength from Within 17 editorials EDITORS CORNER Ashley Messenger, Captain LOOPING, ROLLING, & WORKING I imagine that many of you are aware that I participate in the sport of competition aerobatics. It has everything you could want from a sport: physical demands, competition, camaraderie, and the opportunity to part with cash. You might ask what an aerobatic contest has to do with the business of ALPA. Cory Tennens fine article made me realize that they have a great deal in common. Long before the first snarling Pitts Special swoops into the box turning 3,700 RPM, interpreting wing-wag as 90-degree banks, over 30 volunteers had to expend time and effort to bring the competition together. Volunteers organized and advertised. They tramped through mud, snakes, and soybeans to lay out the box markers. Then, they sat on lawn chairs in sweltering heat to judge the flights. They sat alone in the boondocks at the box corners to act as boundary police. Most of these folks are NOT competition pilots. Yet they will labor and sweat, sunburn and dehydrate, willingly and faithfully, all so that I and 20 or so acro pilots can dance in the summer sky. They show up rain or shine, heat or cold. They are the backbone of the International Aerobatic Club. 18 UPFRONT / Fall 2003 All the pilots do, of course, volunteer. In addition to flying, they will judge, assist, run scores, haul water, push airplanes. But, there arent enough pilots to run a contest. We depend on the nonpilot volunteers. Without them, there would be no competition aerobatics in the United States. Have you figured it out yet? Without volunteers, there also would be no ALPA. There would be no contract, no work rules. No Grievance Committee, no one looking over the companys choice of overnight accommodations. You would face the chief pilot alone. Life at this little airline would be entirely different, and I dare say, worse. I have heard many pilots disparage our LEC and MEC representatives, their use of union leave, travel, and other benefits. Wild speculation about good times on the road, spending our dues on lobster and prime rib. Listen up. These people toil on our behalf. They sacrifice for us. It is the ALPA volunteers who have made our workplace what it is today, as compared to what it could have been. Now, it is human nature to complain. But the next time you might feel tempted to spout off, take a second to ask yourself if you really know what you are talking about. Do you have facts or speculation? Have you volunteered yourself? Do you really know what our ALPA volunteers do? Help us all, sign up, and get involved! by Peggy Messenger I get to attend 5 to 7 regional contests over the summer season, usually within 300 miles of home. We try to arrive on Friday afternoon to practice in the contest box, and at 7:30 Saturday morning, we are briefing for the first flights. by Ashley Messenger editorials Next UPFRONT submission deadline: December 1! Submissions A great big thanks to all who submitted material for this issue of the UPFRONT! I would especially like to thank Bart Groeneveld for the fine photos you see sprinkled throughout. by Ashley Messenger We desperately need this kind of material! If you pack a camera on your trips, share some of your work with us. Airplanes, sunsets, candid shots of Comair people doing Comair things, all these have a space in this, your LEC newsletter. Got an opinion? Put it on paper for us! Remember, we wont publish inflammatory or libelous missives, but this is the forum for the sharing of viewpoints and concerns. It is a great place to try your hand at writing. You could be an undiscovered Ernie Gann! Strength from Within 19 ALPA VOLUNTEER DIRECTORY The following is a listing of Comair pilots who volunteer their time and talents to the positions and committees listed. Feel free to contact the person most likely to be of help to you with any situation. Any changes or errors should be reported to the MEC office. To leave voice mail on ASPEN call: 703-689-4220 or 888-FLY-ALPA toll-free and follow prompts. This list is current as of OCTOBER 2003. NAME POSITION ASPEN HOME E-MAIL ADDRESS MASTER EXECUTIVE COUNCIL (MEC) Administration James (JC) Lawson, III Cory Tennen Greg Bell William Baker Carol Alverson (staff) Offices and Staff MEC Chair MEC Vice Chair MEC Secretary-Treasurer MEC Executive Administrator MEC Office Coordinator 859-578-9777 FAX: 859-578-9893 [email protected] 407-382-3363 FAX: 407-382-4047 [email protected] 407-523-8385 FAX: 407-578-1165 [email protected] 770-386-4860 FAX: 770-387-9879 [email protected] Office: 859-282-9016/9017 Office: FAX: 859-283-5533 [email protected] Street address: 3940 Olympic Boulevard, Suite 120, Erlanger, KY 41018 (next to JoAn Japanese Restaurant, off Mineola Pike & I275) Voting Members Todd Griffis 1-888-694-2528 Allen Cook Robert Renko Bill Vaughan LEC Chair C37 and Captain Representative LEC Vice Chair C37 and First Officer Representative Captain Representative First Officer Representative 6393 6643 6257 5567 6822 8198 513-936-0727 FAX: 513-936-8345 [email protected] 5544 859-689-5765 [email protected] 8173 5774 859-371-7178 FAX: 859-371-4684 336-327-6102 [email protected] [email protected] cell: 513-607-0792 FAX: 812-637-8699 865-671-2986 FAX: same cell: 865-310-7130 859-586-9107 239-540-7598 FAX: same 614-875-4805 407-381-7897 FAX: 407-381-7897 cell: 407-716-9036 636-456-4811 859-426-7203 cell: 859-866-4111 859-356-1655 859-485-2258 513-574-8649 513-871-7089 513-871-7089 859-581-7755 407-207-6227 513-591-2522 859-586-6363 513-662-6223 513-871-2141 859-556-1288 503-799-8406 513-871-2687 cell: 513-253-1450 859-746-1505 408-460-9669 cell:859-647-0217 [email protected] MEC COMMITTEES Central Air Safety Serber, Mitchell Central Air Safety Chair 5682 Dean, Alan 3632 Van der Wel, Jeff Gunther, Todd Pruchnicki, Shawn Marshall, Steve Central Air Safety Vice Chair ASAP Coordinator Chief Accident Investigator Asst. Chief Accident Invest. CVG Base Safety Chair 2727 6390 2990 6649 Etcher, Shawn Moynihan, Bryan Maguire, Joe Armstrong, Bill Rhode, Chris Jensen, Shauna Jensen, Robert Miltenberger, Pat Murray, Shaun Raad, Damien Sewell, David Fessel, Darryn Gavin, Brian Gillmor, Justin Granger, Scott Moscona, Eran Pomponio, Tony Robles, David Savage, Julie Stasik, Phil AGE Group Chair Communication Group Chair ATS Group Chair HF/TR Group Chair CIRP Chair CIRP Member CIRP Member CIRP Member CIRP Member CIRP Member CIRP Member Member Member Member Member Member Member Member Member Member 1666 2972 2973 2977 6612 2994 2997 4732 4731 6239 6241 6422 6423 6425 6428 2989 1135 1661 6430 6258 Woischke, Jim Member 2991 20 UPFRONT / Fall 2003 321-455-2221 FAX: same cell: 321-223-9007 320-202-1703 FAX: 320-258-0234 cell: 320-492-5727 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Grievance Renko, Robert Luther, Robert MEC Grievance Chair C37 Chair Benzing, Beverly Member 8173 6963 1828 859-371-7178 FAX: 859-371-4684 859-525-0234 FAX: 859-525-2956 cell: 859-466-5890 513-324-9377 FAX:513-231-3375 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Scheduling (emergency Scheduling Hot Line 1 -800-759-8684) Rezelj, Martin Viademonte, Alex Bosma, Rob Gulsvig, Mike Aldrich, Tom Aguirre, Mike Arillaga, Joaquin Boerum, Phil Hock, Leslie K. Mills, Lee Rogers, Craig Sylvan, Jonas System Scheduling Chair PBS Committee Chair PBS Committee Member PBS Committee Member Member Member Member Member Member Member Member Member 1879 1651 5968 1878 ------------------------- 859-331-6859 FAX: same 859-426-1704 cell: 859-760-9535 859-282-1720 FAX: 859-282-1730 612-866-3664 859-992-4805 859-689-1771 502-314-6716 859-384-6520 859-442-9157 859-816-4185 859-384-0967 859-586-2138 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] 2765 6466 ------2980 ---------- 301-714-0988 817-558-0372 423-344-4987 859-363-1107 513-871-6241 859-694-3383 786-293-2665 859-441-6167 [email protected] Chair Member Member Member 6643 8302 2836 5397 407-382-3363 205-980-4911 FAX: 205 -980-4912 863-294-3113 FAX: 407 -339-4024 859-384-2468 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Web Master MEC Communication/VARS UPFRONT Newsletter Editor 2972 6258 4733 859-342-4532 407-455-2221 859-694-3508 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Family Awareness Chair Family Fund Chair ---- 859-586-8090 cell: 859-630-0110 [email protected] [email protected] Chair 7116 817-557-9774 [email protected] Chair Strike Preparation 6447 859-746-3667 [email protected] MEC Hotel ChairEC MEC Hotel Vice Chair/ Training & Charter Hotels C37 Member C37 Member/Training Hotels Member Emeritus 8039 1394 859-689-9876 513-688-0606 [email protected] [email protected] 3577 3587 6639 513-253-8508 513-871-4974 812-637-0459 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Professional Standards Smith, Evan Lay, Bobby Acevedo, Luis Barrows, Todd Miles, Ryan Miles, Tim Murphy, Brian Whitaker, Todd MEC ProStan Chair MEC ProStan Vice Chair C37 Member C37 Member C37 ProStan Chair C37 Member C37 Member C37 Member cell: 301-992-5846 cell: 817-247-6699 cell: 423-316-5848 cell: 859-907-1107 cell: 513-307-3982 cell: 859-466-3454 cell: 305-742-9541 cell: 859-466-4641 [email protected] [email protected] Contract Administration Committee Tennen, Cory Warras, David Groschopf, Mike Erickson, Jim Communications Moynihan, Brian Stasik, Phil Messenger, Ashley Family Awareness Hammons, Sandi Larkin, Ed Strategic Analysis Hinz, Eric Strike Preparation Schoch, Steve Hotels Lamparter, Matt Kornblum, Seth Brant, Andrew C. Sanders, Richard C. Davis, Russ Strength from Within 21 ALPA VOLUNTEER DIRECTORY Other MEC Committees Dettra, John (Chip) Ellsworth, Scott Haney, Bryce Bryan, Baron Erickson, James Groschopf, Mike Doyle, John (Pat) Loftice, John Warras, David Wright, Chip Leming, Mark McGregor, Todd Aeromedical Coordinator Jumpseat Coordinator Jumpseat Comm. Member Membership Retirement and Insurance Security Chair System Board System Board Training Committee Training Committee Training Review Board Training Review Board 6292 5131 6484 2747 5397 2836 1675 2382 8302 5287 ------- 321-223-3332 603-357-4938 615-585-9615 513-388-9445 859-384-2468 863-294-3113 863-424-9282 FAX: 863-424-9092 859-384-0457 205-980-4911 FAX: 205 -980-4912 859-689-2066 859-586-4320 502-243-2663 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] 8198 5544 513-936-0727 FAX: 513-936-8345 859-586-5181 [email protected] [email protected] 8173 5774 5545 6292 ---6963 ---1394 7341 ------2765 5397 6649 4587 2777 ---- 859-371-7178 336-327-6102 859-689-2924 918-809-8271 ---------859-525-0234 ---------513-688-0606 859-283-2843 513-233-0116 859-426-0724 301-714-0988 859-384-2468 407-381-7897 407-673-2283 419-433-8515 FAX: 859-371-4684 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] FAX: 859-525-2956 [email protected] 5397 8142 5684 859-384-2468 321-453-7930 / 859-341-6516 859-491-6744 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] COUNCIL 37 – Cincinnati Griffis, Todd Cook, Allen Renko, Robert Vaughan, Bill Gwen Alletag Hastings, Mike - vacant Luther, Robert - vacant Kornblum, Seth Pendleton, Daniel Cluxton, Rob Colglazier, Sean Smith, Evan Erickson, Jim Marshall, Steve Pacelli, Steve Schnaitter, Mike - vacant - LEC Chair/Capt. Rep. LEC Vice Chair and First Officer Representative Captain Representative First Officer Representative LEC Secretary-Treasurer Aeromedical Family Awareness Chair LEC Grievance Chair LEC Hotels Chair Hotels – Member LEC Membership Chair Membership– Member Membership– Member LEC Prof. Standards Chair Retirement and Insurance CVG Base Safety Rep Security Security Training [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] cell: 301-992-5846 FAX: 407-678-3102 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] MISCELLANEOUS Erickson, Jim Ward, Jim Groeneveld, Bart National Hearing Board National Pilot Training Grp. UPFRONT Editor, Emeritus [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] The volunteers listed above are requested to update their contact information when it changes; anyone accidentally omitted or listed in error should contact: Carol Alverson at the MEC office in Florence, KY (859-282-9016/17), the editor of this publication, or any MEC/LEC officer as soon as practical for corrections. Thank you! 22 UPFRONT / Fall 2003 Use hole punch to fit Jepp binder -- continued on reverse side -- 7. Fill out a NASA Report within 10 days of the incident and mail it in by registered mail, return receipt requested. Make a copy of this report for your records. Prepare, at the earliest convenience, a written memorandum describing the entire incident. You are under no obligation to show this document to ANYONE. However, your safety representative and chief pilot would both like a report on the incident. If there is 6. In the event you agree to an informal interview/inquiry, you should secure, IN WRITING, from the FAA an agreement that nothing you say will be held against you in a certificate action or civil penalty proceeding. 5. You are obligated to aid the NTSB in its investigation of an accident or incident, but in a reasonable manner and timeframe to ensure that your rights are protected. Someone other than you should determine that you are physically and mentally competent to answer questions in an intelligent manner. Be alert to the fact that you might be in shock and not know it. 4. If any crewmember requires hospitalization, your ALPA representative, while present, will ensure that the FAA will not have access to the crewmember(s) while they are in the hospital. There should be no discussions with the FAA or NTSB representatives while you are on medication. 3. Make NO statements to the press or the FAA. You are under no obligation to discuss the accident/incident with representatives of the FAA unless and until you are served with a subpoena. Do NOT talk to the FAA even casually or informally, until a decision has been made to do so after you have talked to your representatives. You must show the FAA your certificate if asked, but never relinquish your certificate to any investigator. 2. In case of an accident or serious incident, get away from the scene if you can. Federal regulations do not require you to stay. Often, remaining at the scene is counterproductive to any ensuing investigation. Let a Safety representative, status representative, your chief pilot, and your family know where you will be. 1. Call from the list on the reverse side of this sheet. GUIDELINES FOR PILOTS INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT OR INCIDENT CURRENT: Todays Date __________________________________________________ Old Domicile _________________ New Domicile ___________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ New Address: Position: (Captain or First Officer) New Telephone Number: ________________________________________ Name ________________________________________________________ You may complete this form and place it in Captain Baron Bryans v-file, update your address on the ALPA website, mail this form to the CMR MEC office at 3940 Olympic Blvd., Suite 120, Erlanger, KY 41018, or call in the information to 859-282-9016/17. DOMICILE? STATUS? TELEPHONE NUMBER? ADDRESS? DOES ALPA HAVE YOUR ALPA PILOT INFORMATION UPDATE SHEET JUMPSEAT Listed below are many airlines that have reciprocal jumpseat agreements with Comair. Passenger airlines generally will require only a counter report. Some of the freight carriers have numbers listed so they may be called for additional information such as airport location, possible restrictions, or for listing on the jumpseat. You may use this list for your information but it is recommended you use the Green Sheets jumpseat list issued by Comair and the latest post-9/11 Security Directives for the very latest guidance. Please remember, exercise proper etiquette whenever using this hard-won privilege! Sched Freight Freight Sched Sched Suppl Type Delta DL/AA USAirways United no United USAir ATA Continl American DHL USAir Affiliation yes no no no no no yes no no no no takes multiples yes yes no no no yes no yes no no no no yes yes no no yes Reservation 937-264-6370, business hours 800-345-5556, 503-472-0011 901-224-5420 703-260-8230 419-865-1780 info to come 800-654-8966 info to come 800-255-6475, 606-283- Updated phone numbers or other information from any of these or additional carriers will be appreciated. Please contact Capt. Scott Ellsworth (CVG) at ASPEN 5131. Airline Sched Sched Sched Suppl Sched Freight Sched Sched Sched Sched Aloha Freight Freight Sched Freight Sched Sched Suppl Sched Supp Sched Sched Sched no no yes yes yes yes no Remarks AccessAir Air Tahoma Airborne Express Air-Tran Allegheny Amerijet Sched Midway Freight Freight UPS info to come 800-643-9022X1124/1120/1113 800-676-0272, 48 hours prior info to come cabin seats only 800-707-0583 305-373-1120 ext 110 or 108 800-929-2739/2956 cabin seats only Hub cities, go to Ops. EWR by takes multiples 800-247-8504 #1 937-382-5591X2563 takes multiples 24-hr. notice for South America & Mexico takes multiples no international EX Ca. international accepted takes multiples Delta/Comair Pilots have Priority 718-553-4789, 24 hrs in adv. takes multiples Freight Freight Freight Freight Freight Freight Freight Freight America West American American Eagle American Trans Air Atlantic Southeast Atlas Air Business Express Air Midwest Air Wisconsin Alaska Aloha IslandSched Air Transport Intl Arrow Air Atlantic Coast Burlington CCAir CapeAir Carnival Chalks Champion Air Chicago Express Colgan Continental gate 101 Conquest Corporate AirSched Custom Air Trans Delta AirlinesSched DHL 2232X1301 Emery Evergreen Federal Express Gemini Air Cargo Grand Air Express Jets USA Kitty Hawk Reeve Aleutian any reason to suspect that the occurrence may be classified as an accident, or involve criminal activity, it is essential that you speak to an attorney prior to filing the NASA Report. In these specific cases the NASA Report will be forwarded to the FAA. 8. Preserve all flight records and any other items of evidence relevant to the incident. Record the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of all witnesses, including hostile or unfriendly witnesses. COMAIR MEC ACCIDENT/INCIDENT CALL LIST Revised December 2001 Please call from the top of the list down, until you have made a reliable contact. This is for COMAIR PILOT EMERGENCY USE ONLY. 1. ALPA Intl Accident Hotline: (202) 797-4180 or (703) 892-4180 Note: 24 hours, COLLECT calls accepted, answering service after business hrs. Routine safety questions: (800) 424-2470 2. Capt. MITCHELL SERBER - Central Air Safety Chairman (812) 537-4146 / ASPEN 5682 3. Capt. ALAN DEAN - Central Air Safety Vice Chairman (513) 321-2616 / ASPEN 3632 4. Capt. TODD GUNTHER - Chief Accident Investigator (941) 540-7598 / ASPEN 6390 5. Capt. STEVE MARSHALL - CVG Base Safety Chairman (407) 695-4661 / ASPEN 6649 6. Capt. PHIL STASIK - MCO Base Safety Chairman (407) 455-2221 / ASPEN 6258 ASPEN Voice Messaging system: (703) 689-4220 All individuals above may be reached on this system. PLEASE NOTE: for a NON-EMERGENCY, if unable with the above committee member numbers, contact your local ALPA Safety Response Team: Dial 800-7598352, enter pin: 2041179#, select option 2 and provide all information. If no response Use hole punch to fit Jepp binder TO PARTICIPATE IN THE DUES CHECKOFF PROGRAM YOU MUST: 1. Complete the following assignment and authorization for payment of association dues and service charges. G. Dues Checkoff 2. Return it to your local membership chairperson. 1. During the life of this agreement, the Company agrees to deduct from the pay of each employee covered by this Agreement and remit to the Association membership dues or service charges uniformly required by the Association, and in accordance with the provisions of the Railway Labor Act, as amended, provided such employee voluntarily executes the following agreed upon form. This form, also to be known as Service Charges and Dues Form, shall be prepared and furnished by the Association. ASSIGNMENT AND AUTHORIZATION FOR PAYMENT OF ASSOCIATION DUES AND SERVICE CHARGES TO: Comair, Inc. I, _____________________________________ (print full name) hereby authorize and direct the Company to deduct from my pay such monthly dues as are now or may thereafter be established in accordance with the Constitution and By-Laws of the Association, or service charge in an amount equal to such dues, for remittance to the Association. I agree that this authorization shall be irrevocable for 1 year from the date hereof or until termination of the checkoff agreement between the Company and the Association, whichever occurs sooner. In the absence of termination of the checkoff agreement, this authorization may be revoked effective as of any anniversary date of the signing hereof by written notice given by me to the Company and Association by registered mail, return receipt requested, during the 10 days immediately preceding any such anniversary. ________________________________________________________________ Signature of Employee Employee Number ________________________________________________________________ Address of Employee ________________________________________________________________ Date Please submit articles for the UPFRONT! The deadlines are as follows: Issue January, 1st Quarter April, 2nd Quarter July, 3rd Quarter October, 4th Quarter DEADLINES: The next issue of the UPFRONT will be published January 1. After that, the UPFRONT will be published quarterly. Deadline December 1 March 1 June 1 September 1 All material to be considered for publication must be submitted prior to these dates which will be posted on the ALPA bulletin boards in CVG, announced on VARS and ASPEN, as well as printed in the current issue. With this in mind, please note: This is your UPFRONT. If we receive only two articles, we will publish a two-page UPFRONT. We will no longer hold material until we have enough to publish. If you are an officer, we strongly encourage your input. And all other ALPA members are invited to submit articles as well. Material may be forwarded as follows: ELECTRONIC MAIL: [email protected] STANDARD MAIL Ashley Messenger 4318 Hwy 10 Alexandria, KY 41001 (859) 694-3508 Please e-mail suggestions to: [email protected] If you have a suggestion for things youd like to see in the UPFRONT, Suggestions? Upfront Do not accept any assignment that would violate any Federal Aviation Regulation. In an emergency contact a status representative, area specialist or coordinators, or the MEC office (859-282-9016/9017). EMERGENCY FARS I am fatigued and will not be able to continue this assignment. I am going home (or to the hotel) to rest. FATIGUE I am accepting this assignment under protest. Please be advised I will inform my association representative and that this may result in a grievance proceeding. ILLEGAL ASSIGNMENT BY CHIEF PILOT I believe this assignment is in violation of the current working agreement. I request you have the Chief Pilot contact me at this number immediately. ILLEGAL ASSIGNMENT BY SCHEDULER clip out Use hole punch to fit Jepp binder Know the PIREPs and the forecast: where potential icing conditions are located in relation to the planned route, and which altitudes and directions are likely to be warmer/ colder. About 25 percent of the cases of SLD are found in stratiform clouds colder than 0° C at all levels, with a layer of horizontal wind shear at the cloud top. There need not be a warm melting layer above. TAKEOFF Avoid exposure to SLD icing conditions (usually warmer than -10° C SAT, but possible to -18° C SAT). Normally, temperature decreases with each 1,000 ft. increase in altitude between approximately 1.5° C (2.5° F) for saturated air, to 2.75° C (5 degrees F) for dry air. In an inversion, temperature may increase with altitude. Advise ATC and promptly exit the condition using control inputs as smooth and as small as possible. Change heading, altitude, or both to find an area warmer than freezing, or substantially colder than the current ambient temperature, or clear of clouds. In colder temperatures, ice adhering to the airfoil may not be completely shed. It may be hazardous to make a rapid descent close to the ground to avoid severe icing conditions. When severe icing conditions exist, reporting may assist other crews in maintaining vigilance. Submit a pilot report (PIREP) of the observed icing conditions. It is important not to understate the conditions or effects. Reduce angle of attack (AOA) by increasing or extending wing flaps to the first setting if at-or-below the flaps extend speed (Vfe). If in a turn, roll wings level. Set appropriate power and monitor airspeed/AOA. A controlled descent is a vastly better alternative than an uncontrolled descent. If flaps are extended, do not retract them unless it can be determined that the upper surface of the airfoil is clear of ice, since retracting the flaps will increase the AOA at a given airspeed. Verify that wing ice protection is functioning normally and symmetrically by visual observation of the left and right wing. If not, follow manufacturers instructions. If roll control anomaly occurs Disengage autopilothand-fly the airplane. The autopilot may mask important handling cues, or may self-disconnect and present unusual attitudes or control conditions. WHEN EXPOSED TO SLD CONDITIONS Maintain awareness of outside temperature. Know the freezing level (0° C SAT). Be especially alert for severe ice formation at a TAT near 0° C or warmer (when the SAT is 0° C or colder). Many icing events have been reported at these temperatures. IN-FLIGHT BEFORE PUBLISHED BY THE FAA, SEPTEMBER 1995 PREVENTATIVE REMEDIAL MEASURES ROLL UPSET IN SEVERE ICING AIR LINE PILOTS ASSOCIATION, INTL 535 Herndon Parkway P.O. Box 1169 Herndon, Virginia 20172-1169 FIRST CLASS MAIL U.S. Postage PAID Dulles, VA Permit No. 036