Pilot-Wide Call on July 19

Next week, MEC Chairman Angelo Matziaris will host a conference call for all pilots to get the latest information, ask questions, and provide feedback. The call is scheduled for Monday, July 19, at 1600 ET. (Please note that this is listed as Eastern time; you should calculate it into the time zone that you will be in to ensure that you don’t miss the call.) Check your email for the specific call numbers.

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  Join MAG ALPA on Facebook

More than 190 pilots go to the MAG ALPA Facebook page for regular updates on current issues, upcoming meetings, and more. If you’re not getting this information currently, search for “MAG ALPA” on Facebook, or click “here” to go to the site directly and become a fan.

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  CDOs

Pilots may NOT be scheduled in excess of 14 hours of duty while on a Continuous Duty Overnight (CDO), as stated in Section 13.I.7. of the contract. Pursuant to a grievance settlement, a pilot on a CDO assignment MAY be assigned additional flying as a “junior assignment” provided the pilot is in fact the “junior available” pilot AND all contractual provisions related to “junior available” assignments are met. Apparently, some members of MAG management were unaware of this grievance settlement that was reached during a grievance mediation session in Summer 2006. Your Grievance Committee has provided MAG management with copies of the settlement agreement.

If, after reading the above, you believe your rights were violated, please file a (GIR) Grievance Investigation Report with full details.

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  MAG MEC Attends FFD Meeting

This week, MEC Chairman Angelo Matziaris and MEC Executive Administrator Ryan Pachkofsky participated in a two-day meeting of the Fee-for-Departure (FFD) Task Force. Hosted by Capt. John Prater, with Capts. Bill Couette and Tom Wychor and ALPA staff facilitating, these meetings effectively identified a number of significant safety issues. A portion of our discussions were held with senior representatives of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA); we reviewed our concerns with them. Capt. Prater stated at the conclusion of the meeting that he felt the we were successful in opening the door for improvements in a number of areas.

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  July 5 Training Fiasco

Sixteen pilots were scheduled to commence training at Williams Gateway on July 5, the day after the Independence Day holiday. Since it would mean travelling on the holiday, and missing the holiday weekend with their families, several pilots inquired if the training could be delayed a day. They were initially told “no” and were told to report July 5 as scheduled. Late on Friday, July 2, company management decided the training could, in fact, be delayed to start on July 6, allowing the pilots additional holiday time with their families. Unfortunately, no one bothered to notify the 16 pilots and they travelled in over the holiday weekend as scheduled. When they showed up at the Training Center on Monday morning, they found a note on the door advising them that the Training Center was closed for the holiday and they should return to start class on Tuesday. So, these 16 pilots got to spend a quality day at Williams Gateway and the Windemere Hotel.

Grievance Committee Chairman Bill Cormier contacted MAG senior management and was assured that all of the pilots would be paid a minimum of four hours. MAG management has now advised us that the pilots will instead receive a four hour “credit toward guarantee,” not pay on top of their awarded guarantee.

This is unacceptable. These 16 pilots should have been on a day off instead of either traveling to or already in PHX. They were never given the chance or opportunity to enjoy that day off because someone else dropped the ball. Since that Sunday, July 4, should have been a scheduled day off yet they traveled to PHX and reported as originally scheduled to a class on Monday that was cancelled, those pilots ought to receive the company’s promise of four hours credit above each pilot’s respective line/minimum guarantee.

The irony is that the cost of bringing the pilots in a day early, and paying hotels and per diem for Sunday night/Monday probably exceeded the cost of paying those four hours above guarantee. After all, the bulk of the 16 pilots in training were downgrading first officers.

Your MEC is extraordinarily disappointed in the MAG management team on multiple levels for their handling of this fiasco. Once the error (however inadvertent or innocent) was discovered and the pilots showed up on Monday, there was a “right” way to handle it and a “wrong” way. MAG senior management once again chose the “wrong” way. We hope they will reconsider and credit these 16 pilots (who enjoyed record 112 degree temperatures while stranded all day Monday at the Williams Gateway, and missed most of the holiday weekend with their families) those four hours above their guarantee. Standing by their word and treating their employees fairly is an EPPIC way of doing business.

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  Negotiating Committee Update

Your Negotiating Committee continues to work on several fronts, including preparing for upcoming Section 6 negotiations. Our contract becomes amendable later this year, and we will be in PHX next week to continue working with our ALPA professional advisors on negotiations preparations, including the evaluation of other regional carrier pilot contracts (ALPA and non-ALPA) and development of our pilot poll.

Meanwhile, we are committed to working to secure any other contractual improvements. At the moment, however, we have no negotiations underway with MAG management. We will keep you updated as to any developments.

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  Grievance Committee Update

To date for the year 2010, there are 15 Group Grievances on the books and 373 GIRs that have been filed by pilots who feel that they have been violated in some shape or form. We encourage you, when in doubt (and not), to always file a GIR so the Grievance Committee can investigate the issue and determine whether or not a formal grievance needs to be filed.

We are in constant contact with the Chief Pilot’s office with pre-grievance meetings, and many of the issues that pilots are concerned about are being dealt with pro-actively and resolved at this level. This saves time and money for both the union and the company. Our next pre-grievance meeting is scheduled for Monday, July 19, with Mr. Chiodo. We hope that we can resolve a number of issues that have developed over the last couple of bids. First and foremost are the changes being made to pilots’ schedules AFTER PBS has awarded him/her a line. If you are one of the many pilots who has had their schedules changed and/or their line guarantee reduced after the final PBS awards have been posted, you need to file a GIR and document your PBS results in order to be placed on the APL (affected pilots’ list). Another issue is the constant changes in a reserve pilot’s schedule. For example, a pilot is placed on a.m. RSV one day and then changed to p.m. the next or vice versa. Once again, our contract doesn’t allow this to happen. The MEC has not granted relief on this section, and the QOL LOA that did allow for daily bidding thus daily changes is no longer in affect as of May 31, 2010.

If you do not have a contract, please send an email to mesagrievance@alpa.org so we can make sure you are supplied with one ASAP.

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  Ballpark Information for Bid 1008

Below you will find the Scheduling Committee's BALLPARK line production numbers for 1008. These numbers came about based on a quick math calculation by us of total block hours divided by an average line value of 84 hours and DOES NOT take into account vacation, training, planned absences, etc. 

Note that there are MANY factors that go into whether or not you will receive a line. Under no circumstance are these numbers meant to be used to guarantee success or failure in an individual pilots attempt at holding a line.

The Scheduling Committee generates these numbers and any inaccuracies or errors are to be attributed to them, not Crew Planning. Planning has provided us the tools to come up with these numbers, but did not do the direct calculations and has not checked out math.

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  Windemere Hotel Concerns

Several pilots in training have voiced their concerns to the MEC over the use of the Windemere Hotel, which is the hotel used for pilots in training at Williams Gateway. The MEC is pleased to report that after being alerted to our concerns, MAG senior management quickly investigated the claims and met with Windemere management. As a result of these meetings, MAG Senior Vice President of Administration & Human Resources David Butler informed the MEC that a number of improvements will be forthcoming at the Windemere, including: improved van transportation to/from a nearby shopping mall; one hotel van with inoperable air conditioning will be removed from service and repaired, and a rental van substituted in the interim; hotel will designate a computer terminal and printer for MAG employees; cleaned and enhanced laundry room facility; and designation of a work out room and crew lounge at the hotel for MAG employees. We appreciate the prompt response from MAG management, particularly Mr. Butler and MAG Training Director Mike Ferverda.

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  Junior PBS Bidders

We have received many emails from pilots in the past couple of weeks about problems with their PBS awards. Most of these issues seem to be related to the recent domicile displacements and downgrades. Many of our pilots are used to a level of bidding and award results that are unfortunately no longer valid. With this in mind, the Scheduling Committee would like to remind all pilots that they need to re-evaluate their relative base seniority and tweak their bids in PBS accordingly. If you have any questions, please contact MAGPBS@alpa.org.

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  Reserve Bidding in PBS

The Scheduling Committee would like to bring to your attention a little known change in reserve bidding. As you are all aware the company required all reserve shifts to be in minimum blocks of four under the QOL LOA. While the LOA is no longer in place, this requirement (with some modifications) stayed.

PBS will still continue to require a minimum of four days of reserve coverage. The system will, however, allow less then four days at the end of the month. The software will also allow less then four days if it can legally be placed up against known absences (mainly training events).

The Scheduling Committee is working to get this rule changed back to the how it was done prior to the QOL LOA, as it allows for much more flexibility with your bidding and would cut down on reserve unstacking. However, until such time as we are able to accomplish this, please keep in mind the rule while bidding.

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  Jumpseat Update

This week, a gate agent insisted that one of our pilots list as a non-rev instead of OMC on an international United mainline flight because there weren’t any coach seats available. Please note that there is no requirement that any OAL pilot list as a non-rev when their intent is to jumpseat. Furthermore, international jumpseat/OMC is not limited to coach class only.

Also in jumpseat news, we’re happy to announce that Ann Smith has joined the Jumpseat Committee. Ann has a lot of first-hand jumpseating experience (she has been commuting from Tampa to Dulles for the past five years), and we look forward to having her input and assistance. Please join us in welcoming Ann to the Jumpseat Committee and thanking her for volunteering her time to serve the pilot group.

If you have any jumpseat-related questions or concerns, please contact the committee at MAGJumpseat@alpa.org. Jumpseat Committee Chair Julia Reiners may also be reached at 401-497-4297.

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  Hotel Committee Chairman Needed

The MEC is in search of a pilot volunteer to serve as the Hotel Committee chairman. This committee is responsible for supervising the sections of the agreement concerning crew facilities, lodging, and transportation of crews.

If you are interested in volunteering on the Hotel Committee either as its chairman or as a member, please contact your local council representatives. They can be reached via email at LEC84@alpa.org, LEC85@alpa.org, LEC87@alpa.org, or LEC88@alpa.org, or by using the contact information listed below.

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  What’s Your Problem?

Check out this month’s issue of What's Your Problem?, which addresses frequently asked questions about reserve. Unfortunately, it contained an outdated contact list, and we apologize for the confusion. The LEC84 captain representative position is vacant, and the current contact list for your MEC can be found below. I

f you have questions about the information covered in What's Your Problem? or any other issue, please contact your elected representatives or the Communications Committee at MAGCommunications@alpa.org.

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  MEC Contact Information

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