Helping Heroes Fly Act Passes House!

Posted on May 21, 2013 by

The Air Line Pilots Association, International, thanks Representative Gabbard for her leadership in passage of the “Helping Heroes Fly Act,” which is a common-sense measure to ensure that our nation’s heroes can pass through airport security with the respect and dignity that they have earned. Allowing severely disabled and wounded service members and veterans to pass through expedited security screening not only honors our service members, but also moves the TSA towards a risk-based security approach to passenger screening, a necessary shift to focus resources on those who are intent to do harm.

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Senator Wyden Calls for Investigation of Oil Market Manipulation

Posted on May 17, 2013 by

Today, Senator Ron Wyden, Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder asking him to investigate the alleged price manipulation of the oil markets by three major oil companies in Europe.  The European Commission recently ramped up its investigation of suspected price fixing in the oil market.  This investigation occurs as the House of Representatives, at the behest of Wall Street, holds hearings criticizing the necessary oversight components ALPA supports within the Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

In March of this year, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) forecast a 1.6% profit for the global airline industry.  All pilots know that fuel is the number one cost to our employers and pilots utilize professionalism and creativity to save fuel wherever safely possible.  The St. Louis Federal Reserve estimates that approximately 15% of the price of a barrel of oil is due to unneeded speculation in the oil market. U.S. airlines are spending tens of billions of dollars more on fuel than they should do to oil speculation.  That money should be going toward increased investments in people and equipment allowing us to compete on a level playing field.

 

Posted in Fuel Prices, Leveling the Playing Field | Tagged , | 1 Comment

ALPA Hails House Proposal to Prevent Abu Dhabi Customs Preclearance Facility

Posted on May 15, 2013 by

WASHINGTON—The Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), commends actions taken by the House Homeland Security Committee today to require additional oversight of U.S. overseas preclearance facility agreements entered into by U.S. and foreign governments.

In a voice vote today, the House Homeland Security Committee passed an amendment—proposed by Rep. Pat Meehan (R-Pa.)—to H.R. 1417, The Border Security Results Act of 2013, that would require the federal government to consider competitiveness and security issues when entering into reimbursement agreements with foreign governments for additional customs staff at preclearance facilities. The amendment, if ultimately approved by Congress, could prohibit funding for the Abu Dhabi preclearance facility by the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently reached an agreement with the government of the UAE to establish a CBP preclearance facility at Abu Dhabi International Airport. While no U.S. airline provides service to the Abu Dhabi, U.S. taxpayer dollars would partially fund the opening of the facility and the government security workers who will staff it.

“We are pleased to see members of Congress take notice of this absurd agreement that will only benefit foreign airlines and their governments,” said ALPA President Capt. Lee Moak. “CBP facilities and services should first and foremost benefit U.S. travelers, airlines, and their employees. A preclearance facility in a foreign country where no U.S. airline flies is misguided and would hurt the economic viability of the U.S. airline industry and its ability to provide jobs.”

A CBP preclearance facility at Abu Dhabi Int’l Airport would give Etihad Airways a significant convenience to offer its passengers as it would allow them to clear customs while still in the UAE. It would also provide them with an advantage over U.S. airlines, with whom it competes for passengers flying to the United States from Asia and the Middle East.

Founded in 1931, ALPA is the world’s largest pilots union, representing more than 50,000 pilots at 33 airlines in the United States and Canada.

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Senators speak out on Abu Dhabi pre-clearance facility

Posted on May 9, 2013 by

Eleven Senators sent a letter to Secretary Napolitano yesterday questioning the administration’s authority to proceed with the creation of a CBP pre-clearance facility in Abu Dhabi. ALPA has been actively urging members of Congress to weigh in with the Administration over the Abu Dhabi facility, which ALPA strongly opposes. 

Sen. Klobuchar (D-MN) and Sen. Coats (R-IN) led the Senate letter and ALPA pilots thank them for their leadership.   The letter states:

“We ask for an explanation on whether this decision was made as a result of a risk based analysis, and we ask that you clarify why a location that is not served by any carriers based in the United States, and with such a low level of international travelers bound for the United States, was selected.  We also ask that you clarify for us the authority by which the Department believes it is able to enter into this agreement with the UAE.  Finally, we ask that you clarify the rationale for allowing a foreign government or entity to pay for core security functions.”

We thank all Senators for voicing their concerns to the Administration about this misguided proposal.  Read the full letter here.  Nearly 150 Members of the House of Representatives have also written to Secretary Napolitano in opposition to this plan.

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Congressmen fight to keep air service agreements out of trade deal

Posted on May 1, 2013 by

Today, Rep. Michaud, Rep. Jones, Rep. Grimm, and Rep. Foster circulated a bipartisan letter asking the U.S. trade representative to leave aviation out of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) deal currently being negotiated between the U.S. and E.U.  Air service agreements have no place in TTIP.  Historically, negotiations relating to air traffic rights in the aviation industry have been conducted by the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Department of State (DOS).  DOT and DOS have negotiated 110 “Open Skies Agreements” over the past 20 years under Republican and Democratic presidents and these agencies possess the resources, expertise and understanding of the aviation industry to conduct bilateral and multilateral negotiations pertaining to the aviation sector. 

ALPA is concerned that the EU will try to circumvent this established process and use the TTIP to advance its agenda of chipping away at U.S. foreign ownership and control and cabotage laws, which would represent a direct attack on U.S. aviation jobs.  We thank the Congressmen for their leadership on this issue and urge all members to join their efforts.

 

Dear Ambassador:

We understand that the United States Trade Representative (USTR) will attempt to negotiate a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) with our allies in the European Union (EU).  We wish to express our strong opposition to the inclusion of commercial aviation traffic rights traditionally covered by bilateral air services agreements from any agreement that may come out of these negotiations and respectfully request that the USTR inform the EU that issues covered by air services agreements will not be a part of the negotiations.

Historically, “air transport services” have been negotiated by the Department of State and Department of Transportation.  These two agencies are well equipped to do this and possess the necessary expertise to negotiate on behalf of the commercial aviation industry and its employees.  Agreements negotiated under this regime have reduced the number of trade barriers to international air transport services in a fair and equitable manner.  Any request to add air traffic rights to the TTIP negotiations is an attempt by the EU to circumvent the established process for negotiating an air services agreement because they are not satisfied with the current U.S.-EU air transport agreement.  There is no reason to change an effective and efficient process that over the last 20 years has produced 107 “Open Skies” air transport agreements.

In negotiating a free trade agreement with the EU, USTR will be negotiating what would be the largest free trade agreement in the history of our country.  However, the USTR must dedicate its resources and expertise to negotiating in the sectors of our economy with which it has the most experience.  This is a daunting task for USTR.  For this reason, and the reasons mentioned above, we encourage USTR to insist that agreements over matters pertaining to international air traffic rights will continue to be negotiated by the Department of State and Department of Transportation.

 

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ALPA Responds to Government’s Announcement of Changes to Temporary Foreign Worker Program

Posted on April 30, 2013 by

OTTAWA – The Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA) issued the following statement in response to the announcement by the Human Resources and Skills Development (HRSDC) and Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism departments of changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. For years, ALPA has led efforts to tighten the rules governing the program under which Canadian airlines are currently able to augment their crews on a seasonal basis with foreign pilots.

“ALPA has long-advocated for reforming the Temporary Foreign Worker Program to ensure that Canadian airline pilots benefit from available aviation job opportunities. Of the announced changes, the requirement that employers who rely on temporary foreign workers must have a firm plan in place to transition to a Canadian workforce over time through the Labour Market Opinion (LMO) process is welcomed.

“This specific policy change is in line with information recently obtained by ALPA that one of the airlines which relies heavily on the program will, in the future, be expected to make investments in training for Canadian pilots commensurate with 25 percent of their annual requirement for foreign pilots via the LMO process, thereby gradually eliminating the need for foreign crews.

“While we have made progress, ALPA remains concerned that aviation jobs continue to be outsourced to foreign workers at a time when a number of highly qualified Canadian pilots are unemployed. Through our ongoing work with regulators and legislators, ALPA continues to advocate for further reforms to this and other programs under which foreign pilots are hired. We will not let up in our efforts to protect our members’ jobs and bring furloughed Canadian pilots back to work.”

Founded in 1931, ALPA is the world’s largest pilot union, representing more than 50,000 pilots at 34 airlines in the United States and Canada, including the 2,800 Canadian flight crewmembers who fly for Air Transat, Bearskin, Calm Air, Canadian North, CanJet, First Air, Jazz Aviation, Kelowna Flightcraft, and Wasaya. Visit the ALPA website at www.alpa.org

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ALPA Congratulates Transportation Secretary Nominee Anthony Foxx

Posted on April 29, 2013 by

WASHINGTON—Capt. Lee Moak, president of the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA) welcomes President Obama’s appointment today of Anthony Foxx to serve as the next Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary.

“Strong government leadership and partnerships are essential to the advancement of our aviation industry,” said Moak. “Mr. Foxx’s appointment comes at a critical moment in aviation history. Right now, our industry faces unprecedented challenges from foreign competition. Our government leaders, industry, and labor must work together now to level the playing field so that U.S. airlines can compete and prevail in the global marketplace. I look forward to working with Mr. Foxx on this important initiative and many more in the near future.”

 

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