December 2015 ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: » ALPA Hosts Cargo » Year in Review » Working Out Made Symposium 2015 page 36 Simpler page 33 Air page 32 Line PilOt 5th Annual Official Journal of the Air Line Pilots Association, International PHOTOGRAPHY DID YOUR PHOTO ISSUE MAKE THE CUT? Page 17 Take Action to Protect Your Career Page 10 Follow us on Twitter PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. @wearealpa Airline Career Pilot Program Program Includes ê Private, Instrument, Commercial Multi & AIRLINE CAREER Certifi ed Flight Instructor (Single, Multi & Instrument) PILOT PROGRAM LOCATIONS ê 230 Hours Flight Time / 40 Multi ê Guaranteed Instructor Job to Reach Airline Minimums Boeing 737-NG Earning up to $42,000 annually with tuition reimbursement Type Rating Program Airline Sponsored Career Track ê Graduate training in 6 months and fl ight instruct with ATP Program Includes ê Interview with an airline at 500 hours ê Manuals, Cockpit Panels, and Study Guides ê Commit and start earning tuition reimbursement ê Systems Ground Instruction ê Fly for your airline in just 2 years after starting training ê Full Flight Simulator Training (FFS) with Partner ê Check ATPFlightSchool.com for more participating airlines ê Line Oriented Flight Training (LOFT) with Partner ê FAA Oral Examination by On-Staff Training Center Evaluator (TCE) $ month Self-Paced & Housing 59,995 FAST TRACK Options Available $ Full Financing Available | Tuition Reimbursement 14,495 / 13 Days Full Financing Available Get Started with an Intro Training Flight Learn why ATP is your pilot career solution. ATPFlightSchool.com/intro ATPFlightSchool.com All prices offered through December 31, 2015. Check ATPFlightSchool.com for details and eligibility requirements. Call or text (872) 215-2877 2015-12-ATP-ALPA-FP.indd 1 10/19/15 9:07 AM DECEMBER2015CONTENTS VOLUME 84, NUMBER 10 34 COMMENTARY FEATURES DEPARTMENTS 5 OUR UNION 17 FIFTH ANNUAL 9 PREFLIGHT The Rest of the Team PHOTOGRAPHY ISSUE 32 ALPA@WORK 6 WEIGHING IN 25 PROGRESS REPORT: Thinking Outside the Box ASO Fuels ALPA’s Success ALPA’S STRATEGIC PLAN 33 HEALTH WATCH 7 PILOT COMMENTARY 29 EARNING THEIR Fitness Apps = No Gym How the Middle East 3 Affects PLACE IN THE SUN Necessary Low-Cost, Midsize Carriers 31 MY FIRST FLIGHT 34 OUR STORIES 8 GUEST COMMENTARY Drop the Puck Building Influence 35 2015 INDEX 36 THE LANDING ABOUT THE COVER Year in Review: 2015 A FedEx Express MD-11 land- ing at Salt Lake City Interna- 38 WE ARE ALPA tional Airport. Photo by Capt. ALPA Resources and Contact Numbers Dayton Burkholder (Delta). Download a QR reader to your smartphone, scan the code, and read the magazine. Air Line Pilot (ISSN 0002-242X) is pub lished 17 monthly except for combined January/Feb- ruary and June/July issues by the Air Line Pilots Association, Inter national, affiliated with AFL-CIO, CLC. Editorial Offices: 535 Herndon Parkway, PO Box 1169, Herndon, 33 VA 20172-1169. Telephone: 703-481-4460. Fax: 703-464-2114. Copyright © 2015—Air Line Pilots Association, Inter national, all rights reserved. Publica tion in any form without permission is prohibited. Air Line Pi- lot and the ALPA logo Reg. U.S. Pat. and T.M. Office. Federal I.D. 36-0710830. Periodicals postage paid at Herndon, VA 20172, and additional offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to 29 Air Line Pilot, PO Box 1169, Herndon, VA 20172-1169. Canadian Publications Mail Agreement #40620579 Canada Post: Return undeliverables to P.O. Box 2601, 6915 Dixie Rd, Mississauga, ON L4T 0A9. Photo: 17 December 2015 Air Line Pilot » 3 Air LineBeyond Pilot Feature Article the » TITLE Page HERE Look for these icons throughout the magazine to get access to even more information, including additional content, videos, and audio clips—or to get feedback on a question. Read More Web Address Video Link Audio Link E-mail Address Web Address Video Link Audio Link E-mail Address This is the only aisle we care about. ALPA-PAC is the most bipartisan labor PAC in the country. Conservative, liberal, or somewhere in between: we don’t care what side of the aisle they’re on, as long as they’re on our side. Back the PAC! www.ALPAPAC.org Disclaimer: The descriptions of the Air Line Pilots Association PAC are not a solicitation to contribute to the PAC. Only ALPA members, ALPA executives, senior administrative and professional staff personnel, and their immediate family members living in the same household are eligible to contribute to ALPA-PAC. ALPA-PAC maintains and enforces a policy of refusing to accept contributions from any other source. ALPA members may learn more about ALPA-PAC and about contributing to Photo: iStock.com Photo: ALPA-PAC by entering the members-only portion of www.alpa.org. A member service of Air Line Pilot. 4 » Air Line Pilot December 2015 OurUnion The Rest of the Team he main ingredient of stardom is the to lead our union’s efforts to advance one level rest of the team,” said U.S. basketball of safety in all flight operations. Congress must “Tplayer and coach John Wooden. This give the Department of Transportation the grounding principle guides coaching in basket- authority to fully regulate all lithium batter- ball, but it’s also the benchmark of ALPA’s work. ies, including those carried aboard all-cargo From negotiating contracts to advancing safety, aircraft. our union’s lasting accomplishments rely on a In addition, ALPA’s Government Affairs, strategy of seeking advancement with a team Engineering & Air Safety, and Communications effort and attitude. teams are reaching out with our members’ This issue of Air Line Pilot tells the story of concerns about UAS safety to the news media, the Sun Country pilots’ five-year marathon to lawmakers, and safety regulators in the United bargain a new contract. Capt. Brian Roseen, the States and Canada. Sun Country pilots’ Master Executive Council As a member of the FAA’s Unmanned Aircraft (MEC) chairman, recalls the pilots’ focus on Systems (UAS) Registration Task Force Aviation both the team and the long term. “As prior MEC Rulemaking Committee (ARC), ALPA supported negotiators had reminded us, we knew that its goal to ensure registration of UAS adds every pilot would find something in the new accountability and increases safety for opera- contract that he or she did like as well as some- tors. While not included in the ARC’s recom- thing that they didn’t like, but the fact that we mendations, ALPA feels strongly that manda- would all be better off under a new contract is tory registration of UAS at the point of sale is what kept us unified,” he says (see page 29). essential. Registration during the sales process The Sun Country pilot leaders cited the pilots’ would enable the FAA to more easily enforce solidarity with the MEC and the Negotiat- the registration rule and would help make clear ing Committee as well as ALPA’s support and to purchasers the responsibility in owning a resources as the reasons behind their success. UAS. In the report, the FAA stated that it will The Strategic Preparedness and Strike Commit- continue to regulate as necessary to ensure tee, led by Capt. Brian Florence (United), joined safety, even beyond the ARC recommendations. with ALPA staff experts from the Representation, ALPA is part of the team pressing for safely Economic & Financial Analysis, and Commu- capitalizing on the economic opportunities that nications Departments to fuel the effort. While UAS offer. three members of the Sun Country Negotiating In October 2014, the Board of Directors Committee may have sat at the bargaining table, adopted ALPA’s strategic plan to provide a focus the rest of the team was present in both spirit for every action we take as well as a measure and in substance, contributing in every way. for success (see page 25). In the case of all strate- Similarly, when recent FAA tests showed that gic plan priorities—including safely integrating as few as three lithium batteries on board an UAS, collective bargaining, and safeguarding aircraft are needed to cause a fire that could the shipment of lithium batteries by air––it will overwhelm the available fire suppression, take a team effort to do the job. Our success in ALPA’s team used the new data to renew our every element of the plan hinges on our ability union’s longtime call for action. to work in unity to advance nimble strategies While lithium-metal batteries are banned and to watch carefully for changes in the eco- worldwide from being shipped as cargo on pas- nomic and political environment. senger airliners, they continue to be permitted to be shipped in unrestricted quantities on all- cargo airliners. ALPA adamantly maintains that these batteries pose the same risk regardless of the type of aircraft that transports them. Capt. Scott Schwartz (FedEx Express), the director of ALPA’s Dangerous Goods Program, is helping Capt. Tim Canoll, ALPA President December 2015 Air Line Pilot » 5 WeighingIn ASO Fuels ALPA’s Success By Capt. Joe DePete, ALPA First Vice President Our union has a presence on the Pilot Fitness Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC), tasked ’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again; the Air with examining matters related to the awareness Safety Organization (ASO) is one of the corner- and reporting of pilot emotional and mental health I stones of our Association. Powered by talented issues. You may recall that this ARC was launched and knowledgeable pilots and supported by ALPA’s in the wake of the Germanwings Flight 9525 trag- staff, the outstanding work of the ASO not only edy. Our union is also involved in the Air Carrier adds to ALPA’s integrity and credibility, but also Training ARC and its Air Transport Pilot Working serves as the very foundation of what our organiza- Group, where we continue to advocate for quality tion represents.