ALPA’s Board of Directors Takes Decisive Action (Read 44 Takeaways, page 17) Just How Damaging Were the NFL Replacement Refs? (Check out the infographic on page 36) PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. PRINTED IN Did You Know ALPA Has an Accident Investigation Lab? (Read about it on page 32) November 2012 Air Line Pilot 1 Stay Connected ALPA has many ways to keep you up-to-date on everything ALPA. Wordpress Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Flickr YouTube YouTube RSS Feeds TO LEARN MORE, VISIT www.ALPA.org/stayconnected A member service of Air Line Pilot. NOVEMBER 2012 • VOluME 81, NuMBER 9 25 17 32 About the Cover 6 Photo of Mt. Baker in Washington state taken by Capt. Bradley Kirk (CanJet). Download a QR reader to your smartphone, scan the code, and read the magazine. Air Line Pilot (ISSN 0002-242X) is pub lished monthly, except for the combined January/February and 25 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, VA 20172-1169. Telephone: 703-481-4460. COMMENTARY Fax: 703-464-2114. Copyright © 2012—Air Line Pilots Association, Inter national, all 4 Take Note rights reserved. Publica tion in any form without permission is prohibited. Air Line Beyond the Drama Pilot and the ALPA logo Reg. U.S. Pat. 28 AlPA Helps 30 Pilot Musings and T.M. Office. Federal I.D. 36-0710830. 5 Aviation Matters usher in a New Era A Ride on the B-787: A Periodicals postage paid at Herndon, VA 20172, and additional offices. Winds of Change of Aviation Security Perspective from Economy Postmaster: Send address changes to Class Air Line Pilot, PO Box 1169, Herndon, VA 20172-1169. Canadian Publications Mail Agreement FEATURES DEPARTMENTS 32 AlPA Toolbox #40620579: Return undeliverable maga- Toolbox for Tinkickers zines sent to Canadian addresses to 2835 17 44 Takeaways from Kew Drive, Windsor, ON, Canada N8T 3B7. 6 Preflight the Board of Directors Facts, Figures, and Info 34 Health Watch Meeting Refractive Eye Surgery, Part 2 25 Comair Flies West 36 The landing Replacement Refs by the 27 Pinnacle Pilots Numbers Stand Strong at 1113 Hearing with 7 38 We Are AlPA an Abundance of ALPA Resources and Support Contact Numbers 30 Ta ke HOT TOPICS Note IN THIS ISSUE Beyond the Drama ALPA’s Board This month, the movie Flight came to theaters, starring Denzel Washington as of Directors a pilot who saves his passengers under Meeting extreme circumstances. During these Turn to page 17 for 44 139 minutes, the film takeaways from this captures the drastic portrayals of pilots seen year’s meeting. in the news media—as heroes and as villains. Lost in all this dra- The B-787 matic rubber-necking Flip to “Pilot Musings,” page 30, to get is the fact that pilots a pilot’s take on flying economy class on perform tens of thousands of flights every the new Boeing airliner. day safely without incident, without fan- fare, and without any cameras watching. Despite numerous portrayals in the news media of pilots who are tragically flawed Pinnacle Pilots Take on or comically inept, the members of the Air Management in New York City Line Pilots Association, Interna tional, do Get the details on page 27. their jobs safely, securely, and with the highest levels of professionalism. Through training, Security professional develop- Check out page 28 for the latest ment, and ongoing info on risked-based security certification and test- screening and the new TSA ing, the skills of every office dedicated to it. pilot are honed to a degree rarely seen in any industry—and seldom acknowledged State-of-the-Art Technology by the news media. In addition to See what ALPA engineers are up to in the being expert aviators who carry more Engineering and Air Safety Department’s than 2 million passengers and 50 tons of cargo every day safely and securely to their sophisticated accident investigation lab (page 32). destinations, pilots serve as the last and best line of defense against attacks Farewell Comair on their airplanes. Read about the hurdles the pilot As pilots, you are held to a higher stan- group faced and the airline’s dard, and you consistently and confidently final flight onpage 25. meet this standard. The pilots of ALPA continue to demonstrate their profession- alism every day on every flight. It may not make a good movie or a good headline, but it does make an Replacement Refs exceptional story. A story that my staff and Flip to “The Landing,” I will continue to tell to members of the page 36, to get the (not- news media, to our aviation partners in so-great) numbers on NFL Washington and abroad, and, to the extent replacement refs. we can, Hollywood. Marie Schwartz Director, ALPA Communications [email protected] 4 Air Line Pilot November 2012 AviationMatters Winds of Change cies. Expanding rapidly, they are steadily adding U.S. destina- hat will it take for you, tions and have pro-aviation policies backing them. As I mentioned in last month’s column, these airlines will gain my fellow AlPA members, access to our flying through code-sharing and Open Skies agree- Wto engage? ments. Given the long-term vision of the Persian Gulf airlines, it’s Because, I have to tell you, we are in the fight of our lives. only a matter of time before they become big competitors. And if we don’t engage now, we run the risk of losing our Last month, the European Union stated that it will again careers and ultimately our industry. attack our laws on foreign ownership and control to enable How can this be? foreign investors from around the world—corporations, Since deregulation of the U.S. airlines, and even countries—to buy and take control of our airline industry in 1978, we’ve seen airlines. that a cyclical change (e.g., such as A change like this could be catastrophic for our carriers and that resulting from the 2002 SARS our careers—just when some of our airlines are finally recover- outbreak) can break an airline just as ing from the misery of the last decade. easily as a long-term, fundamental Once they have control, foreign investors, including state- change (e.g., the lasting shift to high owned airlines in the EU, China, and the Gulf, can take over fuel prices). Learning from these expe- our foreign flying, merely by reversing the destination and riences will help us overcome other changes that will continue origination points of a flight, so that what was once ORD– to challenge us. SIN–ORD will become SIN–ORD–SIN. The crews will be Mergers have reduced the number of airlines and competi- foreign-based and operating under a totally different set of tion in most segments of the industry. The trend has spread safety and security rules. to fee-for-departure, supplemental, and cargo airlines. I think The domino effect will inevitably lead to this: Aviation in this consolidation will continue in North America and globally, and country will go the way of the maritime industry, and we’ll be we must continue to engage efficiently and creatively in that finished. environment. I believe that airline mergers create more profit- We have been gearing up for this fight, but we have much to able companies, making contract gains possible. do, and we must do it together. Success on the international level is now key to a healthy If we are united, we’ll overcome this challenge, again. If we airline industry, regardless of the type of flying we do. That’s are divided, we will fail, and our jobs will be taken from us, why we pay so much attention to Chinese and Persian Gulf permanently. airlines. We can’t change the way they do business, so we must Our lack of a comprehensive aviation policy hinders our change the way we do business. ability to achieve economic and competitive viability. We need We have proved that constructive, stable, and mutually aviation policy. We need our governments to help us compete beneficial relationships with management are possible. But in the global marketplace. managements must respect our union and share our interest We need investments in air transportation infrastructure. in developing and maintaining that kind of relationship. They NextGen promises increased efficiency and capacity, but the must deal with our issues, reach equitable agreements, and FAA has mandated aircraft equipage for government benefit at resolve disputes efficiently. airlines’ expense. If the government will benefit, it should share Our companies will succeed only when they realize that the cost. And while we fight over who’ll pay for NextGen, Asian we are the linchpins of their success. Our countries and our and Persian Gulf countries are investing billions of dollars in economies will flourish only if we have a healthy industry. aviation infrastructure and equipment. Don’t look at your fellow union member as your competitor. ALPA won’t stand by while the U.S. government ignores Look outside North America to see how others are trying to foreign airlines’ unfair competitive advantage. We won’t stand take our jobs. by while our airlines are burdened with unfair taxes and fees. The Persian Gulf airlines are based in countries where Labor, management, and government must work together to labor unions are illegal; therefore, strikes can never happen. develop solutions and advance them vigorously. They do not have financial transparency or pay income or We must engage. And do so now. corporate taxes, and they fly from government-owned airports and facilities.