I hope that this update will serve to help our loyal customers cut through the fog of company disinformation that infects these boards, and better understand why our union has drawn a line in the sand. As you peruse this somewhat stunning information, please be aware that our pilots are fully united in our resolve to operate our flights the right way. If anyone thinks the Tempe frat boys are going to intimidate us, guess again.
CHARLOTTE DOMICILE UPDATE
July 17, 2008
Fuel Awareness and a Call to Action
We all know fuel is a very important issue in all of our daily lives, both at work and more importantly at home. We have been receiving many reports of SABRE flight planning irregularities that end up with our flights landing with significantly less fuel than stated on the release. There are ways to determine required fuel loading prior to departure, and it is your responsibility to ensure you have the required fuel on board for your flight. Tracking fuel while in route as well as determining required fuel to destination, holding, and alternate requires constant monitoring. Many of these functions can be inserted into the FMC. If you are close to min fuel, involved in holding to min fuel, or below your re-release fuel, we recommend you check in with your dispatcher and divert to your alternate.
At this time we call on our pilots to act and assist the Company in maintaining a safe operation. We need to document the accuracy of our flight plans. Our fuel loads are based upon the fuel required to fly from point A to point B (fuel burn to the destination). All additional fuel such as alternate, holding, and contingency fuel is added to the fuel burn to destination. We are asking our pilots that at anytime your actual burn is greater than what the planned burn is, that you write up an ASAP immediately for that particular flight. The ASAP report can be as simple as stating that your flight plan was inaccurate as the actual fuel burn to destination is greater than flight planned. It would be helpful if the planned fuel burn and the actual burn numbers were included in the report.
ASAP forms are available in domicile crew rooms, at the Regional Director of Flying Offices, and are available for download on the HUB in the Safety Reporting System. In addition, starting Thursday this week, you will begin to see Pilot 4 Pilot Volunteers in PHL and CLT who will have a supply of ASAP forms. Reach out to theses P4P volunteers for information and guidance as they will have all the latest information. P4P pilots will also gather any information or paperwork and ensure it reaches the Board. Remember, YOU are the final link in the Safety chain. Your judgment and Captain’s Authority are well defined in the FAR’s and FOM. Use your knowledge, judgment, and authority wisely. Be safe and ensure the comfort of your passengers and crew.
Captain's Authority
In our last update we informed you about the Company’s attack on Captain's Authority specifically regarding departure fuel loads. The efforts are morphing into other areas of the operation as several of our Captains’ judgments have recently been questioned by dispatch and maintenance.
One example involved a diversion caused by a disruptive passenger who had to be restrained with tough cuffs at 37000 feet on an Airbus 319. The other involved pressure by OCC and maintenance who attempted to intimidate one of our 330 captains into ferrying an aircraft from Europe to PHL with an out-of-limits hydraulic leak.
The diversion incident occurred on a flight from CUN to CLT when a 6’4†250 LB passenger physically assaulted his wife while at cruise. The passengers in the cabin were able to restrain the man with tuff cuffs and the assistance of off duty police officers who were traveling on vacation. Upon being notified of the situation and with the ACARS MEL inoperative, the Captain made the decision to divert to the nearest suitable airport, which he determined to be MIA. At 14,000 feet in the descent and landing mode, ATC advised the crew to contact their dispatcher on AIRINC. The call was patched through and the Captain was read the section of the FOM that stated that if the cabin event was under control he should proceed to destination. The Captain stated to the dispatcher he no longer had the fuel to climb back to altitude and since he was unsure of the condition of the passengers and the disruptive passenger he would continue with the diversion and discuss this further when on the ground in MIA.
The point of this story is that the Captain not only acted professionally and appropriately, but felt that his authority was being questioned during a critical event as well as in a critical phase of flight. We applaud this Captain’s discretion as well as his judgment and feel that the attempted interference by dispatch to be a safety issue and another clear example of an attempt to intercede into the world of Captain’s Authority for economic reasons. The FBI and law enforcement met the flight and arrested the disruptive passenger. His wife elected to stay with her husband and are both spending unscheduled time in Dade County Florida.
The other recent incident occurred on an Airbus 330 when the outbound crew discovered a hydraulic leak on the aircraft during preflight that exceeded dispatch minimums and maintenance was required. The hydraulic seal needed to repair the aircraft had to be flown-in and the flight was canceled. On the bus back to the hotel, the Captain was contacted by dispatch and 4 Airbus maintenance supervisors from OCC, all of whom attempted to persuade the Captain to maintenance ferry the aircraft across the North Atlantic to PHL, by assuring her that the aircraft seal in question was good for at least one more flight. The Captain stuck to her guns and refused to fly the aircraft until properly repaired. Again we applaud this Captain’s judgment by not succumbing to the undo pressures levied upon her, based strictly on economics. And we severely question the Corporate Culture and Philosophy that attempts to put our pilots under this type of safety related pressure. Economics over Safety is never a consideration. Thank you both for being “Good Captainsâ€.
Captain's Authority Part Two, Fuel Conservation Training
Our first thought in the above story is to ferry a 330 across the North Atlantic with a known hydraulic discrepancy is not only a safety concern but a considerable waste of fuel. That being said we recently had a reserve crew called out to fly a round-trip, weather delayed shuttle flight from BOS to LGA. Upon arrival at the airport the Captain discovered that they would be operating 4 plus hours behind schedule, and that all passengers were already accommodated on other flights. He questioned the need to fly an empty airplane at this stage of the game to LGA, but was told that it was needed to accommodate the LGA to BOS segment of passengers. The crew flew empty to LGA and picked up one passenger and his bag and returned to BOS. Once again, we must question the thought process of a management team that is disciplining 8 of our senior Captains for adding departure fuel loads on between 17% and 35% of their flights, by an average of 2500 to 3500 LBS on the wide body aircraft they fly, when the same management is so willing to waste over 10,000 LBS of fuel along with 3 hours of aircraft and crew expenses for a single passenger.
Make no mistake: The Company is attempting to communicate to all of us by isolating these 8 International Captains. This is a direct assault on your Captain's Authority. This disciplinary action is a blatant attempt to intimidate our pilots to comply with the corporate bean counters and their flawed attempts to micro-manage your cockpits. This management is intentionally violating our contract Sections 11 (Training) and 19 (Discipline) by using the training department and the simulator as a disciplinary tool. We want to make this perfectly clear to our pilots:
We DO understand the fuel crisis in our industry. We ALL want to ensure the long term SUCCESS of US Airways. The pilots are the final decision makers in the safety chain and it is up to all of you to protect and ensure the safety of your flights. As pilots we must all protect and defend our authority as defined in the FAR’s and FOM regarding Captain's Authority. Our Pilots must NEVER succumb to economic pressures over matters of Safety. Your comfort level as Pilot in Command is part of the process of operating in “the green†and your safety concerns for all aspects of your particular flight environments. Your judgment must never be compromised by corporate bean counters and their attempts to influence and interject their economic concerns into our cockpits while disregarding your overall level of comfort. Simply put, never allow your judgment/safety decisions to be compromised by the pressure of economics. You are the final decision maker. Be a good Captain; help the Company by staying in the green and operating safely and in your comfort zones. By flying the SAFEST trip possible, with total concern and obligation to your passengers and crew, you are truly acting as a good union pilot.
The E-190 Problem
With announced furloughs and displacements that we are now facing, many of our pilots are facing life-changing decisions. Many of our recently upgraded Captains will be returning to the right seat. That equates to pay cuts. Many of our F/O’s will be returning to narrow body equipment from wide body equipment. Again, that equates to pay cuts. Many pilots think the most distressing issue is the ultimate furloughs of our pilots. But the reality is that these pilots will move on to better places than they are leaving, as they are only making $35,000 to $40,000 annually on the E-190. The trauma of furlough for these pilots is a concern to all of us, but the real fiasco is our CEL and recently returned furlough pilots who elected (as per the contract) to bypass the poverty stricken E-190 F/O pay rates as they returned to mainline in the higher- paying narrow, and in some cases, wide body equipment. After resigning the careers they had while on furlough, they expected to return to US Airways with the promise of narrow body or higher F/O pay. But now, they are now being displaced to poverty level $45.00 hour pay rates of the E-190. We hope that the Company evaluates this situation and remedies this issue by offering pay protection or possible leaves to these pilots, as many cannot support their families on these below-commuter-rate wages. The stress being put on the junior group of our pilots is not unseen or unheard by your leadership. The current fuel prices have created stress in all of our family budgets by increasing the costs of all goods and services we purchase. Tie these costs to a $30,000 a year pay cut caused by displacement from a Group II First Officer seat to the bottom of the industry E-190 pay rates, and we can all see the choices many of these affected pilots will soon have to make. The Negotiating Advisory Committee will be working on remedies to help all our pilots in these distressing times. We are asking our pilots to demonstrate their resolve by being good Union Members. We must support the Negotiator Advisory Committee and professional negotiator in their efforts to get us the contract we need, one with increased pay rates that will ultimately help our company focus on running our airline, as we focus on and address the needs of our families.
In the mean time, for our pilots that find themselves in this situation, you will be pay- protected one-for-one if trained to the E-190 out of seniority order. Remember that your type rating in the AQP program is not considered complete until you have successfully completed your IOE.
Attack on Captain’s Authority = Lack of Confidence
Webster’s Dictionary
Main Entry:
1con·fi·dence
Pronunciation:
\ˈkän-fə-dən(t)s, -ˌden(t)s\
Function:
noun
Date:
14th century
1 a: a feeling or consciousness of one's powers or of reliance on one's circumstances <had perfect confidence in her ability to succeed> <met the risk with brash confidence> b: faith or belief that one will act in a right, proper, or effective way <have confidence in a leader>
Do any of you have what is described above in Webster’s dictionary in your hearts, minds, and feelings for our current Flight Department and Training Department Management? Are the behaviors of these Management Pilots in this current grab at our profession as distasteful to you as it is to your leadership? The PHL Directors of Flying initiated the hostage taking of the 8 Fuel Awareness Captains, and that same reckless attitude has now elevated through the ranks of Flight Department Management. Our corporate management has enlisted the services of the Vice President of Flight Operations, Vice President of Training, PHL Directors of Flying, as well as training department personnel and Check Airmen, who are all assisting our corporate leadership in their attack on your Captain’s Authority. As these pilots align with the “Harvard Trained Bean-Counters†to attempt to micro-manage your profession, they are truly selling out all line pilots in our industry. They are turning their backs on the principles of our profession, and for what; Position? Dollars? Fear of returning to the line? What is so valuable to these pilots that they would choose to turn their backs on our profession and more importantly the pilots they were hired with just to move up or protect their climb to the top of the proverbial corporate ladder? We don’t get it… and we certainly don’t respect it.
Fly safe out there, be a good Captain and a good Union Member.
Dave Koseruba Bill McKee Steve Greif