NEWS
June 2021: 117th Congress has introduced a bill to place Cargo under Part 117
On June 23, 2021, H.R. 4075 was introduced in the House of Representatives. The title of the bill is "To require the Secretary of Transportation to modify the final rule relating to flightcrew member duty and rest requirements for passenger operations of air carriers to apply to all-cargo operations of air carriers, and for other purposes." The bill is sponsored by Rep. Carbajal [D-CA-24]. Text of the bill can be found here.
ALPA National Sets Putting Cargo Industry Under Part 117 as a Major Post-CoViD 19 Priority--Full Court Press Underway
It is absolutely clear from this press release and this press release, that ALPA National has reintroduced its assault on your schedule and your lifestyle with the new Congress. They left no room for doubt that they want all cargo carriers on the destructive Part 117 page. Here is an Excerpt of their priorities "white paper" (page 6) that makes that goal explicitly clear.
"Congress should pass the Safe Skies Act to mandate that cargo operations meet the same standards of safety as airline passenger operations under FAR 117..." (ALPA Policies Priority White Paper Page 6)
"Congress should pass the Safe Skies Act to mandate that cargo operations meet the same standards of safety as airline passenger operations under FAR 117..." (ALPA Policies Priority White Paper Page 6)
FedEx Publishes Data on Operational Emergency Duty Extensions.
New information at the pilot website indicates that in 2019, there were 4 operational emergencies. During two of these operational emergencies, there were duty period extensions. A total of 10 duty periods were extended as a result of "operational emergency" declarations. That's 10 duty periods out of 347,736 non-deadhead duty periods in the year. Public math says that's .003% of duty periods. It appears to be very unwise to throw 99.997% of our schedules out the window to preclude those 10 duty periods extensions. Nonetheless, the FedEx MEC, in the January 14th "Chairman's Message" seems happy with the tradeoff: "Nonetheless, the MEC is convinced that limitations on duty periods and having all industry under Part 117 is a safety issue worthy of pursuit."
ALPA National Lobbyists Find New Sponsors
In a recent push to get FedEx and all cargo operations under Part 117, as requested by the FedEx MEC, ALPA National has been lobbying Congress at an unprecedented levels. The FedEx MEC's July 2019 vote (without pilot group input) is being used in these lobbying efforts: "In fact, ALPA’s FedEx pilot group (Master Executive Council) has passed a resolution on behalf of its more than 5,000 pilots specifically endorsing the Safe Skies Act." Thank you FedEx MEC for that.
This week: Rep. Ihlan Omar [D-MN-5] was added as a sponsor. Seventeen House sponsors have been added just since January 30th.
This week: Rep. Ihlan Omar [D-MN-5] was added as a sponsor. Seventeen House sponsors have been added just since January 30th.
ALPA National Lobbyists are lying to congress about Part 117. Here are documents being distributed to our legislators with ALPA resources.
Not only has ALPA been misleading its own pilots, it's misleading Congress. Click on the buttons to the left to see for yourself the documents that ALPA lobbyists are distributing to Congressional staffers. One states that Airlines can "opt out" of Part 117 provisions:
"Under FRMS, carriers can submit routes, or even the entirety of their operation, to meet an equivalent standard to FAR 117 in order to comply. For example, there are a few United Airlines routes for which the carrier has sought a diversion to FAR 117 by submitting science-based evidence that they are providing an equivalent protocol to the FAR 117 standard. Another document states: "The cargo companies do not reflect or represent the pilots’ view. ALPA, the Independent Pilots Association, and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters all support the FAR 117 standard. ALPA conducted a vote of its FedEx Express pilots in July 2019 on the matter." I don't remember getting my ballot for that vote. Do you? I also don't remember having access to briefing materials about potential effects to our schedules. Those briefings were conducted behind closed doors before Fedex MEC members threw their pilot group under the bus. |