The 'new' Professional Pilot News

Hello, and happy new year to everyone.

This post is to let you know that the Professional Pilot News blog has been re-located to a new address on the web. Go and have a look, and if you have this blog bookmarked, please change to the new address:

http://pilotnewsblog.blogspot.com/

I'm glad you found this blog and I hope you will now become a regular visitor to the new version of the Professional Pilot News blog.

P.S. The web address of our main website - AircrewHealth.com - remains the same.

Happy Holidays

This will be the final post in this blog for 2006 as we take off for a week or so to enjoy the holidays with family and friends. We'll be back to posting news for and about professional pilots around the world in the first week of January. 2007.

In the meantime, why don't you have a look at our Aircrew Health website. Here area few pages on the website that are of particular interest to pilots:

• Pilot News
• Flight Deck Safety Issues & News
• Pilot Age Limits

We wish all the best to our readers and we hope that aircrews all over the world have a healthy, safe, and Happy 2007.

Judge says Comair can discard pilots' contract

A federal bankruptcy court judge has given Comair the go-ahead to scrap its labor contract with its pilots and to impose wage and benefit cuts.

From the Aero-News Network:

The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), the union representing Comair's pilots, has been negotiating with the company after it tossed an earlier agreement to take $17.3 million in annual cuts. ALPA says it tossed the agreement when the airline failed to meet a contingency requiring a certain level of concessions from its flight attendants. The deal flight attendants brokered last month was $1 million less than the amount the airline told pilots it would get.

The airline has asked its pilots to accept $15.8 million in annual cuts since ALPA tossed the previous deal, but it has been holding out for a better deal.

Comair, like its parent Delta, has been under Chapter 11 protection since September of last year. Company executives claim it needs to save $70 million annually under a restructuring plan to emerge from bankruptcy.

Negotiations between the airline and its pilots have continued sporadically with neither side willing to give any ground -- both have seemed willing to place all the important decisions in the hands of the bankruptcy court.

Aside from accusing the airline of dealing unfairly with it, the pilot's union says it has already given two years of concessions and wants the airline to prove more concessions are necessary.

In his order, the judge wrote, "Comair presented lengthy testimony and many exhibits proving that its pilot costs are not competitive. ALPA does not dispute that Comair's pilots have long been and are the highest paid in the industry."

Barring a negotiated agreement, Comair says it will impose concessions on December 30.

A union spokesman told the Associated Press the judge's decision doesn't change the requirement for a fair and equitable agreement between it and the airline.

Source: Comair Given Go Ahead To Impose Cuts On Pilot Union - Aero-News.net

Technorati Tags: airline pilots, airlines, Comair, labor issues, pilots

Delta accepting pilot applications

An article from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, republished on the Airport Business website, says that Delta will begin interviewing prospective First Officers next month. This will be the first time Delta has hired new pilots since 2001.

The carrier, which has about 6,000 pilots, has been calling back flight crews as it ramps up international flying. The airline has announced plans to add 13 used Boeing 757s, several wide-body Boeing 777s and 10 Boeing 737s.

This year, Delta says it has offered recalls to 340 pilots, 900 mechanics and 1,200 flight attendants. Employees have said only a fraction are typically coming back to the carrier, however, because they have found other jobs.

One of Delta's chief pilots said the decision to start recruiting pilots --- Delta's first pilot hiring since 2001 --- is a "significant milestone."

"Clearly, this announcement, coupled with our recently announced order for new Boeing 737 and 777 aircraft as well as the planned acquisition of 13 Boeing 757s, shows that Delta's plan is working and the future for the Delta pilot group looks bright," said Steve Dickson, vice president of flight operations, in a press release.

Funny how these things work. Just yesterday we reported that a bankruptcy court judge okayed the termination of Delta pilots' pension plan. Now they're looking to hire new pilots.

So it goes...

Source: Upbeat Delta to Hire New Pilots - Airport Business

Technorati Tags: airline pilots, airlines, Delta Airlines, pilots

Court approves Delta pilots' pension deal

A US bankruptcy court has approved an agreement between Delta Air Lines and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) allowing the airline to terminate its pilots' pension plan, retroactive to September 2. Under the agreement, the PBGC, which is the federal pension insurer, will now take over the pensions and pay pilots a portion of the benefits they had expected to receive from the company.

From a Reuters article on Airwise.com:

Delta, which rejected an USD$8.4 billion takeover bid by rival US Airways on Tuesday, hopes to emerge from bankruptcy protection in the spring of next year as an independent carrier.

The court's decision, which comes over objections from a group of more than 800 retired pilots, brings the airline a step closer to meeting that goal.

According to an Associated Press article in the International Herald Tribune, the PBGC estimated that the pilot pension plans were underfunded by about $3 billion.

Source: Court Approves Delta Pilots' Pension Deal - Airwise.com
Pension agency approves Delta plan to terminate pilot pensions - International Herald Tribune

Technorati Tags: airline pilots, airlines, Delta Airlines, pilot pensions, pilots

Shortage of pilots in India

News from south Asia: A parliamentary committee in India has expressed concern over the pilot shortage in that country. A parallel concern is "inadequate training facilities" for pilots in India.

From India eNews:

"The government is doing its best to resolve this matter," Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told members of the consultative committee on civil aviation that met here Tuesday.

Patel informed the panel members that the capacity of the government run flying training institute, Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademy (IGRUA), had been enhanced.

A new flying training institute is coming up at Gondia in Maharahstra and approval has been given to five more training institutes, he said.

Foreign pilots can be licensed to fly in India once they pass an examination conducted by the directorate general of civil aviation.

The civil aviation ministry was also exploring the possibility of giving management contract of the Akademy to a reputed international company to bring it up to international standards.

Hmmm, sounds like a business opportunity for our friends at Alteon Training. After all, they've already signed a contract with Air India to provide them with flight simulators.

Sources: Parliamentary panel concerned over shortage of pilots - India eNews
Alteon supports Air India growth with training solutions in Mumbai - Alteon Training News

Technorati Tags: Alteon Training, flying jobs, India, pilots, pilot jobs

Will SkyWest pilots join ALPA?

News comes to us via the Salt Lake Tribune that "more than 100 pilots have formed an organizing committee and are working in earnest with the Air Line Pilots Association to gauge support for a union that would act as the bargaining agent for the carrier's 2,500 aviators."

Here's an excerpt from the article:

ALPA is asking the pilots to sign cards that would authorize it to ask the National Mediation Board to conduct a secret-ballot election sometime next year. The union will approach the board if 75 percent of the pilots indicate they want to be represented by ALPA.

The issue driving the pilots to attempt their third organizing effort in seven years has less to do with wages and benefits than it does about more control over their fate in coming years, which many experts say will be marked by instability and consolidations in the airline industry.

"The company has just grown dramatically over the last year. It's gotten to be such a big company, where you can't just walk in and meet with your manager anymore. Everybody knows it's time," said a senior member of the pilot committee who requested that he not be identified for fear of company retaliation.

Later in the article, the writer comments on why SkyWest is a logical target for union organizers:

The St. George-based holding company is a cash cow in the regional airline business. At a time when the big U.S. carriers are struggling with bankruptcies, high fuel bills and stiff competition from low-cost carriers, SkyWest has prospered by providing contract flying services for Delta and United Airlines, which pay its fuel, landing and insurance expenses. Its third-quarter profits grew 35 percent over last year's, to $40.7 million.

This will be the third time since 1999 that SkyWest pilots have considered unionizing.

The airline is not happy about the prospect of unionized pilots.

"There is little doubt that ALPA would be very excited to collect union dues from our 2,500 pilots," SkyWest President Ron Reber said through a spokeswoman.

"We believe our flight deck officers are well represented by SAPA [a company-funded group with no bargaining power] and continue our commitment to open and honest communication with the SAPA representatives," Reber said.

Not so, say many pilots.

"They are realizing that right now their future lies in the hands of management and they have very little input into what might happen to the company in the future," said James Magee, a pilot for American Eagle who represented ALPA at a dinner for SkyWest pilots in Salt Lake earlier this month.

"Right now, they have no job protection. There are no guarantees as to what their salaries might be in the future or where they might be based. There are no basic rules about how many days do they work or how often do they work," Magee said.

"We want a legally binding contract. We want some job protections and [for SkyWest] to remove our at-will employment status," said the SkyWest pilot who is a member of the organizing committee.

Source: SkyWest pilots look to union - The Salt Lake Tribune

Technorati Tags: airlines, airline pilots, Air Line Pilots Association, ALPA, pilots, SkyWest, unions

Pilots plan to block takeover of Qantas

An article on Australia's Sky News website says that Qantas pilots are considering a plan to block the takeover of the airline.

The Australian newspaper reports that 2500 workers may be prepared to invest their own money to secure one per cent of the stock.

But they would first need to know another nine per cent of shareholders do not want to accept the $5.60 a share offer from a private equity consortium.

It is hoped the investment would be enough to stop the take-over.

The consortium bidding for Qantas says the deal won't go ahead unless it acquires 90 per cent of the stock necessary, to force the compulsory acquisition of the other ten per cent.

Unions representing Qantas workers are against the takeover, claiming it would result in the loss of jobs and assets.

Source: Qantas pilot plan - Sky News, Australia

Technorati Tags: airlines, airline pilots, Qantas Airlines, pilots