Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

EAA Fires Back at ALPA after Airline pilots’ union attacks PBOR2
EAA ^ | 7/26/15

Posted on 07/26/2015 7:39:08 AM PDT by pabianice

July 25, 2015 - EAA and other general aviation groups are reacting strongly and swiftly to an inflammatory letter from the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) that surfaced Friday night, inaccurately characterizing GA’s efforts to reform aeromedical certification.

The letter, which was sent to all United States senators, makes numerous false and unsubstantiated claims regarding efforts to expand freedoms in GA and reform the third-class medical requirement for many private pilots.

The letter urges senators to reject an amendment to the highway bill offered by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) and Sen. John Boozman (R-Arkansas) that would reform the third-class medical certification for pilots. A vote on that amendment could occur as early as this coming Tuesday, July 28.

Saturday morning EAA Chairman Jack J. Pelton strongly refuted ALPA’s unsubstantiated claims and urged the EAA membership to redouble their efforts to support reform of aeromedical certification.

“We sat in a forum earlier this morning with many ALPA members who are EAA members, who fly for the airlines, who have great careers that started in general aviation and they’re just flat out shaking their heads saying, ‘what the hell is going on?’” he said. “Current and past ALPA members who also fly recreationally should be angered that their union has decided to turn its back on general aviation.”

The proposed aeromedical reform is contained in the Pilot’s Bill of Rights 2 (PBOR2), authored by Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Oklahoma), and EAA has worked hard to expand cosponsorship of the bill to 57 senators.

Pelton spoke at an AirVenture forum hosted by Sen. Inhofe on Saturday morning. Also attending were pilots and EAA members Rep. Sam Graves (R-Missouri) and Rep. Todd Rokita (R-Indiana), along with Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wisconsin) who represents the Oshkosh area.

It was the first time ALPA had expressed any position regarding the bipartisan congressional effort that EAA and AOPA had spearheaded for the past four years.

Pelton said that not only has ALPA never reached out to those working on this vital issue, they are completely out of step with the two other air carrier unions; the Southwest Airlines Pilots’ Association and Allied Pilots Association have both been working with the GA community on this issue, including signing onto an industry-wide letter of support for the Manchin-Boozman Amendment.

“The rhetoric from ALPA is most disappointing and utterly out of step with the rest of the general aviation and airline pilot community,” Pelton added. “Why it would turn its back on the community that inspires, supplies, and trains its professional aviators is baffling, especially when the vast majority of statistics and opinions by safety professionals, regulators, and other pilots agree that ALPA’s position has no basis and makes no sense.

“It’s especially shortsighted when one considers that the health of GA is directly connected to the health of the airline pilot community.”

EAA and AOPA have been working in support of their members and all GA pilots by creating a third-class aeromedical exemption proposal that resulted in draft FAA rulemaking—currently stalled in the Department of Transportation—and by urging their members to support PBOR2.

“For 25 years, EAA has supported aeromedical reform because the safety facts support it and it will eliminate financial and other burdens to GA pilots,” Pelton said. “This is as far as we’ve ever advanced, with 57 co-sponsors to bring the amendment to the Senate floor. We need all EAA members and GA pilots to contact their senators now to support this amendment and turn aside the falsehoods and political rhetoric from groups such as ALPA.

“Further, GA pilots who are current and past ALPA members need to stand up and tell their union that it is wrong based on facts and the views of the rest of the general aviation and professional pilot communities.”

Senate bill S. 571, the Pilot’s Bill of Rights 2, is also the language used in the Manchin-Boozman amendment. Sen. Inhofe is also urging GA pilots to act swiftly, carrying that message to numerous appearances at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh this week.

Visit govt.eaa.org for the Rally Congress tool to get contact information for your Senators. You can also get your senators’ contact information by calling 202-224-3121.

Remember, the vote could happen as soon as this Tuesday, so contact your senators today.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; Philosophy
KEYWORDS:
Very disappointing of ALPA. Unfortuntely, Huerta's recent admission that the FAA lied and hasn't even considered passing a reform makes most of this moot.
1 posted on 07/26/2015 7:39:08 AM PDT by pabianice
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: pabianice
Was trying to find out exactly what these reforms entail.

Here is an article with some details from AOPA in March:

Pilot’s Bill of Rights 2 gains support

2 posted on 07/26/2015 7:59:01 AM PDT by C210N (When people fear government there is tyranny; when government fears people there is liberty)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: pabianice

The entire article is nothing but rhetoric. It gave no facts as to what is in the bill they claim people should support. They only claim people should support it.


3 posted on 07/26/2015 8:24:55 AM PDT by CodeToad (If it weren't for physics and law enforcement I'd be unstoppable!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: pabianice

Maybe a few facts would have helped. Here is the significant portion of the bill below. It removes the 3rd class medical and replaces it with no medical. Oh, that’s right, a mere “driver’s license” is the “medical”, as though we don’t have enough Glaucoma patients driving around or elderly with heart conditions or reflex issues. Now, these elderly and medically dysfunctional people want pilot’s licenses. The only people pushing to remove the 3rd class medical are those that have failed 3rd class medicals.

To get a 3rd class medical is dead simple and takes 15 minutes every 2 years for those over 40; every 5 years for those under 40. A visit to the doctor, he checks that eyesight is 20/20, correctable if need be, distance and color vision is good, the person can hear a conversation in a quiet room, and has no history of heart or other significant medical issues. Not a problem.

The true and real problem exists in that people who have had cancer treatments or heart surgeries usually have a hard time with the FAA in keeping their medical. Many of these people are just fine to fly but the FAA acts badly and delays or harasses them by forcing them to get a medical every 6 months with their doctor’s supporting medical information, and they do this every 6 months, again and again. The FAA could resolve this issue by changing their ridiculous medical processes, such as saying once is enough.

Senate Bill 571:

SEC. 2. Medical certification of certain small aircraft pilots.

(a) In general.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall issue or revise medical certification regulations to ensure that an individual may operate as pilot in command of a covered aircraft without regard to any medical certification or proof of health requirement otherwise applicable under Federal law if—

(1) the individual possesses a valid State driver’s license and complies with any medical requirement associated with that license;

(2) the individual is transporting not more than 5 passengers;

(3) the individual is operating under visual flight rules or instrument flight rules; and

(4) the relevant flight, including each portion thereof, is not carried out—

(A) for compensation, including that no passenger or property on the flight is being carried for compensation;

(B) at an altitude that is more than 14,000 feet above mean sea level;

(C) outside the United States, unless authorized by the country in which the flight is conducted; or

(D) at an indicated air speed exceeding 250 knots.

(b) Covered aircraft defined.—In this section, the term “covered aircraft” means an aircraft that—

(1) is not authorized under Federal law to carry more than 6 occupants; and

(2) has a maximum certificated takeoff weight of not more than 6,000 pounds.


4 posted on 07/26/2015 8:35:24 AM PDT by CodeToad (If it weren't for physics and law enforcement I'd be unstoppable!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: pabianice

There was a LOT of talk about this, this week at Osh...

The admission that the FAA just flat-out LIED about having any kind of a medical reform plan, after saying they did, is stunning.

But I shouldn’t be, given the last seven years of FedGov, should it.


5 posted on 07/26/2015 8:38:03 AM PDT by tcrlaf (They told me it could never happen in America. And then it did....)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: CodeToad
>>Maybe a few facts would have helped. Here is the significant portion of the bill below. It removes the 3rd class medical and replaces it with no medical. Oh, that’s right, a mere “driver’s license” is the “medical”, as though we don’t have enough Glaucoma patients driving around or elderly with heart conditions or reflex issues. Now, these elderly and medically dysfunctional people want pilot’s licenses. The only people pushing to remove the 3rd class medical are those that have failed 3rd class medicals.

Nope. In part, to use a driver's license as a medical one has had to have held a 3rd class or better within the past ten years. If a medical has been failed or revoked, you would not be able to fly on a driver's license. Sport pilots have no medical requirement. In the last ten years there have been zero fatal accidents from sport pilot sudden incapacitation. Get the facts.

6 posted on 07/26/2015 8:39:52 AM PDT by pabianice (LINE)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: pabianice

You can claim anything you want but the fact remains there are plenty of people that should not be driving based on current law involving driver’s licenses yet you want to allow those very same people to fly planes?


7 posted on 07/26/2015 8:44:46 AM PDT by CodeToad (If it weren't for physics and law enforcement I'd be unstoppable!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: CodeToad
"The true and real problem exists in that people who have had cancer treatments or heart surgeries usually have a hard time with the FAA in keeping their medical. Many of these people are just fine to fly but the FAA acts badly and delays or harasses them by forcing them to get a medical every 6 months with their doctor’s supporting medical information, and they do this every 6 months, again and again. The FAA could resolve this issue by changing their ridiculous medical processes, such as saying once is enough."

Their are flight examiners that specialize in getting the waiver after denial. However like you mentioned cancer, heart surgery etc all this to get your ticket back is very expensive. If I understand what Inhofe said this week is he wants to tie it into a transportation bill. IMHO had he not said anything and did it without fan fare who knows if ALPA would have not said anything.

ALPA is short-sighted IMHO. That person who gets their ticket w/out the 3rd class and then decides to go pro because they like it that much, how many of these folks are they throwing out with the bath water.

8 posted on 07/26/2015 8:45:28 AM PDT by taildragger (It's Cruz & Walker. Anything else is a Yugo with Racing Stripes....)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: pabianice

What is so wrong about 3rd class medical in the first place? $95 every 2 years and 15 minutes of your time? THAT is a problem for you?


9 posted on 07/26/2015 8:45:58 AM PDT by CodeToad (If it weren't for physics and law enforcement I'd be unstoppable!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: taildragger

I know several ME that specialize but that isn’t the problem. The problem is the FAA issues a 6 month medical and expect the person to go through it all over again every 6 months. I totally agree that is a massive problem that must change.

I have a friend that had heart surgery. Laparoscopic, not open heart, to correct a few extra nerve endings. Easy surgery, he is perfectly fine now. The FAA protocol is to monitor that for 6 months. They did. Then they continued to only issue a 6 month medical instead of issuing a 2 year as the protocol dictates.

It is that kind of nonsense that must be corrected.


10 posted on 07/26/2015 8:49:56 AM PDT by CodeToad (If it weren't for physics and law enforcement I'd be unstoppable!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: taildragger

“ALPA is short-sighted IMHO. That person who gets their ticket w/out the 3rd class and then decides to go pro because they like it that much, how many of these folks are they throwing out with the bath water.”

If I hear what you are saying, without having a 3rd class medical during initial training they won’t know if they can pass a 1st class medical, which includes EKG, a true hearing exam, etc.? I can certainly see that. When I started training I did a 1st class medical as my first medical simply to ensure I had no blocking issues. I then did 3rd class medicals after that.


11 posted on 07/26/2015 8:51:56 AM PDT by CodeToad (If it weren't for physics and law enforcement I'd be unstoppable!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: C210N

Why don’t you just tell us what this is about?

I read the whole article and did not find one sentence summarizing what this is about.

EAA does things like this... a rant accompanied by no information.


12 posted on 07/26/2015 9:13:38 AM PDT by Sequoyah101 (I don't see how we have kept going this long)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: CodeToad

To be honest, FAA would really like to do away with GA. It is a nuisance to them. They are trying to kill it with paper if possible. They also throw up just about any excuse they can to revoke or deny a medical including high blood pressure and type II diabetes. Foolishness.

Especially foolish when you see an alcoholic doctor landing a 206 and hardly able to stand up when he gets out of the airplane. Fat, florid faced and drunk... is no way to fly any airplane.

The reality is that it is not as simple as you suggest:

To get a 3rd class medical is dead simple and takes 15 minutes every 2 years for those over 40; every 5 years for those under 40. A visit to the doctor, he checks that eyesight is 20/20, correctable if need be, distance and color vision is good, the person can hear a conversation in a quiet room, and has no history of heart or other significant medical issues. Not a problem.


13 posted on 07/26/2015 9:21:58 AM PDT by Sequoyah101 (I don't see how we have kept going this long)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

bfl


14 posted on 07/26/2015 9:41:00 AM PDT by RckyRaCoCo
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: taildragger

A long-time commercial pilot flies a 150 for fun. Has a TIA. Resolves in 48 hours. Personal doctor says no reason not to continue flying. FAA says he has to wait at least two years, then pay out of his own pocket $12,000 in medical tests to prove he is ok for a 12-month special issue 3rd class, to be repeated every 12 months. That is the problem.


15 posted on 07/26/2015 9:58:49 AM PDT by pabianice (LINE)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Sequoyah101

“To be honest, FAA would really like to do away with GA. It is a nuisance to them. “

(For those not knowing, GA is General Aviation; single engine, light twins, and other type of airplanes; non-commercial in nature, although, GA airports are used for mail and package companies, charter companies, and other commercial ventures. These airports are simply classified as GA for discussion purposes to distinguish them from the larger commercial airline airports.)

There is the calculus of the story. GA provides half the revenue for GA airports but commercial airports provide many times that in revenue. I fly out of Centennial(KAPA), one of the largest GA airports in the country. We provide $700 million in local revenue and influence. A smaller GA airport out in the sticks might provide at best $1 million, if that, while Denver International Airport or Atlanta or Dallas or LAX are well into the billions of dollars in revenue and influence.

Air Traffic Controllers (ATC) also usually do not like GA airports as they get paid much more for controlling larger commercial airports. Their pay at a GA airport is about 75% of what they could make at a larger commercial airport.

Fuel companies prefer commercial airports as they sell thousands of gallons per airplane versus a few dozen gallons for GA airplane. (A single engine airplane has about a 40 gallon capacity. A Being 757 has 11,500 gallon capacity.)

Counties prefer larger commercial airports as that is billions in revenue versus hundreds of millions or less for GA airports.

What is short sighted is that without the GA airports there would be no place for pilots to train, or mail and package routes for outer lying areas, or medical transport for outer lying areas, or emergency management, or any of the varied services provided by GA airports.


16 posted on 07/26/2015 10:26:52 AM PDT by CodeToad (If it weren't for physics and law enforcement I'd be unstoppable!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: CodeToad

All true but I’m more cynical about why the FAA would like to see GA dead... FREEDOM.

It is possible in other countries to have a private airplane. In some countries and places it is a necessity. Ownership is usually very limited though it can be done. I have an acquaintance outside of Aberdeen that has a hangar, a flying off field and an Auster.

I the US though those that want to experience the freedom of flight still can without being uber wealthy. The average moderately successful man can fly if he really wants to. I should know.

Look at flight aware some day and track the number of GA flights. They are few that file flight plans but there are a lot of small planes flown by just people enjoying the freedom of going where they want to go and when the want to go all across the United States.

Maintenance of the small GA airports is expensive for the FAA and local governments but it is part of our tradition and it does fill all the niches you mention that are of benefit to all of us.

My home field is dying though. There are more dead airplanes on the ramp and in hangars that will never fly again than there are air worth planes. The people with a yearn to fly and the means to fly are dying off. They have lost medicals and so forth but they hang on to the dream and pay for a hangar to put it in. Kids don’t even want to have driver’s licenses any more.


17 posted on 07/26/2015 11:10:09 AM PDT by Sequoyah101 (I don't see how we have kept going this long)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: pabianice

Hi,
I’m from the F.A.A. and I’m here to help?


18 posted on 07/26/2015 12:10:45 PM PDT by Joe Boucher ( Obammy is a lie, a mooselimb and pond scum.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sequoyah101

“The average moderately successful man can fly if he really wants to. I should know.”

The cost barrier for entry has always been high. Scraping together enough money for an hour’s worth of plane and instructor time was hard.

Today’s, it’s even harder, much so.

Regulation, liability, etc have a lot to do with it, but the biggest barrier to entry is GOVERNMENT REGULATION. the 1,500 hour rule means, AT A MINIMUM, it’s going to cost a kid $150,000-$200,000 to get a commercial ticket.

Just like the Obama-dictated trucker rules, this doe NOTHING to enhance safety, and is designed to strengthen the hand of the Dem-supporting unions.

It has created a barrier to entry so high for most people to get into commercial flying, ESPECIALLY MINORITIES, that they will NEVER be able to afford it.


19 posted on 07/26/2015 4:57:22 PM PDT by tcrlaf (They told me it could never happen in America. And then it did....)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson