Free Republic

The world’s largest airline pilot’s union, Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA), has instructed its members to refrain from using the words “cockpit,” “airmen,” and “manpower” to be more inclusive. The ‘woke’ ALPA published its diversity, equity, and inclusion language guide to “reflect the diversity we have at ALPA” and “create a more inclusive workplace.” “While the word ‘cockpit’ dates back to the 1900s, it has been and may be used in a derogatory way to exclude women in the piloting profession,” the guide explained, according to Breitbart. “Many women have heard a variation of ‘It is called a cockpit...

A person riding in the extra seat in the cockpit of a Horizon Air passenger jet tried to shut down the engines in midflight and had to be subdued by the two pilots. The San Francisco-bound flight on Sunday diverted to Portland, where it was met by law enforcement officers. . . . . “We’ve got the guy that tried to shut the engines down out of the cockpit. And he — doesn’t sound like he’s causing any issue in the back right now, and I think he’s subdued,” one of the pilots said on audio captured by LiveATC.com. “Other...

U.S. authorities couldn’t perform drug or alcohol tests on the four pilots who were aboard Asiana Flight 214 when it crashed at San Francisco International Airport — a lapse that will complicate efforts to figure out why they were seemingly unaware that the plane was coming in too slowly and too low. Those were the latest revelations Tuesday from National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Debbie Hersman, who said her agency and the Federal Aviation Administration couldn’t legally requirethe crew of the South Korea-based airline to submit to testing after the crash. That decision is left to the airline’s home country....

Pilots at Spirit Airlines struck the company on Saturday after U.S. mediated contract talks failed to reach an agreement, a small-carrier stalemate that could influence workers at bigger carriers. The strike at privately held Spirit was the first notable job action at a U.S. passenger airline since Northwest Airlines mechanics walked off the job in 2005. All Spirit flights for Saturday were canceled. Spirit's 430 pilots are represented by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), which could not bridge differences with management over pay, benefits and scheduling. Airline unions across the industry are watching the Spirit talks closely as many...

The pilots’ union at American Airlines said Wednesday that the Transportation Security Administration didn’t warn flight crews appropriately during the terrorist attempt on a Northwest Airlines flight on Christmas, Dow Jones reports. The union, the Allied Pilots Association, wrote to American Airlines that “some pilots were left out of the loop” when TSA told some airlines to notify only pilots on inbound transatlantic flights, Dow Jones said. “The TSA should have mandated that information about this security event be passed on to all airborne flights,” the APA wrote. The letter seems contradict Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano’s comments that the...

Pilots Out of Loop on Terrorist Attempt? Pilots Want To Know About Attacks: APA The Allied Pilots Association, which represents American Airlines pilots, says most airborne flight crews weren't notified of the Christmas Day terrorist attack on a Northwest Airlines A330. The group is calling for changes after what it describes as "communications failures" left the majority of airborne flight crews in the dark about the attempted bombing. In a message to members, the APA's security committee said the Transportation Security Administration specifically told airlines to notify only the crews of airborne westbound trans-Atlantic flights of the attack on the...

Union anger over the Federal Aviation Administration's decision to revoke the licenses of two Northwest Airlines pilots threatens to disrupt voluntary safety-reporting programs used by many carriers, according to industry officials. FAA regulators Tuesday revoked the licenses of both pilots aboard Northwest Flight 188, which failed to respond to air-traffic controllers for about 90 minutes. The union isn't defending actions of the pilots, who asked to be protected under voluntary reporting rules. But officials of the Air Line Pilots Association claim regulators jumped the gun and disregarded voluntary procedures worked out over many years among regulators, airlines and unions. The...

The Federal Aviation Administration's decision to revoke the licenses of the pilots of the Northwest jetliner that lost radio contact with controllers last week threatens to disrupt voluntary safety reporting programs used by pilots, according to industry officials and aviation-safety experts. Immediately after FAA regulators on Tuesday revoked the licenses of both pilots aboard Northwest Flight 188, leaders of the largest U.S. pilot union began complaining and planning a response, these officials said. Officials of the Air Line Pilots Association decided on Wednesday that the government's enforcement move violated the spirit, and probably the letter, of voluntary incident reporting and...

By JOSHUA FREED Associated Press Published: 3/21/2009 2:26 AM Last Modified: 3/21/2009 3:36 AM MINNEAPOLIS — The pilots union at American Airlines has censured its two top officers, a rare public dispute that comes in the middle of talks over a new contract. The resolution censured Allied Pilots Association President Captain Lloyd Hill and Vice President Captain Tom Westbrook for "frequently failing to adhere to the policies, directives, and resolutions of the Board of Directors." Union spokesman and pilot Sam Mayer said the union wasn't characterizing the dispute beyond the wording in the resolution. Westbrook said the board was not...

JetBlue’s pilots have voted against joining a union, a move that would have added complexity to the New York based carrier’s low-cost business plan. In a prepared statement, JetBlue CEO Dave Barger said: “We are very pleased that JetBlue’s Pilots have chosen to retain their direct relationship with the company. We will continue to work closely with our Pilots and all JetBlue crewmembers to ensure JetBlue’s competitive position remains strong and our culture remains unique in the industry. We truly believe culture, an environment of collaboration and the company’s agility are key competitive advantages for JetBlue.”

Although Duane Woerth, a former president of the Air Line Pilots Association, has long been considered a strong contender to take over as next FAA administrator, Senate aide Robert Herbert seems to be making headway, the Washington Post reported on Monday. Herbert is an advisor to Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., the Senate majority leader, and specializes in transportation, defense and security issues. Woerth is backed by the AFL-CIO. Senator Reid has sent a letter to the Obama transition team expressing support for Herbert, according to the Post. Also, Herbert met last Thursday with Ray LaHood, on the same day he...

It's a bright early October morning on Capitol Hill. Joe Biden is bounding up the steps of the Russell Senate Office Building, wearing his trademark grin. As he makes for the door, he is met by a group of airline pilots and flight attendants looking vaguely heroic in their navy-blue uniforms and wing-shaped pins. A blandly handsome man in a pilot's cap steps forward and asks Biden to help pass emergency benefits for laid-off airline workers. Biden nods as the men and women cluster around him with fawning smiles. Then he speaks. "I hope you will support my work on...

NEW DELHI: Strategic experts have warned that some of the recent security incidents in different parts of the world involving aircraft and airports could be 'testers' by terrorists. Though some of these airline security incidents could be results of 'genuine innocence' of first-time travellers, the experts have asked the airlines and aviation authorities not to ignore them as some of them could be terrorist probes with actual imminent threats. They have also pointed out that there have been about two dozen incidents since August, leading to flight diversions, emergency landings, escorting of civil aircraft by air force fighters and arrests...

NEW YORK, April 14 (Reuters) - Delta Air Lines Inc. (DALRQ.PK: Quote, Profile, Research), which is operating under bankruptcy protection, and the union representing its pilots on Friday said they reached a tentative agreement, potentially averting a strike that could have been fatal to the airline. The No. 3 U.S. airline and the pilots union, the Air Line Pilots Association International, or ALPA, said the tentative agreement is expected to be presented to the union's governing body, the Delta MEC, in the upcoming weeks. Both parties declined to disclose details of the tentative agreement, which if ratified, would then be...

Union support for John Kerry is no surprise, but it's not usually visible from 20,000 feet in the air. Mark McClain, who leads the Northwest Airlines pilot group at the Air Line Pilots Association, has plowed the word "Kerry" into his soybean field near the airport in Des Moines, Iowa.

WASHINGTON, D.C.---The Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA), the union that represents most of the nation’s airline pilots, has endorsed John Kerry for president. The union’s Executive Board voted unanimously to endorse the presumptive Democratic nominee at a meeting today in Washington. "The evidence is clear that President Bush’s record adds up to an unending string of actions that have hurt pilots, other working Americans, and the unions that represent them. It is time for a change," said Capt. Duane E. Woerth, president of ALPA, after the vote was announced. Reached on the campaign trail, Senator Kerry placed a call...

Tests reveal Amesbury Archer ‘King of Stonehenge’ was a settler from the Alps The man who may have helped organise the building of Stonehenge was a settler from continental Europe, archaeologists say. The latest tests on the Amesbury Archer, whose grave astonished archaeologists last year with the richness of its contents, show he was originally from the Alps region, probably Switzerland, Austria or Germany. The tests also show that the gold hair tresses found in the grave are the earliest gold objects found in Britain. The grave of the Archer, who lived around 2,300BC, contained about 100 items, more than...

<p>April 25, 2003 -- WASHINGTON - Hundreds more commercial airline pilots will be trained to carry guns in the cockpit by Sept. 30, as the federal government committed $8 million to train them, the Transportation Security Administration said yesterday.</p> <p>The first 44 pilots allowed to carry guns were sworn in as federal flight-deck officers on Saturday after a week of classes, drills and testing at a federal law-enforcement facility in Glynco, Ga.</p>

WASHINGTON, Jun 03, 2002 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- The president of the American Federation of Teachers was paid more than six times the salary of a big-city school teacher, according to financial reports the government is making available on the Internet for the first time. One of several union presidents who reported six-figure incomes in 2000, AFT President Sandra Feldman was paid $337,282, according to financial information the union filed with the Labor Department. Her salary jumps to $523,090 when allowances and business expenses were added. The union counted 706,973 members that year. Her pay compares with the average...