Tag Archive for: Press Release

Teamsters-UPS Reach Tentative Contract Agreement

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) and UPS announced a tentative agreement (TA) on July 25, 2023 averting a potential national strike. The IPA Executive Board was pleased to learn of the TA.

“This has been a long, hard-fought battle for improved working conditions, as well as wages and benefits for UPS employees. We applaud General President Sean O’Brien and his team for securing what he calls a ‘historic’ TA and are heartened by the unwavering solidarity and support the IPA membership has shown for their fellow UPS employees.” said IPA President Bob Travis.

IPA President Travis spoke with President O’Brien shortly after the tentative agreement was announced and personally congratulated him and his negotiation team. The ratification process is expected to last several weeks. 

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UPS Pilots Urge Company: “Don’t Outsource Our Van Drivers”

LOUISVILLE, KY April 4, 2023 – UPS pilots have called on their Company to divert from an outsourcing plan that could force current UPS aircrew van drivers out of their jobs. Instead, the pilot union, the Independent Pilots Association (IPA), has called on UPS to ensure, at a minimum, that the drivers maintain the option of keeping their jobs.

“Today, UPS announced an outsourcing plan that takes away UPS employment from many older, long-term employees who have faithfully served UPS, and the pilot group for many years,” said IPA President, Captain Robert Travis.

Travis said that the Company first confidentially briefed the Union on details last week and publicly announced its plan today.

“The IPA unequivocally opposes it, but even if UPS insists on outsourcing these jobs, we believe UPS should do the right thing and ensure that their long-serving employees are preferentially hired at the new vendor.  These are the people who have faithfully driven us to and from UPS parking facilities, to the UPS hub in Louisville, and beyond the security perimeter, dropping us off right by the parked aircraft we then fly.  They are vetted, trusted individuals who do a good job for UPS and for the pilots,” Travis said.

Representing more than 3,400 pilots flying worldwide for UPS, Travis added that the pilots and the approximately 48 current UPS crew van drivers have cultivated a good working relationship.

“Over the years, through countless exchanges of stories, photo sharing, we’ve gotten to know them and their families, and they’ve gotten to know us.  It is not uncommon for pilots, after a long night of flying, to be greeted by the van drivers with personal kindnesses that included homemade baked goods and treats of every sort.  They made the job a little easier for UPS’ pilots and it’s troubling that UPS is not, in turn, taking care of them.”

 While UPS maintains that the UPS drivers will be allowed to interview with the vendor to keep their current jobs, UPS has confirmed that nothing in the UPS-vendor contract requires the retention of the current drivers.

“IPA has requested that UPS require the new vendor to offer these jobs first to current UPS drivers as part of the UPS/new transportation vendor contract.  Ours is a reasonable request and one we are making to UPS management as employees who care about our co-workers. Hopefully, UPS will give it some additional thought, and decide to do the right thing,” Travis added.

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UPS PILOTS RATIFY TWO-YEAR CONTRACT EXTENSION

LOUISVILLE, KY August 12, 2022   In voting that closed today, the Independent Pilots Association (IPA) announced that its members have overwhelmingly ratified a two-year pilot contract extension with United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS).

UPS pilots approved the agreement with 90.72% voting in favor with 97.1% of those eligible participating in the balloting.  The short-term extension provides for contractual improvements in pilot compensation and retirement.

The new agreement extends the term of the pilot contract until September 1, 2025.

The IPA is the collective bargaining unit representing the more than 3,300 professional pilots who fly for United Parcel Service, the world’s largest transportation company. The IPA is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky.

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UPS, PILOTS REACH TENTATIVE AGREEMENT ON TWO-YEAR CONTRACT EXTENSION

LOUISVILLE, KY June 14, 2022 – The Independent Pilots Association (IPA) and UPS Airlines (NYSE: UPS) today announced a tentative agreement on a new two-year contract extension.

The short term agreement provides for contract improvements in compensation and retirement.  Specific details of the agreement will not be disclosed before the IPA presents the proposed contract to all UPS pilots.

“Over the next month we will present this tentative agreement for a two-year contract extension to our crewmembers with an unqualified recommendation for ratification,” said IPA President Captain Robert Travis. “This tentative agreement is unanimously approved and endorsed by the six-pilot IPA Executive Board.”

The contract must be ratified by a majority of UPS’s pilots. The vote by the pilots will be completed on August 3.  If ratified, the new agreement will extend the IPA’s contract with UPS to September 1, 2025.

The IPA is the collective bargaining unit representing the more than 3,300 professional pilots who fly for United Parcel Service, the world’s largest transportation company. The IPA is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky.

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Contact:  Brian Gaudet, Independent Pilots Assoc. (UPS pilots), 301/957-4323, bgaudet@ipapilot.org

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UPS Pilots Support the Klobuchar-Carbajal “Safe Skies Act”

WASHINGTON, September 21, 2021 – The Independent Pilots Association (UPS pilots) fully supports the “Safe Skies Act of 2021” introduced in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-CA).

“Senator Klobuchar has been our long term legislative champion fighting to ensure that the FAA’s flight duty and rest requirements equally apply to all-cargo carriers,” said IPA President, Captain Robert Travis.  “Her unwavering commitment will end the cargo carve out and bring Part 117 back in line with Congress’s original intent, one level of safety for U.S. aviation.”

Leading the charge for the Safe Skies Act in the U.S. House is Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara, who is joined by lawmakers from both parties in a bipartisan effort to ensure that all commercial airline pilots operate under the same rules to fight fatigue and keep airspace safe.

The Independent Pilots Association represents the 3,150 pilots who fly for United Parcel Service.

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UPS Pilots See COVID Disruption Potential

LOUISVILLE, KY October 29, 2020 – The President of the union representing UPS airline pilots has said he agrees with UPS CEO Carol Tomé’s concern that a spike in COVID-19 cases among the pilots has the potential to disrupt the Company’s operations.

In comments made to investors yesterday, Tomé said that “there is a big watch out” with cases spiking that could lead to a disruption in UPS operations should the increase impact the Company’s pilots. “We’re just watching this very, very closely,” she added.

Robert Travis, a UPS A300 Captain and President of the Independent Pilots Association (“IPA”) wrote Tomé today (click here to read letter) confirming that the UPS pilot group is “indeed experiencing a significant increase in the number of pilots testing positive for the virus.”

Travis outlined three steps the IPA is recommending to avoid operational disruptions, and to enhance the health and safety of the pilot group.

In his letter, Travis called for greatly expanded pilot access to testing (both before and after flight assignments), greatly improved pilot contact tracing efforts by UPS, and called on UPS to come to the assistance of crewmembers testing positive for COVID abroad in order to expedite their safe return home via specialized medical evacuation flights, if necessary.

Travis said that the recommendations have been made to lower levels of UPS management, but that they “seem to be languishing under excessive study followed by inaction.”

Travis called on Tomé to personally intervene.

“UPS pilots daily move a significant portion of commerce on which the US and world economy depends,” wrote Travis. “When there is a vaccine, it will be those same pilots that form an important link in the logistical chain to deliver the vaccine. It is therefore critically important, as you (Tomé) implied yesterday, that the pilot group be kept safe and healthy,” Travis said.

The IPA is the collective bargaining unit representing the more than 3,000 professional pilots who fly for United Parcel Service, the world’s largest transportation company. The IPA is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky.

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UPS PILOTS RATIFY TWO-YEAR CONTRACT EXTENSION

LOUISVILLE, KY March 31, 2020 – UPS pilots, represented by the Independent Pilots Association, today overwhelmingly ratified a new two-year contract extension. The contract ratified with 98.86 percent of the vote, with 95.2 percent of the eligible members casting ballots.

The new collective bargaining agreement extends the current contract by two years with an amendable date of September 1, 2023.

“This contract extension provides stability for both UPS and our pilots as we jointly face unprecedented times in our industry” said Captain Robert Travis, President of the Independent Pilots Association.

“I appreciate the time our membership has taken to ensure their voices are heard on this new contract extension. The continued dedication and professionalism of our pilot group is an important factor in helping UPS keep the global supply chain moving,” Travis added.

The IPA is the collective bargaining unit representing the more than 2,900 professional pilots who fly for United Parcel Service, the world’s largest transportation company. The IPA is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky.

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UPS, PILOTS REACH TENTATIVE AGREEMENT ON TWO-YEAR CONTRACT EXTENSION

LOUISVILLE, KY February 10, 2020 – The Independent Pilots Association (IPA) and UPS Airlines (NYSE:UPS) today announced a tentative agreement on a new two-year contract extension.

The short term agreement provides for contract improvements in compensation and retirement.  Specific details of the agreement will not be disclosed before the IPA presents the proposed contract to all UPS pilots.

“Over the next month we will present this tentative agreement for a two-year contract extension to our crewmembers with an unqualified recommendation for ratification,” said IPA President Captain Robert Travis.  “This tentative agreement is unanimously approved and endorsed by the five-pilot IPA Executive Board.”

The contract must be ratified by a majority of UPS’s pilots. The vote by the pilots will be completed on March 31.  If ratified, the new agreement will extend the IPA’s contract with UPS to September 1, 2023.

The IPA is the collective bargaining unit representing the more than 2,900 professional pilots who fly for United Parcel Service, the world’s largest transportation company. The IPA is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky.

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Airline Pilots Call for Enhanced Fatigue Rules for All-Cargo Operations

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The pilots of the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA); the Coalition of Airline Pilots Associations (CAPA), including the Independent Pilots Association (IPA); and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 1224, joined U.S. House of Representatives leaders today to introduce legislation that would apply one level of safety for all-cargo operations in the same manner as passenger operations. The Safe Skies Act, introduced by Representatives Salud Carbajal (D-CA), John Katko (R-NY), Matt Cartright (D-PA), and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), would ensure that cargo pilots have the same flight, duty, and rest requirements as their passenger-carrying counterparts in order to prevent dangers posed by fatigued pilots.

Currently, all-cargo airline operations are excluded from science-based pilot fatigue rules despite flying the same routes, in the same airspace, and into the same airports as pilots of passenger airlines. These inconsistencies in regulations put the traveling public at risk. The Safe Skies Act will address pilot fatigue and ensure airline safety without placing unreasonable cost demands on the industry.

“Airline pilots are affected by fatigue the same, regardless of whether we fly passengers or freight. It is time for Congress to pass the Safe Skies Act and ensure one level of safety for all airline operations,” said Capt. Joe DePete, ALPA president. “Based on statistics, if the accident rate of all-cargo operations was applied to passenger operations, there would be an additional 277 accidents within 10 years. That is not acceptable.”

“As pilots flying for UPS, we know firsthand the hazards of applying differing levels of safety to cargo and passenger flights,” said Capt. Robert Travis, President of the Independent Pilots Association. “We applaud Congressmen Carbajal, Cartwright, Katko and Fitzpatrick for introducing legislation that will provide for a single, science-based national standard in the fight against pilot fatigue.”

“On behalf of the Atlas Air pilots and our Teamsters Local 2750, I want to offer our strong support for the legislation Congressmen Carbajal, Katko, Cartwright, and Fitzpatrick are introducing in the House of Representatives. The current dual FAA pilot fatigue rules are undermining the fundamental principle of one level of safety for America’s national airspace. The bifurcation of the current fatigue standards puts a particularly hazardous burden on Atlas pilots, who personally fly both passenger and cargo aircraft, resulting in potential danger to the American public both in the air and in the homes and on the streets of our country,” said Atlas Teamsters Local 2750 chairman Capt. Bob Kirchner.

“Allowing some operators to operate outside of this much-needed safety net is not grounded in modern fatigue science as mandated by Congress in 2010. Logical regulatory reform must take precedence over special interests within the air cargo industry,” stated Capt. Larry Rooney, CAPA president. “We look forward to working with our fellow CAPA and ALPA union brothers and sisters to provide a commonsense solution to this glaring safety loophole.”

H.R. 5170 will direct the FAA to apply the flight, duty, and rest requirements (i.e., FAR Part 117) to all-cargo operations in the same manner as they apply to passenger operations. Pilot fatigue is not dependent on the type of operation, and there is simply no reason for all-cargo pilots to operate under a different standard of safety.

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CONTACTS:

Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l: Media@alpa.org 

Independent Pilots Association: brian.gaudet@gmail.com 

CAPA: mdemarco@capapilots.org 

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Independent Pilots Association Advisory: Southwest 1380 is NOT the first U.S. airline fatality since 2009; UPS 1354 in 2013

LOUISVILLE, Ky., April 18, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The death resulting from an engine failure on Southwest Flt. 1380 yesterday is, sadly, not the first casualty at a U.S. airline since Colgan Air Flt. 3407 in 2009. Tragically, on August 14, 2013, United Parcel Service Flt. 1354 crashed on approach to Birmingham-Shuttleworth International Airport, resulting in the deaths of two crewmembers, Captain Cerea Beal and First Officer Shanda Fanning.

UPS Airlines is the world’s largest airline by destinations served at 720.  The next closest is FedEx with 375 destinations served.  Data provided by http://www.airportspotting.com/worlds-largest-airlines dated December 2017. 

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