Tag Archive for: Press Release

LaHood Encourages Cargo Airlines to Opt-in to New Flight & Duty Time Rules

WASHINGTON, February 1, 2012 – Yesterday, while speaking at the Aero Club of Washington, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood was asked about a statement he made in December when issuing the FAA’s new rule on pilot flight and duty time. This new rule carved-out cargo carriers from mandatory implementation, but allows them to opt-in to the rule voluntarily.

Question:  “On December 20th, you announced the new flight time duty time rule and at that time you committed to a process of meeting with management of the all-cargo airlines and asking for voluntary compliance with the new rules.  We just wanted to know some more thoughts on that and possibly a way forward should there not be voluntary effort on their part.”

Secretary LaHood answered the question by saying:  “I have invited our friends from the Cargo Airlines to come to my office and talk about really looking at the rule that we have adopted and implementing it. We think it’s important that they know what’s in the rule and why it’s important and hear it from us and not read about it in the paper.  And I’m going to just ask them directly to be a part of it.  I think they should be.  It’s safe.  Look, if everybody in this room believes in safety, which we do and I know all of you do, I can’t think of a reason why they wouldn’t want to do it.  But we’ll find out.”

Contact: Brian Gaudet

(301) 957-4323

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UPS Pilots File Statement of Issues in IPA v. FAA

WASHINGTON, Jan. 23, 2012 – Today the Independent Pilots Association (UPS pilots) filed its preliminary statement of issues as ordered by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in its challenge to the FAA’s exclusion of cargo operations from its final rule on pilot flight and duty time.

“Our preliminary statement of issues outlines the basic arguments we will raise to advance our case,” said IPA General Counsel William Trent; “it is the basis of our challenge to the FAA’s exclusion of cargo airlines from the final rule.” He added that IPA does not seek to vacate or delay the rule itself.

The Association is challenging the exclusion of cargo operators on the following grounds:

The FAA’s capricious decision to discard its August 2010 proposal that uniformly applied science-based flight and duty time rules to both passenger and cargo carriers is based on a cursory assertion that compliance costs for cargo operations significantly exceed the related societal benefits;

The FAA’s arbitrary assumptions and estimates in its cost-benefit analysis lack substantial evidence;

The FAA failed to act in accordance with law by not providing interested parties an opportunity to review and
comment on its cost-benefit calculations, the FAA’s sole basis for its determination to exclude cargo operations from the final rule; and

The FAA failed to act in accordance with law by ignoring the fatigue facts and factors that are more prevalent in cargo operations, specifically night-time operations and flying across multiple time zones.

“The Court has ordered the FAA to file the certified index of the record, essentially a catalog of the regulatory docket, by February 6,” said Trent; “this will be the first chance we have to review the entire record relied upon by the FAA in reaching its decision on the final rule.”

To see the entire Potential Issues for IPA Preliminary, Non-Binding Statement of Issues and other materials related to IPA v. FAA/ USCA Case #11-1483 please go to: http://www.ipapilot.org/IPAvFAA.asp

Contact: Brian Gaudet
(301) 957-4323


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UPS Pilots File Court of Appeals Challenge to FAA Final Flight & Duty Time Rule

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WASHINGTON, DC, December 22, 2011 – Today the Independent Pilots Association (UPS pilots) filed a Petition for Review in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in order to challenge FAA’s exclusion of cargo operations from the final flight and duty time rule issued yesterday.

“The IPA seeks to have cargo operations included within the scope of the rule because of the safety benefits provided by the rule.  IPA does not seek to delay implementation of these important safety benefits to passenger operations,” said IPA General Counsel William Trent.  He stated that the Association, representing the 2,700 pilots flying for UPS, would challenge the rule on multiple substantive and procedural grounds.

 “The internal inconsistency of the final rule is remarkable.  For example, the FAA states that current regulations do not adequately address the risk of fatigue (Rule p.19,) and that the maintenance of the status quo presents an ‘unacceptably high aviation accident risk” (Rule p. 259.)  Yet two of the very factors that the FAA cites as exacerbating the risk of pilot fatigue—operating at night and crossing multiple time zones (Rule p.5) are more present in cargo operations than in passenger operations,” said Trent. 

“The FAA’s only basis for excluding cargo rests on a cost benefit analysis,” said Trent.  “Yet, the Agency does not articulate how it arrived at either the projected costs or benefits of applying the final rule to cargo operators.  The rule is wholly and utterly opaque when it comes to providing any factual support for the cost benefit conclusions reached,” he added. 

“Procedural irregularities are present as well,” said Trent.  “Cargo operators were allowed to supplement the record after the public NPRM comment period was officially closed.  Accepted into the closed record was unsupported costing data provided by carriers.  This data has not been subject to public scrutiny or review,” Trent added.

In January, IPA will file additional court papers including a preliminary statement of issues it expects to raise in the case.

For additional information please go to:  www.ipapilot.org


Contacts: 
William C. Trent, IPA General Counsel
(502) 472-1299 btrent@ipapilot.org  

Thomas R. Devine, Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell
(202) 955-5600 X 568 – tdevine@kaplankirsch.com

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UPS pilots reaction to new FAA flight & duty time rules

LOUISVILLE, December 21, 2011 – The following statement is from Captain
Robert Travis, President of the Independent Pilots Association (UPS
pilots):

“Giving air cargo carriers the choice to opt-in to new pilot rest rules makes as much sense as allowing truckers to ‘opt-out’ of drunk driving laws.

To potentially allow fatigued cargo pilots to share the same skies with properly rested passenger pilots creates an unnecessary threat to public safety. We can do better.

Congress directed the FAA to create new science-based flight and duty rules to establish one level of aviation safety to protect the public. Today, under intense pressure from the cargo industry lobby, the FAA has failed to carry out this basic congressional mandate.

At the same time we work to reverse the ‘opt-in’ provision, we will ask UPS to voluntarily operate under these new science-based safety rules.  UPS is a premier company and our expectation is that UPS will honor their longstanding pledge to operate the world’s safest airline.”

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UPS TO RETROFIT AIR FLEET WITH FULL FACEMASKS FOR PILOTS

Company and Pilots Work Together on Solution; Flight Safety Enhancement Research Continues

LOUISVILLE, June 30, 2011 – UPS (NYSE: UPS) today announced it would retrofit the cockpits of its air fleet with quick-donning, full-face oxygen masks with integrated smoke goggles. Installation of the enhanced pilot safety equipment comes at the recommendation of the Joint UPS-Independent Pilots Association (IPA) Safety Task Force.

“Safety is an absolute priority for our employees, our customers’ shipments and our aircraft,” said UPS Airlines President Mitch Nichols. “That is why we continue to adopt solutions like these facemasks to further augment the safe operation of our airline.”

Installation on UPS’s Boeing 747-400, MD-11, B-767 and B-757 fleets is expected to take place over the next 24 months, beginning with the MD-11 and 747 fleets. The UPS Airbus A-300 fleet already is equipped with integrated masks.

The new, one-piece facemasks can be put on with one hand in just three seconds, five times faster than the separate oxygen mask and smoke goggle units currently on most aircraft. The new masks meet performance standards for protective breathing equipment established by the Federal Aviation Administration and offer a better fit for crewmembers who wear eyeglasses.

The full-face equipment is manufactured by Zodiac Aerospace, a French conglomerate whose Eros oxygen equipment is used by many carriers, including UPS.

“These facemasks will be an important inclusion in our cockpit safety environment,” said IPA and Safety Task Force member Capt. Bob Brown. “Between the facemasks and the recent addition of the Emergency Vision Assurance System (EVAS), the union and the company are very much in sync on flight safety.”

Since last fall, the UPS-IPA Joint Safety Task Force has been researching strategies and technologies for improving flight safety. Focused primarily on in-flight fire mitigation, the group has worked extensively with the FAA, aircraft manufacturers, safety vendors and other industry experts.

Research efforts point to tiered solutions for detecting, managing and suppressing in-flight fires on the flight deck, in cargo compartments, in unit load devices and even within boxes.

The facemasks are the second task force recommendation to be adopted. In April, UPS announced that it would become the first international carrier to equip its air fleet with EVAS, an in-cockpit transparent inflatable vision device designed to allow pilots to see in dense smoke situation

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For Immediate Release
Source: Independent Pilots Association
Contact: Brian Gaudet – 301/957-4323 – brian.gaudet@gmail.com

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UPS TO BECOME FIRST GLOBAL CARRIER TO ADD EVAS SAFETY GEAR

Company Adopts Joint Task Force Recommendation; Pilots and UPS Continue Research into Tiered Solutions

LOUISVILLE, April 7, 2011 – UPS (NYSE: UPS) today announced it would equip its air fleet with the Emergency Vision Assurance System; (EVAS), becoming the first international air carrier to take such a step. Installation of the enhanced safety equipment comes at the recommendation of the Joint UPS-Independent Pilots Association (IPA) Safety Task Force.

“Safety ownership is a core value at UPS,” said UPS Airlines President Mitch Nichols. “We have long been committed to protecting our employees, aircraft and customers’ shipments and this new equipment will add yet another layer of safety.”

“Since forming the safety task force last fall, the IPA and UPS have mobilized quickly to research and recommend fire safety enhancements,” said IPA and Safety Task Force member Capt. Bob Brown, lauding the level of cooperation between union and company. “EVAS is an important step forward.” In the event of smoke in the cockpit, EVAS helps maintain a pilot’s critical field of vision by displacing the smoke with a transparent Inflatable Vision Unit (IVU).

“EVAS allows pilots to see their flight path, vital instruments and perform the key tasks of flying in dense-smoke situations,” said Bertil Werjefelt, the president of Vision Safe, which manufactures the device. “It’s a real safety enhancement and we’re very pleased to be working with UPS Airlines.” Installation is expected to begin with UPS’s B-767 fleet, after which the equipment will be added to the primary over-water aircraft, the B-747-400 and MD-11. Full fleet equipage will be a multi-year process as the company works to obtain proper certifications and cycle aircraft through modification.

UPS and the IPA will continue their joint safety and fire mitigation efforts, evaluating current and emerging types of technology and equipment.

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For Immediate Release
Source: Independent Pilots Association
Contact: Brian Gaudet – 301/957-4323 – brian.gaudet@gmail.com

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UPS/PILOTS SIGN AGREEMENTS ON SAFETY AND SECURITY

LOUISVILLE, November 4, 2010 – UPS (NYSE: UPS) and the Independent Pilots Association, the collective bargaining unit for its 2,800 pilots, today signed a memorandum of understanding that establishes joint UPS/IPA Safety and Security Task Forces. Both will be made up of six members, three named by each party.

“This agreement reaffirms our common objective of efficiently and effectively operating the UPS airline with safety and security as our twin priorities and guiding principles. We appreciate the company efforts in reaching this agreement,” said IPA President, Captain Robert Thrush.

The Safety Task Force will address the following issues: Emergency Vision Assurance System (EVAS); full face oxygen masks; comprehensive fire mitigation and suppression systems; checklists procedures for smoke and fire; and the carriage of lithium batteries and other fire/smoke hazards.

“UPS and IPA acknowledge that the air cargo/express package industry faces unique threats in the era of global terrorism. We also recognizes the key role our pilots can play in the mitigation and management of these threats both from the flight deck and by working together to improve cargo security and screening,” said Captain Thrush.

The Security Task Force will address the following issues: communication and coordination within/between UPS, affected crewmembers, and the IPA; air cargo security procedures; threat procedures; improved access to security directives; perimeter security; and background checks for those who have access to UPS aircraft.

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For Immediate Release
Source: Independent Pilots Association
Contact: Brian Gaudet – 301/957-4323 – brian.gaudet@gmail.com

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UPS PILOTS UNION (INDEPENDENT PILOTS ASSOCIATION) VOLUNTEER TO FLY HAITIAN RELIEF WITHOUT PAY

LOUISVILLE, Ky., Jan. 14, 2010 – Given the unprecedented tragedy in the wake of the Haitian earthquake the Independent Pilots Association – UPS pilots union – is supporting the relief effort by establishing an electronic volunteer database for its members.  This is not the first time our members have stepped-up and volunteered their services to move aid to a disaster area,  said Capt. Robert Thrush, President of the IPA;  back in 2005 more than 500 IPA crewmembers volunteered to staff flights into Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana to help alleviate the suffering from hurricane Katrina. 

The Independent Pilots Association is the collective bargaining unit that represents the 2,800 professional pilots who fly UPS’s large jet fleet.

SOURCE: Independent Pilots Association
CONTACT: Brian Gaudet, 1-202-494-4332, or brian.gaudet@gmail.com

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