סיקור ידיעות עיתונות הנוגעות לאיגוד הטייסים
- טייסי "פרנטיר" (לואו-קוסט אמריקאית, עמדה בפני פשיטת רגל ב-2011) חותמים הסכם עבודה: לאחר כ-3 שנים של מו"מ, אושר ההסכם ברוב של 77%. גידול שכר ממוצע של 53%.
Frontier pilots overwhelmingly OK contract with average 53% pay increase
Frontier Airlines pilots have approved a new contract nearly three years after starting negotiations.
The Air Line Pilots Association said 77 percent of pilots for the Denver-based discount carrier backed the deal in a vote that ended Thursday. The union says the new contract, which will take effect Wednesday, will provide an average 53 percent pay increase.
Frontier pilots have been working under a contract changed in 2011 to keep the airline out of bankruptcy. Negotiations began in March 2016 and soon turned into mediation overseen by federal officials.
Pilots voted to authorize a strike in 2017. However, federal law makes it difficult for airline workers to strike so pilots staged demonstrations, including sending a "strike bus" to cities in Frontier's network, to raise awareness about their cause.
“We are pleased to have reached this agreement with our pilots and believe it gives them best-in-class salary and benefits while also ensuring Frontier’s continued growth,” Frontier Airlines CEO Barry Biffle said in a statement.
- בדיקות אלכוהול ביפן: בעקבות בדיקת אנשי צוות (טייסים ודיילים) ופסילתם לטיסה, הרוחות סוערות ביפן. איפלפ"א נתנה דעתה בנושא בדיקות אלכוהול בכמה הזדמנויות.
Pilots will be required to take post-flight alcohol tests
The transport ministry will require domestic airline pilots to undergo post-duty alcohol tests to ensure they have not cheated in the pre-boarding screening process or consumed booze during the flights, an interim report showed Dec. 25
The measure will start by the end of March.
The ministry has been considering new rules since a co-pilot for Japan Airlines Co. was arrested at Heathrow Airport in London in October after failing a sobriety test before a flight to Tokyo. He had apparently cheated on an in-house breath-alcohol test also attended by his colleagues.
The report also says all tests must use sophisticated breath-alcohol devices.
Pilots employed by foreign airlines and those who fly private aircraft will not be subject to the mandatory alcohol tests, but they may face unannounced testing during the ministry's on-the-spot inspections.
The ministry has already announced a blanket guideline that limits all pilots, including those working for foreign airlines and those licensed to fly only private aircraft, to 0.09 milligram of alcohol per 1 liter of breath.
But the rules will be stricter for pilots of the 67 domestic airlines. They will be prohibited from flying if any trace of alcohol is detected in the tests.
http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201812260029.html
- פיטורי ראש רת"א הסעודי: אולי בעקבות מכתבו של יו"ר איגוד הטייסים?…
Saudi Arabia dismisses head of civil aviation
Sulaiman Al-Tamimi was appointed to the position in June 2017
King Salman issued a royal decree ordering that GACA head Abdul Hakim bin Mohammed Bin Sulaiman Al-Tamimi be removed from his post.
Saudi Arabia's king has sacked the President of the kingdom's General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), according to the state-run Saudi Press Agency.
According to the SPA, King Salman issued a royal decree ordering that GACA head Abdul Hakim bin Mohammed Bin Sulaiman Al-Tamimi be removed from his post.
The order has been passed on to "pertinent authorities" in order to endorse it and carry it out, SPA added.
Al-Tamimi was appointed to his position to GACA in June 2017.
No details were given on the reason for his sacking or on who his replacement will be.
https://www.arabianbusiness.com/transport/411766-saudi-arabia-dismisses-head-of-civil-aviation
- איגוד טייסי אייר-אינדיה מפרסם כי "לחצים כלכליים עלולים להשפיע על בטיחות הטיסה". התעופה בהודו בצרות כבר זמן רב, הן בהיבט הכלכלי והן בהיבט הבטיחות. רת"א ההודית תחת פיקוח הדוק של הFAA ושל ICAO. ההודים לא חברים באיפלפ"א, למיטב ידיעתי אין להם איגוד טייסים אלא רק ועדים (לחלק קטן מהחברות).
Financial stress may impact flight safety, warns AI pilots' union
Raising concerns over delayed salary payments, a group of Air India pilots has said that
financial stress could impact flight safety.
The Indian Pilots' Guild, which represents pilots of wide-body planes of Air India, has also told aviation regulator DGCA that the management has continuously used the guise of financial losses to illegally change their service conditions and withhold payment of
arrears as well as overtime.
"We are already engaged in multiple litigations for our basic rights and service conditions.
"If even our salaries are now withheld and reduced at the whims and fancies of airline
management, it is not humanly possible to keep all this stress away from the cockpit," the guild has said.
The guild has around 700 members.
In a letter to DGCA chief B S Bhullar, the grouping's general secretary Captain K Jayakumar said that such a prolonged atmosphere of financial uncertainty is not conducive to flight safety.
"For more than six months, our wages are not being paid on time.
"Our January wages have still not be paid even after half the month is gone and even now nobody can give us a straight answer as to when we can expect payment," the letter dated January 17 said.
The pilots have received their December salary.
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/transportation/airlines-/-aviation/financial-stress-may-impact-flight-safety-warns-ai-pilots-union/articleshow/67612196.cms
- מחקר בנושא נמנום בטיסה, נערך בארה"ב (אותם חוקי FTL כמו שלנו): מחקר שנעשה הן בקרב הנוסעים (רובם לא אהבו את הרעיון…) והן בקרב טייסים (רובם מצדדים בנושא).
How Do You Feel About Pilots Napping In The Cockpit During Flight?
Stephen Rice
Contributor
Aerospace & Defense
I teach and conduct research in Aviation Human Factors at ERAU.
Fatigue, a universally recognized problem in aviation, contributes to many aviation accidents. Currently, the aviation industry tackles this problem directly with fatigue mitigation techniques such as work and rest scheduling, minimum rest requirements before flights, and sometimes pharmacological countermeasures (in the military). Some argue that another mitigation technique-controlled rest in position (CRIP)-should also be implemented. Some other countries, including Canada and Australia, already use the technique, but it's currently banned in the United States.
Some research suggests that CRIP is an effective fatigue countermeasure, although the evidence is admittedly sparse. One study found that pilots who took a 40-minute nap (compared to a control group who did not nap) had faster reaction times and higher subjective alertness ratings. Another study concluded that in-flight napping increases alertness during future critical portions of the flight. It should be noted, however, that the period of time just after waking up, called sleep inertia, results in cognitive and mood impairments, as well as over-reactions to events.
Because of these potentially negative effects, CRIP, where used, is heavily regulated. Pilots who plan to take a nap must inform both the co-pilot and lead flight attendant of their desire to sleep. They are only allowed to sleep for a certain time window, and the co-pilot must stay awake during this timeframe. When they awaken, the pilot must sit idle for a certain amount of time before resuming duties in order to overcome sleep inertia.
How do consumers feel about CRIP? A series of studies from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University concluded that consumers in general are not that excited about having their pilot sleeping during the flight. In general, consumers are less willing to fly on a commercial flight if they know the pilot is allowed to take naps, even when the details of the rigorous requirements are outlined for the participants. Interestingly, female participants were less willing to fly in this condition compared to their male counterparts. Lastly, the research concluded that these decisions were based mainly on emotional responses to the potential scenarios. This is not surprising, given that humans often base these types of decisions on their feelings rather than on any type of cognitive/rational appraisal of the situation.
So how do pilots in the United States feel about CRIP? In another study from Embry-Riddle, this question was posed to a group of licensed commercial pilots who responded to a survey that included a series of questions about their favorability of CRIP, and how they felt it should be implemented (if at all). The average respondent had 13,469 total flight hours, which represents many years of commercial piloting. About two-thirds flew "narrow-body" aircraft, while the rest flew "wide-body" aircraft. About a third flew "red-eye" or overnight flights.
The results were fascinating. About two-thirds of the pilots approved or strongly approved of using CRIP in the United States, while 16% disapproved or strongly disapproved. The remaining 14% were neutral. On average, the pilots felt that no more than two naps should be allowed during a four-hour block of time, with each nap being about 45 minutes long. They also felt that 15 minutes was enough time to overcome sleep inertia once they had awaken from the nap. If multiple naps were taken during a single flight, then pilots felt that at least an hour should pass between naps. Most pilots reported that certain conditions (e.g. bad weather) should preclude CRIP, and of course, both pilots should remain awake during all emergencies and/or disruptions.
While many pilots extolled the benefits of using CRIP, there was quite a bit of interesting dissent. One important issue was how to ensure that the co-pilot didn't also accidentally fall asleep. This has been a real concern for many years in aviation, with some studies reporting that as much as 50% of pilots accidentally fall asleep during flights. A second issue was whether their passengers would feel as safe knowing that one pilot might be sleeping. Lastly, quite a few pilots were concerned that this would be "a patch for failed scheduling." In other words, they felt that the airlines should do a better job of crewing and staffing so that napping is not necessary. They were concerned that the airlines might use CRIP as a crutch and revert to even less optimal scheduling.
This study also tapped into some foreign pilots who extolled the benefits of CRIP. A Qantas pilot claimed that "CRIP works VERY well," while an Air Canada pilot concurred. One pilot also pointed out that the US Military uses it effectively, and wondered why the United States hadn't adopted it yet. It seems that this is another one of those rules that other countries tend to adopt first while we wait and watch how it plays out.
So if your pilot is allowed to take controlled naps in the cockpit, under very strict guidelines, would you be comfortable flying in that airplane?
https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephenrice1/2019/01/21/how-do-you-feel-about-pilots-napping-in-the-cockpit-during-flight/#68beaf48d08b
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