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The Wiss-key is currently the official newsletter of the Air Wisconsin Master Executive Council of the Air Line Pilots Association, International.

The Wiss-key is produced four times a year for and by the pilots of Air Wisconsin. The opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent official ALPA positions or policy or those of its officers. The Wiss-key is intended solely for the confidential use of pilots repre-sented by ALPA.

Submissions for The Wiss-key are always welcome. Please send suggestions, comments, photos, letters, and articles to ARW@alpa.org for consideration; otherwise, contact the Communications Committee for alternate submission options. The Wiss-key assumes no responsibility for loss or damage to these items and reserves the right to edit submissions for space requirements. Anonymous material will not be considered for publication, though a writer’s identity may be kept unpublished if requested.

Letter from the Editor

ARW COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEERichard Swindell Chairman & Editor The Wiss-key

Matt Wise Webmaster

Thorne Saylor Editor THE X-RAY

Ken Reinert Photography

Gideon Berkowitz Editor The Wiss-key

Rob Taylor Editor Pay Day Hotline

“A/C 449 ultimately gave up 16% of its paint to compete to win.”Cover photo by Ken Reinert

In the fall of 2009, I began my work with The Wiss-key editorial team. I have always been interested in writing, and specifically in how other people convey their thoughts through writing. I enjoy assisting others who are thinkers, leaders, and altruists to communicate their true intentions and endeavors, because I believe that many people have ideas that are not being broadcast due to their apprehension about communi-cating in writing.

At the time, I had been an Air Willy pilot for nearly 2.5 years, and I still had a limited knowledge of our union’s value—aside from needing assistance with a contract violation by Scheduling. I thought volunteering on a committee would be an excellent way to learn and contribute at the same time. Thanasi Fkiaras (no, you cannot buy a vowel), a new-hire classmate of mine, held the current editor posi-tion and was doing a tremendous job when I asked him if The Wiss-key needed an additional editor. After consulting with the Communications Committee chairman, Richard Swindell, it was a done deal.

I began (I would have used some form of the word “commence”—but you-know-who has ruined that word forever) as an assistant editor under Thanasi’s tutelage and attended communications training in Herndon, VA. There, I learned about the extraor-dinary depth of the resources that are available to all of us and got a behind-the-scenes look at the end-stage process of The Wiss-key’s production. All articles submitted to The Wiss-key are reviewed by at least two internal editors (ARW pilots), our contract administrator (Jane Schraft), and two external editors (ALPA editors) before they are approved for publication.

From the submission deadline to the press, the time frame is ideally two weeks (although due to the fact that all writers are volunteers, it usually takes three weeks). It is important to be painstakingly accurate with each piece, even when faced with a

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A Message from Your Chairman ...... 1A Message from Your Vice Chairman .................................. 2LEC 50 News ................................... 5LEC 51 News ................................... 7Committees Communications ......................... 8 Grievance .................................. 11 Negotiating ................................ 12 AFA Negotiations Update .... 13 Maintenance Negotiations Summary ............................. 13 Professional Standards ............ 14 R&I ............................................ 14 Training & Testing ..................... 15 Veterans Affairs ......................... 16Spring Musings............................... 17A Beginning or Returning Runner’s Training Schedule ........... 19Dollars and Sense .......................... 20Head in the Clouds ......................... 22iPod Playlist .................................... 24Riders on the Storm ....................... 25401(k) Audits .................................. 26The Little Picture Update................ 27Six Dangerous Myths About Pay ....................................... 29Life of a Reservist ........................... 30Sunglasses for Pilots ...................... 34Storm Clouds on the Horizon ......... 36Fun & Games Sudoku ...................................... 37 Crossword Puzzle ..................... 38ALPA-PAC Form............................. 39ARW MEC Directory ...................... 42

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WBy Joe Ellis Captain, ORFARW MEC Chairman

A Message from Your Chairman

Do I Have a Future Here?

This summer will prove to be the most challenging

yet.

With full confidence, I will open The Wiss-key by saying this: I have no doubt the spring is-sue finds you well rested after a leisurely flight schedule this past winter. No? Perhaps that’s a poor statement for me to make in an election year, so please allow me another run at this opener . . .

I remember it as if it were yesterday. US Airways announced a major schedule reduction in the fall of 2008, coinciding with the end of the summer travel season and the peak of oil prices. Air Wisconsin felt compelled to reduce our pilot staffing drastically, refuting ALPA’s repeated attempts to find compromise in or-der to save jobs, save families, and salvage any sense of pride in the airline for those of us who remained. In the end, the will of management prevailed, as management’s will is driven by (not spending) money; and although the flying slowly returned, our pilots unfortunately had not. And so the new staffing model—or nightmare, as we now know it—was born.

You see, I know that this winter has left most of our pilots in shambles, both physically and mentally. Record block hours, record numbers of uncommutable trips, record circadian rhythm swaps, and record numbers of reduced-rest trips have driven many of our pilots’ motivation to the floor, once again wedged families apart, and stripped the pride in our profession from our souls. Well, guess what! The busy season is just around the corner, and you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

This summer will prove to be the most challenging yet. Our pilot ranks are continu-ally understaffed by any reasonable measure, the block hours will again increase, and with an anticipated (but yet unannounced) base closure, we will potentially again have hundreds of pilots uprooted. What’s the fix? We need more pilots;

that unfortunately costs money, and spending money is not the business we are in, my friends. As a matter of fact, the corporate pay structure actually provides financial incentives to some of the people who are responsible for our schedules and quality of life, if they can run on fewer pilots. Yes, more time away from your home = more money for them. More on that later. Sprinkle in a little Section 6 contract negotiations, which will no doubt be chock-full of typical antilabor tactics, and I assure you a challenging year ahead.

So the question on the table is, “Where are we going?” Well, that’s a great question, indeed. We have seen growth opportunity after growth opportunity grow fainter at the hands of our company leadership. In fact, Air Wisconsin has never secured a flying contract through the RFP process. We will never know the true reason we have an industry-leading “losing record” of RFPs. Could it be the labor rate, as the never-ending bar-rage of propaganda on MyAirWis would suggest? Could it be incomplete, incompetent, or inflated bids? Could it be the quality of our counterparts bidding on the same work? We, unfortunately, will never know. What we do know is that our management is fully committed to the notion that high labor rates are holding us back and could very well serve as the gallows for this legendary airline. You see, the future is in (not) spending money, right? Where, where is it we are going?

While pondering this question myself, I thought I would spend some time studying the Air Wisconsin mission statement. After all, a mission statement speaks to the core of cor-porate philosophy and should provide a solid understanding of what it is we do, what it is we value, and, of course, where we are going. The Air Wisconsin mission statement reads:

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WA Message from Your Vice ChairmanBy Mark Lockwood F/O, DCA ARW MEC Vice Chairman

ObsessionYou know how sometimes you go through a harrowing experience and you need a respite, but the respite never seems to come? Look at the airline workers. They go through this [terrible] event like 9/11, and management and the airline unions all negotiate for four months and management says if the unions don’t cut $2 billion in salary and benefits they will have to shut the airline down. And after these wrenching negotiations, the unions agree. I just have to laugh, because you know that in a few months management is going to come right back. . . . There is no end. No one has to ask me to cut my budget each year. We all just know that each year we are expected to do more with less. If you are a revenue producer, you are expected to come up with more revenue every year, and if you are an expense saver, you are expected to come up with more savings every year. You never get a break from it.

— Joshua S. Levine, E*Trade’s chief technology officer (Friedman 2005)

Our management team should be a combination of both revenue producers (added flying) and expense savers. Because our managers have been less than successful at producing revenue through additional flying, they have engaged in obsessive expense-saving veiled as an attempt to produce revenue. For those of us who fly the line, we often see the negative effects of this expense-saving on ourselves and our customers.

Our management team is paid based on how thinly it can staff the airline. For those pilots who have been junior manned repeatedly, or extended repeatedly into days off, or extended into the sixth day of reserve, this arrangement seems like something out of the twilight zone. For our pas-sengers who are often delayed for hours (if not days), because the airline does not have enough crews to accommodate irregular operations, this arrangement seems like a nightmare.

What frightens me the most is that some of the same people who get paid more for doing the flying with less are also responsible for our safety programs. Safety programs are supposed to be a check against the flight department’s practices, not a method for justifying poor policies. What happens when a safe practice costs more money? For our

reserve pilots who have been put on rest during the middle of the day—after they have slept through the night, in order to prepare for day flying and are then told to go back to sleep to prepare for night-time flying—they know what happens: we lose. A pilot who recently called in fatigued under precisely this circumstance had his pay cut.

We have been repeatedly told that obsessive expense saving will ultimately save this airline by allowing us to grow. We were all told that we did not win the most recent United RFP because our pilots are too expensive; however, the pilot costs at ExpressJet (the RFP winner) are higher than those at Air Wisconsin. The company readily admits this fact but still sticks to the argument that if the pilots made 16 percent less, we would have won the RFP.

As we look toward our future pilot contract, I ask you—do you think that giving our manage-ment team a less expensive pilot contract will al-low it to produce revenue? Or will it just become more successful at expense saving?

ReferenceFriedman, Thomas L. The World is Flat (New

York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005).

We have been repeatedly told that obsessive

expense-saving will

ultimately save this airline by allowing us to

grow.

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MEC Chairmancontinued from page 1

To operate a leading regional airline built on a foundation of safety where employees work together to ensure our airline’s com-petitive strength through superior service to customers, exceptional performance and economic efficiency.

To create an environment where the employ-ees enjoy coming to work, trust and respect their coworkers, and know that their efforts are recognized.

So, how are they doing? I imagine our thoughts are similar, so let’s take a closer look together. The mission statement reads well; it sure looks like a company that has a solid foundation, de-fined goals, and values that most people could appreciate. First and foremost, in the mission statement, the airline values safety as every airline should. Where are we with safety, or our foundation, as identi-fied in the statement?

Air Wisconsin

Department.-

ment of flight safety programs to direct supervisors of pilots.

levels of pilot participation in safety programs.

-servative decisions in the name of safety because it costs the company money.

in flight schedules, in the name of money.

-hancements with the condition that it be cost-neutral change.

maintenance work on aircraft, to save money.

-lot’s participation in safety programs.

As you examine the mission’s foun-dation and compare it to present-day actions, where we are going starts to be-

come a little clearer. This comparison experiment reminds me of a recent comment made by a Colgan pilot on the PBS documentary “Flying Cheap.” He said, “Well, they sure talked about safety a lot . . . but . . .” Where are we going? Perhaps we are headed to Capitol Hill to explain ourselves. Perhaps we are headed to 50 families’ homes to apolo-gize. Where exactly does that fit in the mission statement?

Looking to the last phrase of the Air Wisconsin mission statement, the com-pany strives to recognize its employees’ efforts. That sounds great; sign me up. . . . So how are they doing? What I see is this:

of pilots per month—pilots who happen to be lucky enough to expe-rience long ground delays or exten-sive holding that keeps the average fuel burn low enough to win a gift card.

excluding him/her from a defined recognition program—who delays a departure for two minutes in order to allow a father to join his children on a flight home.

seatback advertisements—to be a family-type company with Midwest-ern values and to put employees first. A company so disconnected that actual employees who read this advertisement shout, “What company are they talking about?”

-nizes the employees’ efforts so much that they continually blame them for putting the company’s future at risk because they cost too much.

Air Wisconsin leadership has ques-tioned our future beyond the US Air-ways agreement expiration in 2015, so much so that I believe it is on many employees’ minds. I believe they may be right, but the reason is tragic, re-ally. Somewhere along the way, we lost

sight of our mission statement, and it’s a good mission statement. Actually, I think I can pinpoint the time we lost the game right to the day management’s Strategic Leadership Committee (SLC) was formed. You see, there is another mission statement at Air Wisconsin, and I believe it to be the real one, not the one with all the glitter for the press but the one we live by. It is the SLC’s mission, and it reads:

To be the first choice of major airlines for regional airline services, Air Wisconsin must consistently rank within the top two regional carriers in each of the following categories, also called “planks”:

ServicePerformanceEconomic efficiency

Now, take a moment and go back to reread the first mission statement. You see, it is this second statement that is shoved down the employees’ throats day in and day out. We live it, we breathe it, and they want us to believe it. It is the second mission statement that addresses the future, not the first. So the real mes-sage is “to make it down the road, we need good service, performance, and economic efficiency . . . we need to fly cheap.” All fine, but what about safety? Where are the employees in this? What about all that “caring for an employee who enjoys coming to work”? Where is all that? Where are we going? Do any of us have a future here?

We, as an airline, are in full flux derailment from our mission at Air Wis-consin, and that has placed us all at risk. Earlier, I mentioned the pay structure for some of our managers. In accordance with the SLC’s mission statement, the second mission statement, our managers are paid a base salary that they claim to be lower than they once had, but they can earn it back and then some if they meet certain criteria. For example, one of these criteria is staffing levels; another is

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on-time performance. Getting the flights completed with the fewest bodies, and on time, is what feeds our managers’ families. It’s not about people here, it’s about money. Saving money.

I am sure you see the conflict of inter-est with the above scenario. We have seen concrete examples where the company is not “seeing the forest for the trees” and is actually wasting incredible amounts of money while following its “plank plan.” Recently, we have seen a number of pi-lots severely disciplined by management because the pilots caused a flight to be late, or even in a few cases the pilots did not actually cause late departures, but their actions “could have” caused a delay. As aligned with the “performance plank,” some managers’ bonuses are affected by crew-controllable late departures, and a threat to a late departure is a direct threat to the manager’s salary. I’ll walk you through a very real scenario, which unfortunately we are witnessing more and more:

1. The company pays a manager a base salary plus bonuses, based on staff-ing and on-time performance (not exact, but close enough).

2. Example pilot did not deserve termination, but he did cause late departures by his actions.

3. The manager’s bonus is put directly at risk by this pilot’s actions (see #1 above).

4. It will cost the company money to replace (train) the pilot and junior man until his replacement is in place, even though he didn’t deserve ter-mination . . .

5. But that’s OK, because maybe the replacement will be a gas card con-tender with excellent performance, thereby giving the manager a raise.

6. So . . . the company loses money, the pilot loses everything, but the manager gets a raise.

Here we see a conflict with both mission statements, even though the manager thinks he is acting in accordance

MEC Chairmancontinued from page 3

we, as pilots, have no control over. Our management has exhausted years of re-sources into formulating and implement-ing a plan that, by design, cannot produce. You cannot prevail without people; you do not win without the employees. You simply do not survive. As a company, we are behind, but it is not too late. If we refocus on the things that are strong, if we refocus on our mission statement, we can keep the ride moving. But we are short on time; we may have only one shot. We need to get it right. As Marshall Mathers (Eminem) says, “If you had one shot, one opportunity, would you capture it? Or would you let it slip?”

The Air Wisconsin pilots are ready. We are ready to pitch in and make Air Wisconsin everything the original mis-sion statement calls for. We are ready to continue our MEC’s work and assist the company in achieving its goals. We are ready to make our fellow employees happy to come to work and help them feel appreciated.

“Do I have a future here?” It’s your ques-tion, and it deserves an answer.

with the second mission statement. Obvi-ously, there is no regard at any point for the first mission statement. Where can this level of conflict, confusion, and contradiction take this company? Why is our future at risk here at Air Wisconsin? Is it high labor rates? Or is it a leadership team so focused on a secondary plan that they operate with complete disregard for their own proclaimed mission? We will never know.

What it takes to survive in this in-dustry is becoming increasingly difficult year after year. Air Wisconsin recognizes that, as do the employees. No other pilot group in the country is more dedicated as a whole to conducting themselves professionally and consistently working to do their job better. The master executive council, your elected leadership, has a clear statement in its mission that defines one of its goals as helping to “re-establish Air Wisconsin as an industry-leading airline.” We have extensive resources and expertise standing by ready to help.

As you can see by now, Air Wisconsin has placed itself in a difficult position that

The PHL hangar line at night. 12/12/2009.

CLT ramp 3/12/2010

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Greedy Equals Needy

All these factors bode well for

pilots who may be looking for career

advancement in the next five

years.

Go to www.alpa.org and select Back the Pac icon from the options on the right. On the next page, click the icon “5 Ways to Back the PAC,” which outlines several ways to contribute. Or, fill out the form included in this issue of The Wiss-key on pages 39 and 40.

By Richard Clarke,Captain, ORF

Chairman and Captain Rep ARW Council 50

In the last issue of The Wiss-key, I asked you to be ever mindful of management propaganda designed to reduce your expectations in nego-tiations. You are constantly being told that Air Wisconsin pilot costs are above industry aver-age, and without pay concessions the airline will be at risk of shutting down at the end of 2015 when the Jet Services Agreement with US Airways expires.

It is human nature to become concerned about your well-being when you are constantly bombarded with this same message over, and over, and over again. Air Wisconsin management is counting on the fact that you need a job and are willing to take concessions in order to keep working at Air Wisconsin beyond 2015. But let’s take a moment to examine needs and who really should be worrying about 2015 being the end of the line for this airline.

The last 10 years in the industry have been incredibly challenging for unemployed airline

pilots and for pilots looking to advance their careers. However, history shows that at the end of every period of furloughs and downgrades, we can count on a hiring boom. Just over two years ago, the FAA changed the mandatory re-tirement age to 65, which means that in another two to three years, airlines across the country will begin to see retirements again. Additionally, the economy has been turning around, and it seems that at some point the airlines will again begin to expand their services instead of having the constant drawdowns we’ve become accus-tomed to this past decade. In fact, International Air Transport Association projections show a constant increase in the expected number of air travelers each year and a 2.8 percent increase in airline seat capacity worldwide for 2010.

All these factors bode well for pilots who may be looking for career advancement in the next five years. While nobody wants to see Air Wisconsin’s demise, and many of us are hoping to make a career at this airline, the point is: we don’t need Air Wisconsin in a way that AWAC management likes to imply that we do. As pro-viders of skilled labor, our jobs are portable, and once airlines begin to hire again, we have the

ability to take our skills and offer them to a company that will value them more than Air Wisconsin.

When I graduated from the Univer-sity of Arizona with a business degree, most of my friends entered the business world with starting salaries of approxi-mately $40,000 a year. Air Wisconsin has first officers, some with decades of experience as airline pilots, making less than people entering the business world with zero experience! While nearly all of us intend to make a career in the aviation industry, it significantly reduces our needs in the negotiating process when half our pilot group can leave this job and step

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To All Council 50 (ORF/LGA) Pilots!

Hopefully you have received a notice in your v-file and multiple e-mails about our upcoming local council meeting on Friday, June 4, at 2:00 p.m. This should be a great avenue allowing each of you to express your thoughts, opinions, and hopes for what you have seen or would like to see at Air Wisconsin!

The meeting will be held at 221 84th St., Virginia Beach, Virginia. We are excited to announce that several officers from ALPA National will be in attendance, includ-ing Captain Bill Couette (American Eagle), who serves as ALPA’s vice president of administration. In his role, Captain Couette is responsible for overseeing membership pro-grams and records, as well as all union voting and election procedures. Second, we are excited to have Captain Tom Wychor (Mesaba), currently serving as a special assistant to the president. Both of these individuals provide a unique insight into ALPA, have some great information to share, and are eagerly awaiting questions from our council.

After the meeting, we are going to have a good old-fashioned family-style pig roast, featuring a 75-pound hickory-smoked pig, potato salad, cole slaw, hush puppies, baked beans, and, of course, corn on the cob!

Families are encouraged to come and listen to the meet-ing or go swimming in the Atlantic Ocean and play on the beach, as it is only a block away. We look forward to seeing everyone in Virginia Beach!

Any questions? Please contact any of us.

Rich Clarke, Chairman 757-478-6319 Rich.Clarke@alpa.org

Chris Suhs, Vice Chairman 757-513-8979 Christopher.Suhs@alpa.org

Tom Nelson, Secretary-Treasurer 507-382-4977Tom.Nelson@alpa.org

LEC 50 Newscontinued from page 5

directly into a financially equal position as a businessman/woman with no experience. For the purpose of this discussion, please keep in mind that wants are much different from needs. While we may want to work at Air Wisconsin, we don’t need to work for this particular company or in the airline industry at all. That distinction is important when we are sitting at the table negotiating with airline management.

While understanding our needs is important, negotiating is not a one-way street. While this pilot group has needs, it is imperative that we recognize Air Wisconsin’s needs as well. While our piloting skills are portable in the sense that we can take them to another airline, Air Wisconsin earnings are not so easily replaceable. In a Department of Transportation Form 41 filed during 2009*, Air Wisconsin reported an operating profit of $61.8 million for the 12 months ending September 2009! Think about that for a second. From the end of 2008 until the end of 2009, Air Wisconsin had an operating profit of nearly $1.2 million a week! You better believe the owners of Air Wisconsin don’t want that gravy train to end any time soon.

While we don’t know exactly how much money the owners of this company have tied up in the operation, based on the same DOT Form 41 filing, operating expenses during the previously mentioned 12 months were approximately $488.5 million. In the world of investing, especially during the last few years while the economy has been in a recession, Air Wisconsin’s return on investment has remained relatively high. Air Wisconsin’s contract with US Airways has a built-in profit margin that is virtually recession-proof. (As long as US Airways remains in business, of course.) That’s a pretty sweet deal when you consider the stock market’s nearly 50 percent plunge two years ago. While investors in the stock market took a trouncing during the past two years, Air Wisconsin’s owners have consistently been raking in more than a million dollars a week. Try replacing that sort of operating profit! The owners of this company have a lot more to lose than this pilot group if the airline is not successful beyond 2015. Don’t let the constant bombardment of management propaganda make you believe otherwise.

Now consider the fact that the owners of this company would like you and me to take pay cuts so they can grow the company. They want the first officer with a family of five bring-ing home $40,000 a year to take a pay cut so their operating profit is more than $1,200,000 a week! Where does the greediness end? If this airline is not successful beyond 2015, it is not because the pilots are being paid too much. It’s because the owners are not willing to reduce their return on investment even as the rest of the industry has had to tighten their belts.

As I said in the last issue of The Wiss-key, and I’ll continue to remind you in future issues, you need to take ownership

of your needs and expectations in this upcoming round of negotiations. Management will continue to bombard you with the idea that it is you and me who hold this company back. It is your responsibility to recognize their tactics and hold your ground. We deserve higher compensation for safely practicing our skilled profession. It is you who allows the Air Wisconsin owners to earn their $1,200,000-a week operating profit, and you deserve to share in that wealth. Stand strong, keep your expectations high, and we will prevail. Fly safely.

* For a closer look at the Department of Transportation Form 41 referenced in this article, please visit the following Web address: http://ostpxweb.dot.gov/aviation/finance/nat0909p.pdf.

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By Joel BarmanF/O, PHL

Chairman and F/O Rep ARW Council 51

There is an old Southern saying: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Our Council 51 pilots apparently took that advice to heart this past fall.

With our terms finishing on February 28, 2010, an election for Council 51 representatives was held this past October. The majority of the pilots felt that the current reps were best suited to continue. Steve Kern was reelected as captain representative, I was reelected as first officer rep-resentative, and Thorne Saylor was reelected as secretary-treasurer. Our new terms commenced March 1 and run through February 28, 2013. After another election for chairman and vice chairman, I will assume the role of chairman, and Steve Kern will be the vice chairman.

It is now time to press on and move forward, continuing to represent the pilots of Council 51 and assisting with their many needs. During our next term, Section 6 contract negotiations will commence. As your reps, we will listen and get your input as to what you would like to see and what we can improve. As always, we will keep the lines of communication open and provide you with information through resources such as ALPA FastReads, the Pay Day Hotline, The Wiss-key, www.awacpilots.org, and other ARW MEC–endorsed communication outlets. Also, e-mail, phone calls, and good old-fashioned face-to-face conversations are always a good way to have your questions answered and your voice heard.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact any status rep. Our contact lists are posted and included in every Pay Day Hotline and The Wiss-key.

quickly approaching deadline. Whether you are relatively new or have been employed here for decades, each issue comes with information that impacts us all. The content can make the difference between an educated decision and just a random one. The choices you make are predicated on this accuracy and often hold the keys to our future here at Air Wisconsin. The pilot group relies on the union leaders to disseminate cred-ible and truthful information; it is our job at The Wiss-key to make sure this is accomplished.

As some of you know, Thanasi has resigned from Air Wisconsin and retired from the airline industry to pursue a new career. He is beginning a master’s degree in education this month at NC State University in Raleigh. He hopes to teach

high school English or high school special education. It is a proven strategy known to all union officers and volunteers to always be training your replacement to allow for a seamless transition. Although this is a huge loss to The Wiss-key team, Thanasi has left me with a good founda-tion and the tools—the knowledge and know-how—to continue. Along the way, I am learning so much about the ARW union—our union—mostly from reading all of the articles in past issues. This pub-lication has become something that I am truly proud to be associated with; it repre-sents the true quality of the professionals who make up our entire pilot group.

In this issue, I learned something about our contract from reading “Life as a Reservist.” I marvel at the fact that some writers can be so humorous

and engaging even when discussing something that is serious. We would like to thank you for your overwhelming response to the Reader’s Survey that was distributed with the winter issue. Look for improvements in this issue, they reflect your suggestions. And, as always, if you would like to contribute either pictures or an article, please do not hesitate to contact us at arw@alpa.org or Gideon.Berkowitz@alpa.org.

Gideon BerkowitzEditor, The Wiss-key

“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adver-sity, prosperity would not be so welcome.”

—Anne Bradstreet (1612–1672), “Meditations Divine and Moral,” 1655

Letter from the Editorcontinued from inside front cover

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By Richard Swindell

Captain, DCAARW

Communications Chairman

In an effort to assess the impact of this commu-nications tool

and to see what we could be doing bet-ter, a survey about this publication was included in the last edition of The Wiss-key. The survey results are below, along with the answers to the questions that were asked by survey respondents. Our many thanks to all the pilots who took the time to complete the survey. (Note: LGA pi-lots, we know the survey had problems making it into your v-files. Sorry about that. Thanks for making the extra effort to get your comments to us.)

You are always welcome to share comments or ideas with the ARW Com-munications Committee at: ARWCom-munications@alpa.org.

Survey ResultsTotal respondents: 171. This repre-

sents approximately 24.2 percent of the pilot group.

Percent of respondents by status (not rank, as some pointed out; sorry, military habits die hard):

Captain 52.5%First Officer 47.5%

Percent by domicile: DCA 21.9%PHL 38.6%ORF 20.8%RDU 8.3%LGA 10.4%

The following numbers represent to-tal responses with the understanding that

not all of the questions were answered, or in some cases multiple responses were included (which means the numbers may or may not add up to 100 percent in a given case).

Do you read The Wiss-key:Cover to cover 76.9%About half 15.3%Less than half 3.8%Not much 7.6%Not at all 3.8%

When do you read it? (Check all that apply.)At home 15.3%On a break 42.3%Between turns 46.1%While commuting 46.1%At the crash pad 3.8%

Apparently, 7.6 percent also read it while engaging in their daily consti-tutional—whatever works for you and as long as you’re reading it. Finally, 4.1 percent had to be declared “other” and, due to legal implications, could not be published.

Which article groups do you read? (Check all that apply.)MEC 3.8%LEC 7.6%Committee 7.6%Commentary 3.8%

While 76.9 percent indicated that they read all of the articles, 3.1 percent indicated that they do not read any of the articles.

Which article groups do you find most interesting or useful? (Check all that apply.)MEC 23.1%LEC 11.5%Committee 46.1%Commentary 19.2%

This time, 30.7 percent indicated that all the articles are useful, with 2.1 percent stating that all the articles are useless.

The next area of the survey asked about articles that pilots did not read and why they had not read them. Of the pilots who completed the survey, 5.2 percent indicated that they did not know which articles they had not read or why they had not read them because they did not read them; they did, how-ever, seem certain that they had read some of the articles but not all.

Do you think this is a quality communica-tion tool? Yes 84.6%No 7.6%

Have you ever used the ARW ALPA di-rectory in the back of The Wiss-key? Yes 34.6%No 53.8%

And 3.8 percent indicated that they were about to use it—outstanding.

Are you interested in contributing an article, photo, or other item to The Wiss-key? Yes 7.2%—which is great, but we

are still waiting to hear from 5.2% of you.

No 9.3%—no problem, thanks for reading.

“Maybe” was a write-in 11.4 percent of the time—come on, you can do it. Give us a call!

Q&AThe following is a review of the

survey sections asking for suggestions and comments. Rather than answer them individually, which would be time-consuming, and since most of these were mentioned more than once anyway, the questions and comments have been

The Wiss-key Readers’ Survey Results

9

rolled into topic groups and are ad-dressed accordingly. Any comments that contained profanity or other unsuitable remarks were either incorporated into a topic group or simply not included.

Q: Can you delete lame commentaries about vacations to Las Vegas?

A: It wasn’t about Vegas, folks—go back and read it again!

Q: Can you update the 1-800 number or just say there’s nothing to report?

A: There is plenty to report, but the VARS line is an antiquated device that we have continually tried to find a home for in our communications plan yet have been mostly unable to find an effective fit. We feel that we are getting out more timely and usable information on a regular basis through the Pay Day Hotline, The Wiss-key, Fastreads, One Call Now voice messages, the awacalpa.org portal, and the new negotiations newsletter, THE X-RAY. However, there may be some effectiveness to be gained from the VARS line, so we aren’t going to eliminate it yet.However, any message set up on the VARS line will likely be coupled with another notification method in order to let you know that there is some-thing to listen to as well as provide additional information. Thanks for bringing this up.

Q: Can you include a swimsuit calendar?A: Uh, no.

Q: I would like to see a section in The Wiss-key about tricky areas of the contract, contract interpretation, and tips and tricks for understanding the contract.

A: Actually, we deal with this every month in the Pay Day Hotline (PDH). It appears under the heading Fly the Contract. Please make sure you are not missing this, along with Frequently Asked Questions, which also appears each month in the PDH. Additionally, many of the articles in The Wiss-key highlight and deal with problem areas in our CBA, so please look for those items in past and

future editions. In this edition, we have an article aimed at reserve pilot contract information (page 32), but it is a solid primer for all pilots for understanding our current contract.

Q: I like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and the iPod playlists.

A: So do we—with milk. (Not the play-lists with milk.)

Q: Can you include a top 10 list of contract violations?

A: Yes, or you can bid reserve for a month and experience them all for yourself. This request has been forwarded to Bill Patterson, ARW Grievance Committee chairman, and he is working on it. Look for this list in future PDHs and possibly in com-ing editions of The Wiss-key as well.

Q: I only want to hear about airplanes and flying.

A: No problem. Go get a subscription to Plane & Pilot.

Q: Discuss open grievances and progress in detail.

A: Well, the ARW Grievance Commit-tee has done this in the past in both The Wiss-key and the PDH, so please continue to look for those items (when details and progress can be released). This is often a legal/confidentiality issue that is outside the realm of the Communications Committee. You could always vol-unteer to work on the Grievance Committee, which could use some help in light of this year’s already historic filing of issue forms.

Q: Can you include a section about fun things to do on overnights and good places to eat?

A: Certainly. We have actually been working on putting something like that together for a while now. The trouble we have been running into is, one, subjectivity; two, it creates quite a bit of work for one or two volunteers to do. So, we thought we might turn it back to the pilot group to send us this information

so we can collect it and present it as Overnight Overviews.

Q: What about a book review section?A: Working on that, too. Eric Hathorn

(F/O, DCA) has volunteered to sub-mit the first one, and Jens Schwarte (F/O, DCA) has also offered to sub-mit one, so start looking for those in the fall edition. This, too, will only be a successful project if we have pilot group participation.

Q: Include stuff about training.A: Please see ARW Testing & Training

Chairman Ryan von Trapp’s very excellent articles in every edition of The Wiss-key thus far, including this edition, page 19.

Q: Can you include more fatigue articles?A: You bet. No shortage of informa-

tion there. Also look for a number of items to be out soon from Rich Clarke, LEC 50 chairman and cap-tain rep, and Brian Milburn, ARW Scheduling chairman, on this critical topic.

Q: What about information on AWAC pay/profit rates compared to labor costs?

A: See the ARW Negotiations Com-mittee’s e-publication, THE X-RAY, and then look for their dedicated negotiations website to be up and running this summer. See Mark Lockwood’s article for the Negotiat-ing Committee on page 15 for more on this topic as well!

Q: What is going on in the future for AWAC?

A: Your guess is as good as ours. Both the Droid and iPhone have excellent Magic 8 Ball apps that may be useful here.

Q: Budget stuff is too boring.A: And yet you probably complain

about where your dues dollars are going. John Schumacher, ARW MEC secretary-treasurer, does an exceptional job of conscientiously managing our money. He also

continued on page 10

10

spends a significant amount of time and effort to ensure transpar-ency and to present articles to the pilot group that plainly state how our money is managed and put to work for us.

Q: Please include more photos.A: We are trying to do that. The

communications staff has asked from the inception of this publi-cation for photos from the pilot group. On the front inside cover are instructions for sending them to us—everyone has a camera on his/her cell phone these days, and access to a computer to send them to us. We do our best to take what we can when we can. Our desig-nated Communications Committee photographer, Ken Reinert (who is also the DCA Scheduling Com-mittee representative), has done a good job of stockpiling photos for us and is looking into setting up a Flickr or Picasa account for ARW ALPA to store pilot group photos on.

Q: Please explain aerodynamics.A: OK. One, push down, houses get

big. Two, pull back, houses get small, unless you are too slow, then houses get big again. Actually, this is not a bad idea. Perhaps we can coax a reader into putting together a series of articles on practical aerodynamics for us . . .

Q: Ensure that ALPA terms and acronyms are explained for ALPA newbies.

A: Excellent idea. We will work on put-ting something together for the next issue.

Q: The time and effort dedicated to The Wiss-key does not go unnoticed. Thanks.

A: Thank you. This is the pilots’ forum and it takes many to bring it to frui-tion. Thanks for reading—without an engaged audience, there is no purpose.

Q: This is a bunch of back-slapping self-promoting ego-inflating nonsense. Do not include anything except the reporting of progress.

A: For someone who flatly denies reading this publication, you seem to pass judgment easily enough. It’s regrettable that you fail to recognize within these pages the overall prog-ress that has been made on our pilot group’s behalf, and, honestly, I can certainly think of more egocentric activities to engage in other than volunteering hours of personal time to help put this publication together. Perhaps you should take your own advice and “grow a pair” by running for a leadership office and putting your extensive knowledge, leader-ship talents, and superior writing skills to use for us all.

Q: Mark Lockwood is my hero.A: Mark Lockwood is our hero, too.

Q: Please include contract comparisons and what we can expect from management in terms of psychological mind games during negotiations.

A: Thank you for bringing this up. The Negotiating Committee and the MEC have these comparisons, and THE X-RAY will deal with some of these issues. Thorne Saylor, THE X-RAY editor and LEC 51 secre-tary-treasurer, has been compiling material on dubious management tactics. Other information will be posted on the portal and in future PDHs.

Q: Would like to see guest columns from other airlines.

A: Good idea. Please see the spring and fall 2009 editions of The Wiss-key. Sometimes it is difficult to get

commitments from pilots to sub-mit material, but the invitation is open and we are always looking for items to include. If you see some-thing interesting from another pilot group, forward it to ARW@alpa .org, with author information if pos-sible, and we will work on securing permission to use it if appropriate.

Q: Can you use smaller words and add a coloring page?

A: Yes.

Q: This pilot group is doomed.A: No, it’s not. Silly pilot.

Q: Why are the ARW MEC officers listed as ARW MEC on the last page of The Wiss-key when they are not the MEC?

A: That’s kind of a good point. The intent was to show the ARW lead-ership in its entirety, including the MEC officers and the individual MEC members who represent their specific LECs. Check out the new Leadership Tree in the back of this edition and see if it is more straightforward.

Q: Jeff Pruett made a really cute princess.A: Yes, he did.

Thank you all for your comments. Please contact the ARW Communica-tions Committee if you have any fur-ther questions. Constructive criticism is always appreciated.

Survey Resultscontinued from page 9

Fly safe!

11

By Bill PattersonCaptain, DCA

ARW Grievance Committee Chairman

Dear Future Grievance Chairman,

What have I learned as Grievance chair dur-ing the past three-and-a-half years? Well, I have learned some very valuable lessons that I would like to share with you. ARW ALPA pilots have the common goal of striving for better and ensuring that work rules agreed to in the 2001 contract will remain intact and strong until our next agreement is signed. The pilots have displayed their resolve by fil-ing issue forms when the contract is violated and conducting themselves professionally when called in by management for Section 19 investigations.

I have learned that when one ARW ALPA pilot brings a contract violation issue form to the Grievance Committee, the best interests of our 650+ pilots are at stake, and proper research must be conducted and brought promptly to management’s attention. When grievances take a long time to settle or to move toward arbitration, it is always appro-priate to contact the pilot and communicate the status of the case. When a settlement is reached, it is very important to inform the pilot group using the multiple methods of communication available through ALPA.

Possessing the ability to strategize is very important when volunteering to chair the Grievance Committee. I highly recommend keeping an open line of communication with the ARW MEC, our ALPA contract administrator, and the other committees to ensure that our resources are used to the highest possible level. Choosing between settlement, arbitration, and sometimes grievance withdrawals requires an in-depth knowledge of the contract and insight as to which strategy should be used to move the pilot group forward.

Organization is also an important charac-teristic in running the Grievance Committee. Be ready for countless phone calls, e-mails,

questions in the crew rooms, and criticism (both constructive and downright disrespect-ful) from some pilots. Make sure you take the time to map out what you can accomplish and develop a plan to process the workload. The ARW pilot group deserves to hear what is going on with the committee and what you have spent their dues on: flight pay loss, arbitrations, and the defense of our pilots in investigatory Section 19 hearings. Simply put, the more information you can provide the pilots, the more successful the Grievance Committee will be.

Finally, don’t be afraid to ask for help and recruit really great people to help support you in your role as Grievance chairman. This includes asking members from other ALPA carriers for ideas on what is being done on their property and ideas that you can bring to the ARW ALPA pilot group. I have learned some really great strategies from other union leaders and ALPA National staff in Herndon, Virginia. I wish you the best of luck as you begin your journey as the new Grievance chairman. I strongly believe it is one of the very best positions in the union.

Fraternally,CA Bill Patterson

To CloseI would like to thank Jane Schraft, Captain

Bob Burgess, Barb Schilling (ALPA MSP), and the Air Wisconsin MEC for their support of this committee. Without their service and dedication to this pilot group, our contract could not provide the security and quality of life that we came to expect after our last round of negotiations. Remember to fly the contract and continue to bring issues that you face on the line to your union. This is your union and your contract—this is what ALPA is all about! After June, I will be focusing 100 percent of my attention on the Negotiating Committee under the leadership of F/O Mark Lockwood. We look forward to ensur-ing the continued success of this pilot group with the next contract!

A Toast to the Future

This will be my last sub-mission as the ARW Griev-ance chairman, as my term ends in August. In June, the ARW MEC will elect a new chairman for a two-year term. He or she will be responsible for contract enforcement and ensur-ing that timelines are met in the contract. It seems fitting to write a letter to welcome my successor to this committee.

12

By Mark LockwoodF/O, DCA

ARW Negotiating Committee Chairman

Since the last issue of The Wiss-key, your Ne-gotiating Committee has had three meetings with the Air Wisconsin management team to discuss how future opportunities will be pur-sued. These meetings were authorized by the MEC and were at the company’s expense. The MEC did not believe it was in our best interest to pay for this type of meeting after AWAC requested a 16 percent wage concession last fall. The MEC did not see any potential return on investment from these meetings.

For the purposes of this update, it is not necessary to rehash every detail from the ap-proximately 20 hours of face-to-face discus-sion, but I would like to focus on a few of the main points. Attending these meetings for the company were Jim Rankin, Joel Kuplack, and Bob Frisch. Representing ALPA were Joe El-lis, Bill Patterson, Bob Burgess, Jane Schraft (ALPA contract administrator), Marcia Eu-banks (ALPA economics and financial analyst), and me.

Throughout these meetings, we discussed different ways to pursue additional flying op-portunities and how our pilots measure up against those of other carriers. The bottom line of all of the scenarios contemplated by management was to propose lower pay rates in the pilots’ contract. In support of its posi-tion, management presented the Negotiating Committee with data that the company had generated by comparing our pilot contract to our competitors. They compared us, and all the other fee-for-departure airlines, to the lowest-rate “industry leader” (their term), Trans States. The company’s data portrayed us as the second most expensive airline, next to ExpressJet (the airline that won the United RFP), in terms of labor rates.

However, and this is a big however, AWAC’s data did not include all of the data points necessary to calculate pilot cost per block hour. Calculating pilot cost per block hour is the norm in the industry and is nearly universally embraced. The reason AWAC did not, and does not, want to use all of the data is that when

all of the data are used, our pilot costs turn out to be less expensive than most other carriers’ pilot costs. AWAC’s data did not include training or benefit costs, which are both “big ticket” items. Ad-ditionally, productivity was not factored in at all. AWAC’s training costs are extraordinarily low because we have just one equipment type, and our training is far more abbreviated than the training footprint at most other carriers. We don’t know how the benefit costs compare exactly, but clearly, although we do have a good pilot contract, we enjoy certain economies, with the result that our pilot costs are below most others, and that should be seen as good news by all. Rather than affirmatively addressing this, company personnel continue to publish half the story and focus exclusively on their view that our pilots cost too much.

With respect to the pilots, it’s just not true. The data we used to substantiate our conclusions are the very same data that our company—along with all of the other FFDC carriers—provides to the Department of Transportation (DOT). Stated another way, we are using the company’s data to draw our conclusions, not some separate data set of our own. Significantly, the data reported by the DOT also shows that AWAC is earning industry-leading profits. The charts presenting the DOT data follow this article on page 16.

Management’s argument that the employ-ees, and especially the pilots, are the reason that we cannot grow is fundamentally flawed. ExpressJet’s labor rates and costs are higher than ours, yet they won the United RFP we all wanted. That our pilot contract is the reason we can’t grow is simply a fiction that manage-ment is trying to use to reduce our pay further. The company is, in fact, making a very com-fortable living on the US Airways code-share agreement—to the tune of about $1 million in profit per week with virtually no risk. Why would they want to grow in a recessionary economy when they could wait until good times are upon us again?

In October, we will regain control of our futures, and our future is bright, much brighter than Air Wisconsin would like us to believe. Please read the next issue of THE X-RAY on the company’s 2015 problem.

With respect to the pilots, it’s just not

true.

13

Note: In an effort to better understand all areas of our company, we asked Scott Kirk (chief steward, PHL Mx) for some insight into the current affairs of the Maintenance Department. As many of you know, they are currently in negotiations/mediation with the company.

ASA data shown for TME 2Q09, as 3Q09 data contained errors.Source: DOT Form 41

Total Pilot Cost per Block Hour50-Seat Jet Equipment Only

TME 3Q 2009

Submitted by Adam Novish

During the most recent AFA–AWAC negotiations session, the AFA Negotiat-ing Committee continued to play “catch-up” with their Administrative Manual. They were able to reach revised Tentative Agreements (T/As) on Sections 4–Grievances and 5–System Board of Adjustment. However, they were not able to reach a TA on a new Section 23–Conduct of Union Business, and this section joined their list of growing deadlocked sections, which currently includes Sections 12–Training, 14–Leaves of Absence, and 17–Filling of Vacancies. (See updated status chart at www.arwafa.com/negotiations.htm.)

Management has not yet responded to the AFA’s Section 26–Safety pro-posal and is still continuing their research on Section 18–Uniforms as well. Management has requested that the AFA Negotiating Team attend a presenta-tion from a vendor of Preferential Bidding System (PBS). The AFA negotiating committee has not, however, engaged in any negotiations over PBS.

Sadly, management continues to demand concessions.

The AFA Negotiations Team is: Juli Biggar, MEC President

Adam Novish, Negotiating Committee Member

Jill Hoffman, Negotiating Committee Member

Mark L. Littleton, AFA-CWA Sr. Staff Negotiator

AFA Negotiations Update

Pre-Tax Margin TME 3Q 2009

Source: Form 41 Data

Maintenance Negotiations SummaryMaintenance negotiations continued in mediation under mediator Victoria Gray on April 12, 13, and 14, in Charlotte, North Carolina. The mediator led the parties in discussions concerning open economic issues (pay, etc.). Although little progress was made during this round of talks and both parties’ positions remain far apart, the two sides did achieve tentative agreements on two noneconomic articles.

Scott KirkChief Steward, PHL MxLocal Lodge 2575 Vice President

14

AFA EAPBy Stefanee Steffenhagen

FA, DCAARW FA EAP Chairman

Hello, ALPA members. We at AFA EAP/Pro Standards are here for the flight attendants as you are for your pilots. From time to time, everyone experiences personal or work-related problems. Sometimes these problems can overwhelm our normal coping strategies. Support from a trained peer or a referral to a mental health professional may prove helpful.

The AFA EAP helps members and their families and partners deal with concerns that affect them both on and off the job. The AFA EAP is strongly committed to the health, safety, and well-being of all of its members.

We would like to remind or inform you that if a problem or disagreement arises with a flight attendant, we are here to help resolve the problem. Please think about calling us before you get management involved.

By Todd Hannemann Captain, ORF

ARW R&I Chairman

Mitch Madison, an R&I (retirement and insurance) trustee, retired this past March, and the MEC elected Carl Fleming to replace him.

As most of you are aware, 401(k) union dues checks were sent to the pilot group by ALPA National. If you have not received your refund check, contact your MEC representative. The R&I Committee is not involved in the refund check process.

We are still waiting to hear from ALPA National about the R&I Committee sign-ing off on the TradeLink agreement. For those who are unfamiliar with the TradeLink agreement, it is a brokerage account in which a pilot could invest, at a fee, outside of the lineup that we have for our 401(k). Part of the current holdup with this option is finding an insurance carrier to provide liability insurance for the account. We hope to learn more about this soon.

EAP MEC ChairDCAStefanee Steffenhagen703-659-3879stefwho@cox.net DCARobin Wyatt252-202-8007robinwyatt1@msn.com ORFJuli Biggar757-513-1504Juli4400@hotmail.com

15

By Ryan von TrappCaptain, RDU

ARW Training and Testing Chairman

Instructor FeedbackAll instructors at Air Wisconsin are selected based on their experience, professionalism, and desire to teach. In short, our instructors like being instructors and take their role very seriously.

That being said, there are times when a pilot will have a very valid reason to take issue with the conduct of a line check, simulator training event, distance learning, or ground train-ing event. When that occurs, I often hear about these events through word of mouth or hearsay.

When I bring training issues to the training management’s attention, the usual “who, what, when, where, and why” ques-tions are asked. I am not normally able to answer all of those questions, because the pilots involved did not document the issue. I am told that the main reason these issues are not documented is that the pilots involved fear retaliation from the Flight Training Department.

I cannot emphasize enough that our instructors take their jobs very seriously, and are open to critique that will allow them to improve themselves as professionals. Retaliation from an instructor during a training event does not exist, and is not tolerated by training management.

Personally, I want to know if someone does not like the way I conducted a training event so that I can avoid the same issue in the future. I feel very comfortable saying that our other instructors feel the same way.

The flight training managers always forward feedback to in-structors (bad or good). Anytime we have an issue with an instruc-tor pilot, that instructor is made aware of the issue and counseled on how the situation can be better handled in the future.

That being said, nothing can be done about undocumented issues with training events. The main reason is that any issue with a specific instructor cannot be resolved based on a one-sided story. We need to have the pilot discuss the issue with the training manager or instructor. This is the same method that is used when handling professional standards cases—because a one-sided story seldom yields true understanding and change for both parties.

Issues that are more general in nature (not specific to one instructor) need to be documented but can remain anonymous to training management. Those types of issues are usually presented to the instructor group during one of our meetings, and not to a particular instructor.

For example, we had several situations where LCAs were stating something to the effect of “just so that we are clear, I can unsat you for this training event” just prior to a line check.

Well, that pretty much made the cockpit a very uncomfortable place for the pilots just prior to pushing off the gate.

I mentioned this to Gregg Syring, and he implemented a new procedure for LCAs to not bring up that fact of life prior to a line check. The new procedure was then discussed during an LCA conference call. During the call, we discovered that the issue traced back to the LCAs’ desire to clarify some of the procedures involved with the new line checking program and was not intended to frighten anyone. This was a good ex-ample of pilot feedback making a positive change and learning experience for our instructor group.

We generally do not hear of many issues with training. When they do occur, I want you to feel comfortable discussing those issues with the Training and Testing Committee so that we can gather data and present it in a meaningful way to the Flight Training Department. The more data we have collected to show trends in pilot feedback, the easier it is for the Training and Testing Committee to make a case for change.

If you have any questions or issues about training events, please contact me or Judd Brinkman, and we will be happy to assist you. We are establishing a training feedback form on the ARW Training and Testing Committee website in order to make data collection easier. In the meantime, just e-mail ARWtraining@alpa.org if you have any questions, suggestions, or issues with training.

Training UpdateWe are planning one final new-hire class of six pilots in

May and then no additional training for the foreseeable future. Captain upgrades appear to be finished for a while as well. At-trition can change this plan.

We have generally had success with our pilots going through training right now. Every pilot we have hired has come from another airline or been a furlough recall. We have recruited pilots from airlines such as Comair, Mesa, go!, Lynx, Dynamic Aviation, USA3000, and several others. The pilot experience levels have varied, but we are seeing a lot of pilots with 4,000-plus hours and several type ratings come through our front door.

Mike Melotte has been completely removed from teaching ground school so that he can focus his efforts on developing the AQP program. With any luck, we will conduct our first AQP training events about one year from now.

The IT Department is spearheading a program to purchase a common authoring tool for distance learning to be used among all departments. We have decided on a product and plan to develop the fourth-quarter training with it. This will enhance your training experience during recurrent training, as well as during new-hire or upgrade events.

A big reason for the new product is that we want to share content among our departments. For example, wouldn’t it be good if Maintenance Control was in charge of teaching the Dispatch and Flight Training Departments about maintenance?

16

By Dave WilcoxCaptain, DCA

ARW Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman

Duty. Honor. Country. These three simple words can have very complex meanings, par-ticularly for those who serve or have served in the armed forces of the United States of America. People serve in the military for many different reasons. Some serve for the training and educational opportunities. Some serve for the job security and associated benefits. Some serve because they feel called to duty and the need to serve our country. My guess would be that most serve due to a combination of these factors, but the common thread, regardless of the reason for military service, is the signifi-cant commitment and sacrifice required of the military member and his or her family while serving our country under arms—particularly during times of armed conflict. Let’s face it: no other profession requires you to lay your life on the line 24/7. Military members take a solemn oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic. They take this obligation freely, without mental reservation or purpose of eva-sion, etc. This is pretty heady stuff—definitely nothing to be taken lightly!

As the operations tempo of our armed forces has increased this past decade, so has the need for our National Guard and Reserve components to actively participate in executing the military component as it relates to National Security issues. The Guard and Reserve are now an integral part in our nation’s war against terrorism around the globe. They equip, train, and deploy alongside our active duty forces, resulting in extended calls to active duty.

ALPA recently recognized that a significant number of members are currently reservists, guardsman, recalls to active duty, or retirees from military service. Thus was born AL-PA’s Veterans Affairs Subcommittee

under the Professional Development Group, a newly formed group at ALPA National created to address the ongoing needs of its member-ship. The Veterans Affairs Committee (VAC) actually falls under the Membership Committee. The VAC’s primary responsibility is to provide guidance and support for service veteran mem-bers of ALPA in the many areas that affect both active and inactive veterans. Through ALPA’s committee website, members are able to access information on government policies that affect veterans, such as the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, or USERRA. This legislation gov-erns how companies are required to deal with reservist employees as well as Department of Defense (DOD), Department of Labor (DOL), and U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) policies that apply to ALPA members who are veterans.

Our country honors and reveres the service and sacrifice of our military veterans. Serving in the armed forces of the United States is one of the most respected and honorable professions that exists. ALPA and your ARW MEC are doing their part to support our veteran membership with the establishment of the VAC at ALPA National and at the MEC level. If you are a veteran and are in the service of Air Wisconsin as a pilot under the provisions of our Collective Bargaining Agreement, know that you have a voice for your issues. We are here for you, and we thank you for your service.

Introduction to the Veterans Affairs Committee

BIODave Wilcox retired in 1996 from the U.S. Air Force after 24 years of active duty. He logged more than 2,600 hours as a B-52 and EC-135 aircrew member of which 1,086 hours were during combat over Southeast Asia. He was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross and seven Air Medals for his service during the Vietnam War.

Dave holds an MBA and has accumulated more than 15,000 hours of flight time. We are happy that Dave volun-teers his time for the VA Committee.

Let’s face it: no other profession

requires you to lay your life on the

line 24/7.

17

BIODave Wilcox retired in 1996 from the U.S. Air Force after 24 years of active duty. He logged more than 2,600 hours as a B-52 and EC-135 aircrew member of which 1,086 hours were during combat over Southeast Asia. He was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross and seven Air Medals for his service during the Vietnam War.

Dave holds an MBA and has accumulated more than 15,000 hours of flight time. We are happy that Dave volun-teers his time for the VA Committee.

Spring MusingsBy Ken Reinert

F/O, DCAThe Wiss-Key Photographer

ARW Communications Committee

First off, I’d like to give thanks to Gideon Berkowitz (current Wiss-key editor) for being in PHL in the midst of the February snow dump, and so being able to give us last issue’s cover photo. The best I could come up with was a shot on the DCA ramp shortly after the snow started . . . and well before any of us would realize just how much of the white stuff would fall before it would end. The really, really, really good thing is, I wasn’t in PHL during the storm!

I happened to be in the DCA crew room the day the winter Wiss-key was delivered, and as I was helping Richard Swindell (Communications Committee chairman) distribute them in the v-files, he mentioned that there was some consid-eration of running a color cover for this edition. OK, now to find someplace where one can get some springtime color (I was thinking flowers, since flowers are a springtime icon) along with the usual items (airplane, airport—the typical things). How many airports have nice flower beds on the air side of the airport? If anyone knows of one, pass it along, as I’m curious! With an April 15 deadline, not a whole lot was in bloom. I was thinking cherry blossoms, but none are close enough to DCA to give anything usable, certainly nothing shot from the District side of the river.

The photo I originally submitted for this issue’s cover showed one of our RJs on final for runway 19 at DCA. I had made a trip to Gravelly Point Park on a Saturday morning (a rarity for me, as I’m usually flying on weekends) to get some potential cover material for The Wiss-key. Unfortunately, my new camera wasn’t performing up to par, so I made a second trip the following Saturday for a reshoot, with much better weather. (What, two Saturdays off in a row? Wow!) The original photo had, of 70 possibilities, aircraft 449 flying over a group of people in the park, which I thought was a good representation of spring—people out and about with the winter’s snow nowhere in sight.

As this issue was being assembled, the idea came about to feature 449 on the cover. As most of you know, this is the airplane in our fleet that is exhibiting “a bit of paint erosion.” This

particular shot was taken on March 21; it’s since lost more paint and is showing more areas of primer and bare metal.

We are seeing more trip pairings with long duty days and shorter overnights, an increase in the number of junior man calls and fewer trip drop requests being approved (although we are sufficiently staffed, the company says). In concert, the FAA and NTSB are concerned about “professionalism in aviation,” as we are seemingly spending too much time on our lap-tops and cell phones and not enough time flying the airplane. I know that when I’m pushing 13 hours on duty getting ready to fly leg seven, I can’t even focus clearly enough to see my phone, let alone peck away on it. Whatever happened to our flight time and duty time changes that were, oh, so important, Captain Babbitt? Yet while we are expected to uphold our end of the bargain and deliver our charges safely to their destinations—and I don’t advocate anyone doing anything less—we have to do it while trying to not be embarrassed flying what probably more than one passenger has wondered is an airworthy airplane. Granted, it is just paint, but what im-age are we presenting to the customers? Public perception can be so easily swayed.

In case anyone is wondering . . . Buehler? Buehler? The camera and lens were sent off for service and are now working as intended. I was beginning to think it was a problem with the user. Whew!

* * *Allow me to change gears a bit now, and talk about communications—listening to someone and actually hearing what they are saying. I’m going to tell a tale of a fateful trip (cue in Gilligan’s Island theme) that I flew not too long ago. It was a four-day into which I swapped on day two. On that day I picked up the trip in CLT, where we subsequently had to deal with thunderstorms and their associated delays. Our arrival into HPN for the overnight was late enough that we ended up with our minimum eight hours behind the door, and our departure flight the next morning—a deadhead to PHL—was delayed accordingly.

Day three was a six-leg day, where we never got out of the weather system impacting the Northeast. The last leg was a short flight, PHL–ISP, but we were all tired from the minimum rest

continued on page 18

18

overnight and dealing with the weather. Then we looked at the weather in ISP: winds 090@31G50, three miles visibility, rain, and a 1,200' ceiling. Well, it’s not VFR, but then it’s not exactly hard IFR, and it is legal to Dispatch. Let’s disregard the fact that PHL was getting a bunch of airplanes that normally would be going to JFK, right down the road from ISP, but weren’t getting in. Where does one park a bunch of unscheduled transients in Philly? Wherever there is room: on Atlantic’s ramp, on Taxiway Echo, on the south cargo ramp, you name it.

The captain and I discuss the weather. It’s not exactly what we feel like coping with given our physical and mental states. In retrospect, it isn’t exactly what I’d like to fly if well rested either, and I’m not one to shy away from a good (but safe) challenge. What does Dispatch say when we call? “Give it a try, and if you can’t get in, just return to Philly.” Huh? Ya gotta be yanking my chain . . . that is something I would never have considered telling one of my crews to do (yes, I have sat in the dispatcher’s hot seat for a brief stint, at some bygone airline with the Blue Ridge call sign).

To cut to the chase, we boarded up, and we launched. And we made it in, turbulence and airspeed fluctuations and all notwithstanding, prepped to bail out as soon as the wind-shear alert triggered. All this while JFK arrivals are flat-out refusing to even attempt an approach. Afterward, the captain reflects on the experience and feels that maybe we should not have left PHL. I look back and vow that the next time I feel that strongly that I’m not fit to fly, I’ll make the phone call after I pull my bags off the plane, to stick to my decision. Yes, I did talk to ATW. And, yes, I gave in and continued on, as I am sure many others here have done.

What can we learn from this? Communication. We need to listen to what the person sitting in the other seat

is saying—it doesn’t make a difference how many stripes we are wearing. It might be the captain’s signature on the release, but both pilots’ certificates are at stake. We need to listen to what the flight attendant is saying—last time I checked, the FA was an integral part of the crew. Is it a situation where the whole crew is in the red on rest and pushing 12, 13, 14 hours on duty? Is it a case where one crewmember is not feeling well, or has external stress that is impacting his or her performance? By our nature, we are compelled to carry on and push ourselves to complete that last leg into the overnight.

We all know what the summer flying season entails, with the majority of our flying in the Northeast. We will also continue to see trips programmed with short overnights—including numerous reduced-rest RONs—coupled with long duty days. We also need to keep in mind what the ALPA Code of Ethics and a basic sense of self-preservation tell us: that safety is our first and foremost responsibility. Seven legs in one day with good VFR weather all around is one thing. That same day, shooting ILS approaches with RVR visibility all day is a totally different creature. Are you truly fit to safely fly that last leg, knowing it’s going to be yet another ILS approach into UNV, or BGM, with terrain and wind shear?

Only you can make that assessment. Talk to your crew-members—they may be feeling the same and just don’t want to voice their opinion because they may think you’re the one who will “carry the team.” And to the first officers: even though 14 CFR § 91.3 states that “the pilot in command of an aircraft is directly responsible for, and is the final authority as to, the operation of that aircraft,” I have yet to fly with a captain who has not included his or her F/O in the decision-making loop. They can’t do that without communicating!

Enough on that . . . remember, fly safely out there.

* * *One closing note: anyone wishing to submit photos for The Wiss-key (or for use on the website, or wherever), send them to me and I will add them to our image catalog. The winter issue’s cover was taken with a cell phone camera. If you can, include some information about the photos, such as location, date, names of anyone in them. Don’t scale them down; native image size is best, as they can be reduced during the publishing process. We are always looking for content—and I can’t be ever-present across the system. (Thank the powers that be, and we’ll leave it at that!) My e-mail address is kreinert@speedbunny.net.

Musingscontinued from page 17

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19

By Richard Swindell Captain, DCA

Have you ever thought about getting into running but never made it out the door, or weren’t quite sure how to do it? Maybe the idea of taking to the street without a plan or goal is a little intimidating, or seems ineffective? Although I am an experienced runner, after being mostly indoors throughout the winter, I usually take a month or so to get back into a routine and in good shape—I never try to start off from where I left off in the fall. The idea is to build ability and confidence as well as to avoid injury.

The following training schedule is an effec-tive and enjoyable way for the novice as well as the experienced to get into running. It is designed to build your ability over a two-month period and is flexible enough to fit our airline schedules. Even if you’ve run regularly before, consider starting with week one, although an honest personal assessment might mean you’re good to start at week three or four. I generally start with week four, provided that I managed to remain active on elliptical or treadmill equipment during the winter months. If this is your first time running for a reason other than to catch a commute home, or if it’s been since middle school gym class that you last ran, please start with week one. Session time is indicated in parentheses, with an average time of 28 minutes.

Week one: Walk for six minutes, then jog at an easy pace for one minute. Repeat this three times. This session will take you 21 minutes to complete. Aim for three sessions during week one.

Week two: Walk for five minutes, then jog for two minutes. Repeat three times (21 minutes). Again, complete three sessions in week two.

Week three: Walk for three minutes, then jog for four minutes. Repeat four times (28 minutes). Aim for four sessions during the week.

Week four: Walk for two minutes, then jog for five minutes. Repeat four times (28 minutes). Try to complete four sessions this week.

Week five: Walk for two minutes, then jog for eight minutes. Repeat three times (30 minutes). At-tempt four sessions this week.

Week six: Walk for two minutes, then jog for nine minutes. Repeat three times (33 minutes). Aim for four sessions this week.

Week seven: Walk for one minute, then jog for 11 minutes. Repeat three times (36 minutes). Complete four sessions this week.

Week eight: Congratulations on making it to week eight! For your first run this week, try walking for five minutes to begin and end the workout, and run for 20 minutes in between. By the end of the week, try to run for 30 minutes without stopping.

Try running for 30 minutes four times a week.

You should feel significant improvement in your stamina and fitness level. Start looking for a local 5K to run in!

Things to RememberUse your breathing as your guide when run-

ning. You should be able to carry on a conversa-tion while running, and your breathing shouldn’t be heavy.

Don’t forget to drink water at the end of your workout to rehydrate. If it’s hot and humid, you should also drink some water (about 4–6 ounces) halfway through your workout.

Although an in-depth discussion regarding footwear is beyond the scope of this article, shoes do matter. Take some time to consider your footwear. You don’t need to wear a $200 pair of Saucony running shoes to be successful, but you do need to run in something decent. You wouldn’t accept an airplane with bald tires, and so you shouldn’t lace up your old, tired, tread-bare overnight sneakers to hit the pavement either. Visit your local running store or a dedicated and knowledgeable retailer and ask for a fitting and recommendations. Most reputable stores will complete a quick and cost-free analysis of your running style (via treadmill and video camera) and suggest an appropriate type of shoe. Your knees and feet will thank you. Socks matter, too—spend the $10 to get a pair that will help you avoid blisters!

One final tip regarding iPods and other media devices: Joggers are injured and killed every year while running and listening to music. They zone out and forget to check for traffic when crossing roads, or are unable to hear car horns or other warning devices and get hit. While I, too, enjoy listening to my iPod while I run, I always keep my head on the swivel and constantly scan for traffic. You should, too. Enjoy yourself, but be safe.

Get trained up during this quarter, and I’ll recommend a 10K training plan in the summer edition.

Thanks for reading, and good luck.

A Beginning or Returning Runner’s Training Schedule

20

By Michael StrombergCA, PHL

I have recently been involved in some-thing that has made me think about Air Wisconsin, what kind of company it is, and where it is going. When I was first hired here in 2001, Air Wisconsin was a family company. I knew that if I ever had a family crisis, Air Wisconsin would do everything it could to support me. I still think that Air Wisconsin does adhere to this philosophy; however, I have also seen some things that have fallen very short of this. A recent personal experience highlights this.

I had a four-day trip at the end of February. I had three carry-in days at the begin-ning of March, and when I bid that line, I knew I had a good chance of being used on the first two of those days because of integration. This would likely lead to six days in a row, but this isn’t out of the norm with the schedules we are seeing lately. When I received my final schedule, I was surprised at what I saw. I was scheduled on March 2 to fly one leg 3958 PHL–ELM at 1640 and then on March 3 to deadhead on Flight 3772 ELM–PHL at 1156. This trip would be worth six hours to me in pay because of the minimum-day credit for each day. It seemed like a waste of utilization, but that is why we have minimum-day credits in our contract, and if this is what was needed to fill the gap in integration, then I was happy to do it.

On the night of March 1, I noticed on Crew Self-Serve that a whole crew was deadheading from PHL to ELM on Flight 3958. This seemed to be redun-dant. I then checked the load of 3958. According to the hub, it was booked to 50 people. This would mean that there was a good chance that a revenue passen-ger (or three) would have to be bumped to get the deadheading crew on board.

I saw an opportunity. If I swapped with the deadheading captain so I was dead-heading, he could fly it, and I could waive both my deadheads. At least one less pas-senger would have to be bumped from the flight, and I could go home a day early. It wouldn’t cost Air Wisconsin one extra penny; in fact, it would save money in deadheads, hotels, and per diem. (OK, the hotel was probably already paid for, but I stand by the other two). I contacted the deadheading captain. He was happy to fly instead of riding in the back. I then contacted Crew Scheduling and was told

that in order to do this I would have to forfeit the pay.

This is where my frustra-tion started. Air Wisconsin scheduled something that at

the time probably seemed per-fectly reasonable but, due to what I

can only imagine turned out to be changes in the schedule, turned

into a multitude of unneces-sary deadheads and hotels. Then when I proposed an option to save Air Wisconsin money while still keeping my

pay relatively whole, I was told that in order to help Air Wisconsin

save money, I have to take less pay or not be able to

spend more time with my family. To me, this is simply incomprehensible.

The rationale I was given from Crew Scheduling

was that if I swapped with the deadheading crewmember, they

would get actual block time rather than the scheduled segment, so that might cost Air Wisconsin more. While this is true, the reverse is also true—instead of being paid the actual block time (potentially more than the scheduled if the flight takes longer than scheduled), I would only get the scheduled segment.

As a side note, the first officer in this situation also realized this redundancy at the gate before the flight. I don’t know

how long before the flight, but I do know it was before the plane showed up at the gate. Scheduling advised that they did not have the time to swap him and the deadheading F/O. And yes, believe it or not, the FA was scheduled to do the same unnecessary trip with an FA deadheading in the back.

Now imagine a second scenario, one where I point out this scheduling anomaly, and where Crew Scheduling says yes, this is crazy. In fact, it doesn’t make sense to have the F/O or the FA, who are also scheduled for the same absurd deadheads, do so when a crew is in the back of the plane. You’re released with pay, and enjoy the extra time with your family. What did it cost Air Wis-consin? Nothing. What would it have saved? Three hotel rooms, per diem for three crewmembers for 21 hours and 10 minutes, and three positive-space dead-heads. Also you would have made three crewmembers very happy and thankful that they work for the best airline in the industry that looks out not only for the airline but also for the well-being of its crews. This is the ultimate win-win situation.

It is with lingering conster-nation that I am writing this

story, because the second sce-nario obviously didn’t happen. Instead, I got a message from Jeff Griffith on my voice mail asking me how everything was

going and saying that they are making an attempt to call every pilot once a quarter. Well, I thought to my-self, this is the perfect time for that phone call, because I know that Air Wisconsin can and should do better; and if they are asking for my advice, what a better time to share it? So I called Jeff back. Of course, due to the

Dollars and Sense

He was happy to fly instead of riding in the back.

21

complex timing in our industry, he wasn’t available. But in the spirit of his phone call,

I decided to call Eddie Spry-Leverton. Due to more bad luck, he was unavailable also,

but he did promptly call back. I explained the situation, and he called Scheduling. In the end, he set it up so the other pilot

would fly PHL–ELM, and while I might or might not get paid for that flight, I would get

paid for the DH from ELM to PHL on the following day. I grudgingly agreed to this, mostly because I picked up a turn earlier in the day on March 2, and if I lost the pay for the leg to ELM, I wouldn’t be losing money, and the whole thing would just be a wash.

In the end, with Eddie Spry-Leverton’s help, I was paid for both deadheads and was able to go home, although it did take a month and a half to get the pay resolved. Nevertheless, I contend it should have never had to go any further than my pointing it out to Crew Scheduling and their being able to approve this. It both helps out the crew and saves the company money. Many thanks to Eddie Spry-Leverton for his assistance with this issue.

I’d also like to mention that Jeff did call me back, and I explained this situation to him as well. He also agreed that it seemed petty (my words, not Jeff ’s).

We keep hearing about how we need to save money and every dollar counts. So my question is sim-ply this—if Air Wisconsin is serious about saving money, why would they not take this opportunity to save money? It would be simple for management to give a directive to Crew Scheduling to approve these kinds of swaps in order to save money, and improve the employees’ quality of life. Even if it’s a last-minute trade, it saves the company money. And how long does it really take to swap a crewmember out in the computer? Even if the company only saves on per diem—they save money. On top of that, they get the added benefit of improved employee morale, something we desperately need in this industry and this company right now.

As we trudge onward, I have no doubt that this or some-thing similar will happen again, possibly to me or maybe to you. It is my hope that Air Wisconsin will simply stand by a real policy of saving money and helping crewmembers, even on short notice. It just makes sense. However, this does not currently seem to be the case. If you find yourself in this po-sition, professionally state your case and, if necessary, appeal it to a flight manager, and perhaps a reasonable arrangement can be made.

Editor’s note: As a result of a recently settled grievance matter, a pilot who is released from a deadhead that appeared on this Final Bid Award will receive full pay and credit (including minimum-day, if applicable) if he is granted his request to be released from the deadhead assignment.

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22

By Matt InkelF/O, DCA

TenetsWhen I was young, I began to ask myself the questions that plague us all: Where am I going? Do I have a purpose? Is there meaning to life? I didn’t have the answers. You can get lost trying to an-swer these questions. You can go crazy not knowing how things will turn out. Some people spend their whole lives trying to answer the above questions without being any closer to an answer than when they started.

I think the answers are unique to each individual. Instead of trying to find the solutions to such broad problems, I reframed the questions. I made them statements. Go somewhere, anywhere. Find a purpose. Create a meaning. When it comes down to it, the answers aren’t waiting out there to be found; they’re in you, waiting to be uncovered. Think of any person of consequence. A leader, an athlete, a philosopher—their best stories don’t include sitting alone, head in hand, contemplating day and night, waiting for inspiration to strike. People who make a difference make things happen—things don’t just happen to them. If you look closely at their lives, without exception, some principle, some guiding purpose compels them to search for an answer. Inevitably, they learn that some answers aren’t all they’re cracked up to be, but if you ask the right questions, sometimes you don’t need answers.

As it happens, I narrowed down a few core principles of my own. They help me when I feel lost or confused. I call them tenets.

n. An opinion, doctrine, or principle held as being true by a person or especially by an organization.

MoveEver had one of those days that

beg you to stay in and demolish a box

of cookies and watch a reality show marathon? Yeah, me neither. Seriously, when I get the urge to just veg out and do nothing, it takes everything I have to fight it and do something. That’s just the way I’m wired, but I can honestly tell you that I have never regretted doing something over nothing.

Last September good fortune struck. Two tickets to see the Red Sox at Fen-way Park dropped in my lap. They were free and I had the day off, but I had just finished a long trip and wanted to relax. I am a diehard Sox fan, but the little voice that says, “Hey, there’s always next time” still harassed me in the back of my mind. I would have to book a standby flight, dress in my slacks and tie, pack my rollerboard, book a motel room in Boston, etc. Would it really be worth the trouble?

My dad works about half the week in the Boston area, splitting time with southern Maine, where he lives. I called him up, and he happened to be in Boston that day. He was psyched when I told him about the tickets. That made up my mind to go. Why? I didn’t get to see my dad a lot growing up, and I have only really gotten to know him in the past 10 years. I took the tickets as a sign that I should take the day and go watch the game with him. It was our first baseball game together, and it turned out to be a great game. It was back and forth all nine innings, and in the bottom of the ninth the Sox hit a walk-off RBI single to end the game. I have never heard a stadium erupt like that. It was electrifying, and I got to share it with my dad. Not bad for our first game, and I never would have experienced it if I had taken a rain check. As it happens, I also learned that Logan has an hourly shuttle from Reagan, just like LaGuardia. Now I know, and it makes getting up north to see my dad an almost simple affair.

One of the things I do most often that makes me get up and move is exer-cise. Some days I don’t feel like working out, but I always feel better after I do.

The mental satisfaction that comes from challenging myself physically, combined with the physical feeling of releasing stress through exertion, always makes me feel better. Always. Some of my best days in the gym or on my bike or running around my neighborhood have come when I didn’t really feel like getting off the couch. I always tell people who say too many obstacles prevent them from exercising that if they wait for the perfect time, they’ll never get out there. Sometimes you just have to move. The first step is the most important.

Near the end of The Shawshank Redemption, Andy (Tim Robbins) tells his friend Red (Morgan Freeman) that you either “get busy living, or get busy dying.” Damn right. It doesn’t have to be exercise or baseball games with family that gets you moving. Travel, a part-time job, painting, you name it. Anything can be your reason to get going.

Grow

What have you done lately to make yourself a better person? Is there some-thing that interests you? Something that holds your attention and won’t let go every time you see it, think it, or feel it? Something you’re dying to know? Or do? Or see? Why haven’t you pursued it? What’s holding you back? Fear? Indolence? Time? These are all possi-bilities, and only you know the answer. Unfortunately, you can’t grow without overcoming your obstacles. This usually means effort, and some of us are ter-rified by it. Most people live their lives doing whatever is necessary to maintain their status quo.

I have an insatiable curiosity. When-ever I want to know something, I’m relentless in finding out more. I love the Internet for that reason. I can usually find out what I want to know with a few clicks. Recipes, raw data, trivia, famous quotes, it’s all there and usually not hard to find. When I want to get a little depth, I read. Books and magazines are a god-send to me. With so much information,

Head in the Clouds

23

continued on page 24

I sometimes feel like Johnny 5 from the movie Short Circuit. Input, input, input! I love having the right information. You flying the line who have had a conversa-tion with me, especially if it was about politics, know I’m chock-full of stats and figures, polls, stories, and quotes. A consequence of having good informa-tion is that it makes conversations so much more rewarding. I usually never have to resort to saying, “I don’t know” when talking about the things I’m pas-sionate about. It may sound like work to do all that reading and researching, but for me it’s fun, and the work pays off. The other day, I was talking with a captain I disagree with politically, and we came up with an alterna-tive to recent legislation just because we’re able to point/counterpoint each other intelligently until we found a reasonable solution.

The captain I’m flying with this month is related to a hero of the War of 1812. How do I know that? A couple years ago I noticed a terrific lack of litera-ture on 1812. I never really learned about it in school, not like the Revolutionary or Civil War, and something—I don’t remember what it was—sparked my in-terest in it. I’m a history buff, so this was right up my alley. I went to the bookstore and found a great book, 1812: The War that Forged a Nation, by Walter Borneman. I’m rereading it now. I never realized until reading it that first time how vul-nerable we were in the years following the Revolution. We were still feeling our way around as a country, trying to grow into a player on the world stage. Vast territories to the west of the Mississippi were unexplored and needed mapping after Napoleon sold us the Louisiana Territory. We constantly clashed with Britain over Canada and with Spain over the Southwest. British ships constantly kidnapped American sailors at sea and put them to work on their vessels. The practice was called impressments. It’s the war that gave us our national anthem and a naval hero, Oliver Hazard Perry. It turns out Nate Perry is one of his descendants; he brought it up last week

when he saw me reading the book, and I never would have known that had I not been curious about history. It led to a great conversation later at 28,000 feet.

Growth improves our lives and con-nects us with others. As much as we may deny it, change is inevitable, but we can come closer to making it work for us if we’re ready for it. Ever heard of being in the right place at the right time? It sounds like chance, but usually people who find themselves in this situation make the most of it because they took the initiative to do something that led them there in

the first place. I once got a job because one of my flight students was opening a busi-ness that I was interested in. I wouldn’t shut up about it, so he offered me a position as his right-hand man. He just offered me the job one day, so to someone on the

outside it would seem I was in the right place at the right time, but the reality was I have always been keenly interested in owning my own business. I constantly picked his brain until he saw I had more than just a fleeting desire for business. He recognized that I had taken the initiative to learn about business.

Goethe said, “He who moves not forward, goes backward.”

SeekWe should all be looking for some-

thing. What is it you seek? I at first wrote down the word “find,” but that didn’t seem quite right. Finding could mean stumbling upon something by accident. When you apply movement and growth to a search, there are no real accidents. Seeking means much more than finding; seeking is a journey, and the best lives are just that. True adventure comes from the search.

There’s a great documentary about big-wave surfing called Riding Giants. It chronicles the sport from its early days in the 1950s to today. It tells the story of the people who set out to conquer the biggest waves they could find. The last segment covers the latest phase of riding the biggest waves by a group of innovators in Hawaii, led by Laird Ham-

ilton. They surf an area off Maui called Pe’ahi (Jaws). Pe’ahi lies a few miles out to sea and was previously inaccessible until Laird and his friend Dave Kalama invented a way to surf those waves, which can reach heights of 70 feet and speeds of over 40 miles an hour. An offshore shelf on the ocean floor causes these enormous waves. The reason this place is called Jaws is that these monster waves break on a section of coastline that is littered with giant, razor-sharp rocks covering an area several hundred yards wide. How to surf these waves?

Laird and Co. surfed the biggest waves they could find all over the world, and Jaws was the biggest challenge left. They had all taken up surfing at a young age and had surfed all the waves the planet had to offer, except for the break at Jaws. The problem at Jaws is this—you can’t simply paddle your way out to the break because the waves are too strong and the rocks are too numerous to ef-ficiently get around. If you did manage to paddle out past the rocks, the waves would sweep you back onto the rocks, slicing you to ribbons. If you could get out to the waves by helicopter or boat, your friends would have to retrieve you before you slammed into the rocks, and a helicopter or boat simply lack the maneuverability to get you safely away from the rocks.

The answer came one day when the bunch was watching wakeboarders. Wakeboarding involves being towed behind a jet ski for propulsion and be-ing strapped to a board. The surfers immediately knew what they had to do. Laird fastened straps to a surfboard and towed out to the waves at Jaws behind a jet ski. It worked. The straps provided stability during the tow and ride, and the jet ski was maneuverable enough to tow the surfers into the offshore break and then quickly retrieve them before they hit the rocks. Laird and his friends had invented a new type of surfing and are now sometimes referred to as “the strapped crew.”

These innovators began surfing at a young age (movement). They surfed all over the world, in all types of conditions,

Growth im-proves our lives and connects us

with others.

24

getting better at each one and as surfers overall (growth). They then channeled what they already knew and applied it to an existing sport to create something unbelievable. It’s exciting to see these guys on film tackling waves as big as buildings and living to tell the tale. It must be even more exhilarating to actually perform this stunt. I bet these guys have never felt more alive than when they are riding a surfboard at 40 miles per hour on a wall of water that could kill them. This resolve, all because they searched for something novel and exciting to them. They break a lot of boards and lose jet skis all the time, but to say you’re one of one or so people in the world with the ability to ride giants is surely worth it, and since then they’ve invented another type of surfboard with a hydroplane attached to the bottom that raises the board out of the water, allowing them to go even faster.

What will it be that drives you?

iPod PlaylistAs spring gives way to summer, so should the last vestiges of winter weight give “weigh” to beach body perfection. OK, maybe not perfection, but perhaps this hard-driving playlist will provide some additional motivation to get you out there and burn a few extra pounds and keep you in the good graces of your local AME.

“The Pretender” Foo Fighters“Animal I Have Become” Three Days Grace“Bad Girlfriend” Theory of a Deadman“Sex Type Thing” Stone Temple Pilots“Fake It” Seether“For You” Staind“Click Click Boom” Saliva“Be Free” Papa Roach“Check My Brain” Alice in Chains“Pretty Handsome Awkward” The Used“Inside the Fire” Disturbed“The Fight Song” Marilyn Manson“Sound of Madness” Shinedown“Get Up, Get Out!” Godsmack“Headstrong” Trapt“I’m Shipping Up to Boston” Dropkick Murphys“Walk” Pantera

Run time: 1 hour

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back—concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth that ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.”

—Goethe

Sudoku puzzle 1 solution.

Head in the Cloudscontinued from page 23

Crossword puzzle solution.

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By Joel BarmanF/O, PHL

Chairman and F/O Rep ARW Council 51

I am a 40-something-year-old adult who grew up in the late ’70s and early ’80s, and so, as I sat in front of my computer for quite some time, unable to think of anything to write for this issue of The Wiss-key, a classic rock song came to mind—“On the Other Side,” by Kansas. It opens this way:

“The empty page before me now, the pen is in my hand, the words don’t come so easy, but I’m trying.”

A few more classic rock songs came to mind, and they are what I will base this article on: REO Speedwagon’s “Riding the Storm Out,” Scorpion’s “Rock You Like a Hurricane,” The Doors’ “Riders on the Storm,” and Stevie Ray Vaughn’s “Couldn’t Stand the Weather.” We are indeed riding a big storm out, getting rocked like a hurricane. We are riders on the storm as we are trying to get through a situation we can’t stand at times.

Riders on

the Storm

I am referring not to the bane of East Coast weather or the Northeast ATC tie-ups, but rather to the storm in the aviation industry and the subsequent downturn. Many of our senior pilots have seen this situation before, in which there is stagnation and little movement for quite a while. It is very unpleasant going to work and not knowing what the future holds. Many wonder, will that junior F/O or junior CA who has been on reserve for a few years ever get off reserve? Will those junior lineholders ever see movement to being able to hold decent schedules and bid for those certain days off they want, or need? Will those pilots who have been downgraded get back to the left seat anytime soon? Will those senior F/Os who want to upgrade ever do so? Or quite simply, will we ever see reasonably commutable schedules? This is a really wild storm we are all trying to ride out.

Ask any senior pilot here about the late 1980s and early 1990s—sometimes the rough times, the stagnation, and the reduced flying can last for a very long time. A lot depends on the economy and how quickly it recovers. When people are out of work, travel and vacations are the first luxuries families cut back on. Additionally, with unemployment so high, there are fewer business travelers—the airlines’ bread and butter. The more quickly Americans go back to work, the faster leisure and business travel will bounce back and US Airways will add more flying capacity. Unfortunately, our flying has been cut by the current soft demand on air travel. The major carriers have pilots on furlough and consequently are not hiring. Without attrition, there is stagnation. No attrition leads to no movement, and that is a storm we are all trying to ride out.

I have spoken to many pilots here at Air Wisconsin, and I am well aware there is a lot of discontent, and even anger. Many have told me, “Had I known this would happen, I never would have gotten into this profession.” Unfortunately, furloughs, downgrading, displacements, and lack of movement for a few years are the unpleasant side of this profession. But look at it this way: every profession has its unpleasant-ness. Police officers face potentially life-threatening situations, as do firefighters. Even school teachers face the unpleasantness of low pay. Those in the banking business face potential layoffs as there is more and more consolidation.

This period, known as the Great Recession, has seen a huge and violent storm that we and everyone else have been trying to weather since December 2007. At this point, I doubt it can get any worse—hopefully we have hit rock bottom. The only place the economy can go is up, and as the economy improves, the state of our industry will improve.

26

By Captain (Ret.) Gary Miller ARW 401(k) Administrator

What audits are required and when? Any 401(k) Plan with more than 100 participants must be audited annually by an independent auditor, fol-lowed by a filing with the IRS of the audit and plan financials. A Form 5500 (resembling your 1040 form) provides the IRS all plan activity for the preceding year. We also must provide the IRS with a financial statement, which includes beginning- and end-of-year accounting as well as the amount of money invested in each of our T. Rowe Price (TRP) funds.

The annual 401(k) audit begins in January for the preceding year and must be submitted to the IRS by July 31, although we sometimes must file for an extension until October 15. Our audit fees for 2009 will be $6,800, and we hope to have the Form 5500 and financials filed on time. AWAC does not pay for our annual audits; fees for the audit are assessed to all pilots with an account balance.

Although it’s nice to say that the audit begins in January, it never really gets started until April. Each year, the auditor will send out a list of re-quired documents for each of the three parties involved in providing data for the audit. For the first three months it’s TRP, AWAC, and me (the administrator) gathering data. TRP completes its Plan Account Report (Certified Trust) and usually provides our auditor with the trust report and any other data that he or she has requested. The auditor also provides AWAC HR with a list of payroll files for review. On March 23–25 of this year, the auditor met in Appleton with AWAC for his review of the payroll files and the individual pilot participant election deferrals and

the transmission of those deferrals to TRP for deposit.

With the data files the auditor re-ceived from TRP, AWAC, and me, the next step is to randomly select participant files for closer review. The auditor has the op-tion of asking any of the three parties

to provide additional information. An example: on April 1, the auditor requested that I provide him with: (1) documents for terminated partici-pants and supporting documentation showing the payout amount; (2) selected participants’ withdrawals with documentation of the re-quest and supporting documentation showing the payout amount; (3) new 401(k) loans, loan documentation for the loan noting the inter-est rate, payment terms, and loan amount; (4) selected participants with outstanding loan balances on 12/31/09, and documentation providing the loan payments made in 2009; and (5) selected participants with investment allocation documentation showing what the participants directed as their choices for invest-ment makeup.

Although this is a “limited-scope audit,” it is a progressive audit, and the auditor may continue to follow through in any area that he or she sees as a potential problem. Limited-scope audit simply means that the audit is done at the Plan level and is not intended to provide an audit for each individual pilot. The auditor will review our beginning-year balance and end-year balance and compare them with employer contributions. He or she may review individual payroll files to see if those amounts agree with the amount deposited at TRP. Many other areas are selected at random.

When the audit is completed, a draft is pro-vided to AWAC, Deloitte Tax LLP, and me for review before filing. If everything is approved, Deloitte will provide us with a draft of the IRS Form 5500 for signatures. Signatures on the 5500 forms are Stan Peterson-Gauthier’s (AWAC VP of Financial Planning and Analysis) and mine (401[k] administrator).

The Real AuditA “real audit” occurs when we receive a let-

ter from the IRS that notifies us that it will audit our plan for a specific year. We have learned that the IRS is stepping up its audit of retirement plans, most probably due to the economy’s col-lapse and the possibility of employer noncompli-ance. In the past, our 401(k) retirement plan was audited for plan years 1997 and 2004. Although we will anticipate another IRS audit in the near future, our 401(k) Plan is in compliance with the Department of Labor and the IRS, and no problems are anticipated.

401(k) Audits

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By Matthew L. ChadwickCaptain, DCA

While we are regularly updated on the Big Picture, for many of us here at Air Wis-consin our daily experiences are better captured by a point of view that is closer to our domiciles, closer to line operations, closer to the gates than half of our crew rooms, and, if at all possible, closer to a Five Guys hamburger. That’s why I have been invited to share with you one pilot’s experience as we catch a glimpse of life on the line—I bring you: The Little Picture. (Editor’s Note: Because, occasionally, it’s actually a little bit funny. Very occasionally—and only a little bit. Who really wants to hear about your Vegas vacation anyway?).

MC: What do you mean, I’m funny? Wiss-key editor: It’s funny, you know. It’s a good story. It’s funny. You’re a funny guy. MC: What do you mean? You mean the way I talk? What? Wiss-key editor: It’s just—you know. You’re just funny. It’s . . . funny, the way you tell the story and everything. MC: Funny how? What’s funny about it? Wiss-key assistant editor: You got it all wrong. MC: He’s a big boy, he knows what he said. What did ya say? Funny how? Wiss-key editor : Jus’... MC: What? Wiss-key editor: Just... ya know... you’re funny. MC: You mean, let me understand this, cause, ya know, maybe it’s me. I’m a little @#$% up maybe, but I’m funny how? I mean, funny like I’m a clown? I amuse you? I make you laugh? I’m here to @#$% amuse you? What do you mean funny? Funny how? How am I funny? Wiss-key editor: Just... you know, how you tell the story. What? MC: No, no. I don’t know. You said it. How do I know? You said I’m funny. How the @#$% am I funny, what the @#$% is so funny about me? Tell me—tell me what’s funny!

But I digress . . . As Al Capone said in The Untouchables: “A

man becomes preeminent [or writes several pages of filler for a union publication], he’s expected to have enthusiasms . . . enthusi-asms . . . enthusiasms.” What are mine? What draws my admiration? What is that which gives me joy?

in DC!

be inferred from the above, Mafia movies!

Now I’m talking about the canon here: Good-fellas, Casino, The Untouchables, and Francis Ford Coppola’s two-part masterpiece, The Godfather and The Godfather: Part II—not the apocrypha (The Godfather: Part III <hack><spit!>).

As we’re often told by management on issues of commuting, this is an East Coast airline now (of course, in regard to the cost of living in DC, NYC, or Philadelphia, you always have the option to commute), but whether you yearn for the old days in ORD or glance down at the Manhattan skyline as you’re being vectored for the Expressway Visual at LGA, it’s hard to forget that an inseparable part of the history of these great cities is that of the criminal underworld: bookmaking, protection rackets, double-breasted suits, pinky rings, and your rivals getting whacked. (Yeah, I’m looking at your article, Swindell! Pruett’s already gone to the mattresses . . . )

continued on page 28

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continued on page 41

But what was the real history of La Cosa Nostra? The Mafia first became influential in the United States around the turn of the century in these urban areas—small neighborhood operations based in the poor immigrant ghettos—graduating eventually to citywide and ultimately international organizations. They were successful for primarily two reasons: one, large groups of impover-ished immigrants, for many of whom English was a second language, felt they had no access to the legitimate legal sys-tem for redress (groups without access to timely redress of blatant wrongdoing through the system being, of course, no reference to the Railway Labor Act), and two, legitimate fears of retaliation preventing the average citizen from com-ing forward to make complaints (more on this later).

Be that as it may, this is about the movies—and what is it about these films that makes them so memorable? To some it may be the generous doses of violence, sex, and, well, violence. But to me it’s about the quotes—a virtual primer on how the worlds of money, power, and influence operate. And therein may be found many nuggets of wisdom ap-plicable to our life here in the “compete to win” capital of the regional airline industry, Air Wisconsin.

Example: “Should I become an FFDO?”

Answer #1: “Leave the gun. Take the canoli.”

—Clemenza from The Godfather

Hmm, good point. With all 30-minute or less turns and eight-leg days, I might need to actually eat something.

Answer #2: “I know there are women, like my best friends, who would have gotten out of there the minute their boyfriend showed them a gun. . . . But I didn’t. I got to admit the truth. It turned me on.”

—Karen from Goodfellas

Then again, maybe I’ll be spending my next vacation in Arizona.

But let us explore further . . . (Author’s note: These quotes are from works of fiction or fictionalized accounts of actual events. I am in no way suggesting or endorsing acts of violence, illegal activity, or activities that fall under the purview of those laws regarding racketeering in corrupt organizations [RICO]. Nor am I implying any resemblance between actual individuals and fictional characters engaged in violent, illegal, or unethical activ-ity. Any implied resemblances of individuals to Michael Corleone’s inept and treacherous brother Fredo are your own.)

I. 2015“Business bad? @#$% you, pay me. Oh, you had a fire? @#$% you, pay me. Place got hit by lightning, huh? @#$% you, pay me.”

—Narration by Henry Hill from Goodfellas

Steve Jobs didn’t pass the hat at Apple to pay for developing the iPad. Our job is to fly airplanes safely and on time. By all accounts, we do it well. We used to do it for a lot more money, and the fact is that 9/11 (the event that culminated in our current concessionary contract) kept airplanes on the ground for fewer than 72 hours. A certain pri-vately held regional airline has posted significant profits before and since. Bada-bing, bada-bang, bada-boom. The business end of the deal is in the hands of others. If the day comes when they can’t secure additional flying at a reason-able profit margin, properly staff the flight operations, or maintain the fleet, I frankly think I’ll be better off working at another airline or in another industry altogether. They found us a new home at US Airways when we needed it (and profited handsomely thereby), and I have great faith that, when it is in Air Wisconsin’s interest, the company can secure future flying again. Other people may feel differently, and I respect that, but frankly, the only big contract expir-ing in 2015 that interests me is Notre Dame’s deal with NBC and its impact on the potential future expansion of the Big 10. Go, Irish!

II. The New Contract“You can have my answer now, if you like. My final offer is this: Nothing.”

—Michael Corleone from The Godfather: Part II

Compromise is the nature of negotiation. I accept this, and it is a good thing. Realistic expectations are necessary in the current economic environment. But we are, and have been, operating under a concession-ary contract. What do we have left to give? We have taken cuts in pay and quality of life (we currently have schedules contractually maxed out at eight legs a day—ever try to commute at midnight?). We have had more issue forms filed in the last 12 months than in the previous 24. I can’t legally, and wouldn’t otherwise, tell anyone how to vote. But I don’t believe in “good enough.” We have put three of our very best on the Negotiating Commit-tee. In time, they will bring us the best possible Tentative Agreement that can be hammered out with management. If we vote it in, we will have no more grounds to complain about conces-sions. We will have agreed to those pro-visions as our contract going forward. I believe we have held up our end of the current bargain (and management has gotten one heckuva bargain) by delivering consistent and competent performance—by any available metric. The contract we eventually approve, by the votes of each and every pilot on the property, will be our own.

Arguments that “things are worse at ____” carry little water with me. I chose to work for Air Wisconsin, paid the price to gain the skill and experience to do so, and I want Air Wisconsin to be the best it can be in every respect. You and I could have worked elsewhere, but we chose to work here, and Air Wisconsin, in its best interest and to its benefit, chose us to be its employees based on our talents, training, and experience. You and I are not merely “lucky to work here.”

Little Picturecontinued from page 27

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Six Dangerous Myths About PayBy Steve Kern

Captain, PHL Captain Rep and Vice Chairman

ARW Council 51

This article is a challenge to all readers—a chal-lenge to recognize common everyday myths we experience in labor-management relations, and to come up with real, practical suggestions to counteract these myths. The chart of the “Six Dangerous Myths About Compensation”* sum-marizes the main points we will need for this assignment. Some additional quotes and com-mentary are included.

To start, let us take a look at the world from management’s point of view. Manage-ment confronts four tough decisions about compensation:

“(1) How much to pay employees, (2) How much emphasis to place on financial compen-

MYTH REALITY1. Labor rates and labor

costs are the same thing.

They are not, and confusing them leads to a host of managerial missteps. For the record, labor rates are straight wages divided by time—a Wal-Mart cashier earns $5.15 an hour, a Wall Street attorney $2,000 a day. Labor costs are a calculation of how much a company pays its people and how much they produce. Thus German factory workers may be paid at a rate of $30 an hour and Indonesians $3, but the workers’ relative costs will reflect how many widgets are produced in the same period of time.

2. You can lower your labor costs by cutting labor rates.

When managers buy into the myth that labor rates and labor costs are the same thing, they usually fall for this myth as well. Once again, then, labor costs are a function of labor rates and productivity. To lower labor costs, you need to address both. Indeed, sometimes lowering labor rates increases labor costs.

3. Labor costs constitute a significant propor-tion of total costs.

This is true—but only sometimes. Labor costs as a proportion of total costs vary widely by industry and company. Yet many executives assume labor costs are the biggest expense on their income statement. In fact, labor costs are only the most immediately malleable expense.

4. Low labor costs are a potent and sustainable competitive weapon.

In fact, labor costs are perhaps the most slippery and least sustainable way to compete. Better to achieve competitive advantage through quality; through customer service; through product, process, or service innovation; or through technol-ogy leadership. It is much more difficult to imitate these sources of competitive advantage than to merely cut costs.

5. Individual incentive pay improves perfor-mance.

Individual incentive pay, in reality, undermines performance—of both the individual and the organization. Many studies strongly suggest that this form of reward undermines teamwork, encourages a short-term focus, and leads people to be-lieve that pay is not related to performance at all but to having the “right” relationships and an ingratiating personality.

6. People work for money.

People do work for money—but they work even more for meaning in their lives. In fact, they work to have fun. Companies that ignore this fact are essentially bribing their employees and will pay the price in a lack of loyalty and commitment.

Truth and Consequences: The Six Dangerous Myths About Compensation

continued on page 33

*The chart and all quotes in this article are taken from an article by Jeffrey Pfeffer, “Six Danger-ous Myths About Pay,” Harvard Business Review (May–June, 1998): 109–119. © 1998 by the Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved. The chart and quotes are reprinted with permission. Jeffrey Pfeffer, PhD, is a professor of organizational behavior at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University, where he has taught since 1979. Dr. Pfeffer is the author or coauthor of 13 books and numerous articles.

sation as part of the total reward system, (3) How much emphasis to place on attempting to hold down the rate of pay, and (4) Whether to implement a system of individual incentives to reward differences in performance and productivity and, if so, how much emphasis to place on these incentives.”

These questions are not easy, and the cor-rect solutions might even be counterintuitive to standard business school and consultant advice. Now let us address just some of the six myths in the chart.

Myth #1 is that labor rates and labor costs are the same thing. They are not. Labor costs include productivity. Labor rates do not. Myth #2 says that you can lower your labor costs by cutting labor rates. But lowering labor rates can actually cause labor costs to go up by hurting productivity in various ways. Why do these myths exist? One reason:

“Labor rates are a convenient target for managers who want to make an impact. Labor rates are highly visible, and it’s easy to compare the rates you pay with those paid by your competitors. In addition,

30

By Thorne SaylorCA, DCA

By Chuck AllenF/O DCA

By Richard SwindellCA, DCA

This article is being written for the benefit of those pilots who are—or will be—on reserve. Hopefully it will provide some insight regarding the lifestyle and limitations of a reserve pilot here at Air Wisconsin.

Three Rules of a Reserve1. KNOW YOUR CONTRACT2. KNOW YOUR CONTRACT3. KNOW YOUR CONTRACT

While that may be easier said than done, a review of the following summaries and examples will hopefully bring to light some of the common situations that surface and will enable you to mitigate some of the inherent quality-of-life issues that reserves deal with.

The Two-Hour Call-OutSection 25.N.3

A pilot will be expected to promptly respond to a pager contact (or to another contact number that the pilot des-ignates as his primary contact number, i.e., cell phone, home phone, etc.) within 10 minutes (“company policy”). A reserve pilot will be prepared to report to the airport no later than two (2) hours from the time he/she is contacted by Crew Scheduling. It is recognized that a pilot may not be able to report within two (2) hours due to unforeseen circumstances that are beyond the pilot’s control (traffic jams, weather, etc.).

With that said, Scheduling will, and quite often does, call at 0400, for example, and state: “We have a trip for you, with a show time of 0520.” This is illegal per the contract! You are entitled to a two-hour call-out, period. If you can safely report sooner, that is fine, but you should not be intimidated into think-ing that discipline will result if you cannot arrive at the airport sooner than two hours from the time you are called. In addition, normal show time for a flight that you are actually working is 2 + 45. Normal show for a deadhead flight is 2 + 30! The two-hour call-out is never to the flight itself—just to the airport. You have normal flight prep time after that or movement time from the crew room to the gate for a deadhead.

The two-hour call-out is in place to ensure that you, the reserve pilot, have enough time to prepare yourself mentally and physically to go flying and safely arrive at your place of

Life of a Reservist

work. While you are contractually obligated to get there as quickly as possible, you are professionally obligated to ensure you arrive at the airport prepared and focused on flying. To reiterate, that two hours is for non-rushed travel to the airport as well as doing whatever else is necessary to ensure that you are properly focused on flying—which includes eating, espe-cially given the state of our schedules. So, when Scheduling calls and tells you that “this is less than a two-hour call-out,” tell them you’ll do your best, keeping in mind that you are entitled to two hours.

On the day prior to day one of a reserve stretch, you have to be given a contact period, or “times.” If Scheduling does not call you by 1800 domicile time (1700 Appleton Standard Time), then you are supposed to call them. Scheduling can-not release or assign open time to a reserve pilot until 1800 domicile time. They will sometimes give you notice of a trip, and sometimes just give you “times” for the next day. Once they have given you times, you are not obligated to answer the phone or pager until your reserve times the following day! However, this applies only when you are not “on duty,” i.e., before the first day of reserve, or when you are on rest in between duty periods. If you do elect to answer the phone, Crew Scheduling can, and most often will, change your reserve times to benefit them. This may or may not benefit you, so it is your choice to answer the phone.

ExampleYou are on duty until 2200 domicile time. At 1800, Schedul-

ing calls you and says, “OK, you’re on rest at 2200 tonight with reserve times starting at 0800 tomorrow morning.” Then they call you back at 2000 to give you a trip. You must answer the phone, and this is legal. However, if you were put on rest or scheduled to be on rest at, let’s say, 1900, and they called at 2000 to give you an assignment, you do not have to answer the phone.

PayNow to the heart of the issue, which is how pay works

while you are on reserve (ready reserve pay is discussed later). To start with, you will always get the minimum guarantee of 75 hours per month, unless, of course, you drop reserve days, take PTO, or don’t have enough time in your sick bank if you are sick and call off, etc. In order to credit above 75 hours, you will need to either:

1. Have actual credit in excess of 75 hours for the month—meaning that if you add up all the credit for the work performed during the month, such as sched-uled or actual times, trip guarantee credits, deadhead credits, rig credits, etc., you exceed 75 total; or

2. Pick up flying or are junior assigned on your scheduled days off.

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You will not receive credit toward your 75-hour guarantee for merely “sitting reserve” at your home or crash pad. Every day you actually go to the airport, you will be credited at least 3 + 00 (min day) toward your 75-hour guarantee. If you actually credit more than three hours, you will receive the “greater of.” This is true even if the trip pairing you are assigned has a no minimum day (NOM) stipulation. For example, if all you fly on a day of reserve is from PHL to GSO, blocked at 1:13, you still actually credit 3:00 toward guarantee. If you pick up anything on your scheduled days off, or are junior manned, it will automati-cally go above your 75-hour guarantee. If you happen to pick up a trip from a fellow pilot, it will be paid at straight time above guarantee. If you pick up flying from the Daily Open Time pot, it will be paid at time and a half, above guarantee. If you pick up flying from the Initial Open Time pot, it will be paid at straight time above guarantee (not as good a deal).

It is prudent to check your pay report sheet that appears in your v-file on or about the 15th of the month to ensure that you are being paid correctly. Often, a reserve pilot’s schedule is chaotic with deadheads, reroutes, cancellations, etc., which muddy the waters. Remember: you must always be paid for the greater of, and if you are assigned something . . . ANYTHING . . . it’s worth at least 3:00, or the trip guarantee, whichever is greater—even if you get halfway to the airport and Scheduling calls you and tells you, “Never mind.” Watch this carefully!

Which brings us to the next point:

Always get a copy of your pairing!

When you talk to Scheduling and they assign flying, it is crucial that you ask for and receive a minimum of seven (7) points of information:

1. Pairing number2. Report time (not less than two hours)3. Overnights4. Scheduled credit5. Trip end time (on the last day)6. Time of call from Crew Scheduling7. Scheduler’s name who assigned trip

It’s helpful to have them fax or e-mail this information to you before you step out of your house, crash pad, or crew room. Without this information, it becomes difficult to battle Scheduling when a pay or duty conflict arises. (And it will arise.)

Duty Time and In-Domicile RestThis is where quality-of-life issues are going to come in

to play. It all goes back to the basic three rules of reserve: KNOW YOUR CONTRACT! Section 12 of the CBA is a MUST KNOW!

Section 12.D.1.d A reserve pilot may be assigned to a subsequent flight as-

signment prior to being released from his present assign-

ment, and may be required to report for that subsequent assignment with a nine (9) hour rest between duty periods. This provision (“reduction”) may be exercised no more than one time in any sequence of reserve days, and will not be exercised more than four (4) times per bid period.

Huh? Well, what this means is that when you get back from a trip and are assigned to rest, they can send you back out on another flight assignment with a show time of nine hours in the future, as long as they notify you before you are released!

For example, you are on a five-day reserve sequence. On Day 1, you start a three-day pairing. On Day 3, you block in at 2245 local, which puts you off at 2300 local (15 minutes to “duty off ”). As per the contract, you call Crew Scheduling when you get back in domicile to see if they’re going to re-lease you to rest or put you back on a two-hour call-out. They subsequently inform you that they have another trip for you in the morning with an 0800 show. As long as you get enough rest per the FARs, this is legal. Now with that said, do not fly when you are tired or fatigued.

Not LegalGiven the above example, with the same days/times, you

contact Crew Scheduling when you return to domicile to see if you are released into rest, or are back on a two-hour call-out. They inform you that they are putting you back on reserve at 0800. This is not legal per the contract! If they don’t have a specific flight assignment, i.e., a trip, you are entitled to 12 hours of rest in domicile.

Note: To clarify, the 12 hours in domicile means 10 hours before Scheduling may call you again and no less than 12 hours before you may be made to report to the airport.

The “as long as they notify you before you are released” caveat goes for any assignment after you call in upon return from flying (since you have to call them once you get back in domicile). If Scheduling assigns you to rest or a two-hour call-out and then call back to give you something else, it’s too late! When you are released for rest or assigned a two-hour callout, you should rest or not return to the airport for two hours. Period.

Section 12.B This section is about how long your scheduled duty day

can be, and limits the day’s length depending on what time of the day you started. To understand this better, we need to divide duty into two categories: FAR duty and contract duty. To simplify, FAR duty means that you have a responsibility to answer the company’s telephone calls. Contract duty simply means when you are at work, at the airport. The duty time limits in this section of the guide apply only to contract duty.

ExampleYour reserve times start at 0400 local. At precisely 0400,

they call you for a 0600 show. According to Section 12.B of continued on page 32

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the CBA, you must be scheduled to be off duty by 1800, or twelve (12) hours from the 0600 show. It is not, unfortunately, 12 hours from the 0400 call time.

Now, how does Section 12.B help a reservist? When you are already flying and returning to your domicile.

ExampleOn the last day of your reserve sequence, you happen to be

at the end of whatever flight assignment they assigned you. Your show time for the day was 0500, and the trip ends in domicile at 1500 local. On final in to domicile, Scheduling sends you an ACARS message for you to call on the ground. When you call, the scheduler informs you that you are to fly a RDU-DCA-RDU turn, which would return you to domicile at 1800 local. This is illegal per the contract! If this were to happen, you would be scheduled for a 13-hour duty day, which, per Section 12.B, is not legal. You would have to inform Crew Scheduling that this is putting you past your contractual duty-time limitation.

However, upon your return to domicile at 1500 local, they can, and most often will, put you back on a two-hour call-out. Why would they put you back on a two-hour call-out when you only have two hours of duty left (0500–1700)? Well, because you are still obligated to answer the phone, and when they call to junior man you for the next day, you have to answer. This is why junior manning, by definition, affects reserve pilots more than others—it’s not just because reserves tend to be junior, it’s because reserve pilots are more available to be contacted than lineholding pilots. Keep in mind that you are entitled to premium pay or a day off if you’re junior manned, and you cannot be junior manned for more than 10 duty periods per year. Keep track of this!

Also, just because you are on reserve does not necessarily mean you are the most junior pilot available or that your reserve status relieves Crew Scheduling from doing its job and following procedures. Scheduling must follow the junior man process and run the entire junior man list. Call a union rep if you do not feel that this process has been accomplished.

Ready ReserveTypically the bottom two reserve lines in each base for

each position are built as ready reserve lines.Ready reserves are required to sit at the airport for eight

hours each day in order to be used as a last line of defense for Crew Scheduling. Scheduling’s main purpose for the ready reserve is to protect the first flights that leave each base during the morning hours. If these early flights leave as scheduled, the company has a much higher on-time percentage for the day than if these flights were to depart late. If these airplanes do not depart on time, they will typically arrive late to their subsequent destinations all day.

Ready schedules are typically built with five days of duty followed by three days off. These days will typically be set up where your first four days are early days (R1), followed by your last day as a late day (R3). This may not make sense—most

people typically ask themselves, “Why would Planning make me be here early on my first day of reserve and late on the last day, rather than allowing some degree of commutability. They must be trying to make my life miserable.” However, Crew Planning/Scheduling have rest requirements that they must meet in order to make the schedules legal in regard to FAR and contract rest. If you were to show late on the first day and then early on the subsequent days, the contract rest requirements would not be met during days one and two of your sequence.

With that said, there is a LOA (letter of agreement) cur-rently in effect between ALPA and the company that allows for the trading of R1, R2, or R3 times unless some operational necessity does not allow for it. The Day 1 R1 ready reserve can swap shifts with the Day 5 R3 ready reserve so that each has an opportunity to commute. Without this swap, RR is completely noncommutable on both sides. This LOA is a good deal for both the sides because it allows pilots to commute and Sched-uling to be off the hook for a reduced rest (not less than nine hours) on the first and last day of the sequence.

As a side note: R1 and R3 will currently only be seen in the bid packet and during the bid cycle on FLiCA. Once your schedule appears on CSS for the given month, it will only display RRA for your ready reserve line. Follow the general guidelines above for the R1 /R3 cycle, or refer to your initial bid award, or call Scheduling if you have any questions. Since there is no specific way of knowing when your domicile’s ready reserves actually go on and off duty, you can get this information from Scheduling.

The ready reserve pilot will typically be required to report for duty 45 minutes prior to the company’s first departure in each base. So if you are based in ORF and the first departure is at 5:30 am, you would be required to report to work at 4:45 am. This is to ensure adequate time to prepare the aircraft for departure, just like when you duty in for a normal trip. To be clear, though, you only have to be on airport property (not necessarily in the designated ready reserve room) at show time and with your cell phone (or pager) turned on. You are not specifically required to be through Security, in front of the gates, or in the sprinter’s position waiting for a phone call from Scheduling. You have 10 minutes to respond to a call and generally a 20-minute call-out for any assignment thereafter.

Remember, especially if you are being assigned to anything other than a deadhead (e.g., revenue, ferry, or repo) to make certain you have all the information necessary to accomplish the assignment safely.

If you don’t end up being used during your ready reserve shift, the contract states that you will be given (either) a single occupancy hotel room (or) “a room at the airport dedicated to the exclusive use of Ready Reserve pilots.” Additionally “it must be of sufficient size to comfortably accommodate the Ready Reserve pilots on duty. The room will include a T.V., table and chairs, a telephone, and a phone/modem line. A Lazy Boy chair will be available for each ready reserve pilot on duty.”

(Because of the La-Z-Boy requirement, if Crew Scheduling ever schedules more than two ready reserves of the same seat

Life of a Reservistcontinued from page 31

33

position to be on duty in the same base at the same time without a trip assign-ment, one of the ready reserves will be excused from duty.)

Ready reserves are subject to the same contract requirements as regular reserves, with three main exceptions:

1. A ready reserve receives taxable per diem every hour he/she is on duty at the airport. This means you are paid on a 1:2 rig, i.e., one hour of pay for every two hours on duty.

2. A ready reserve (on his/her early days) typically begins duty prior to 0600 local, so Scheduling (with some deadheading exceptions) isn’t able to schedule additional duty past 1800. Please read Section 12, Hours of Service, before your first ready reserve assignment.

3. A regular reserve pilot must be called out and assigned to cover the remainder of any trip assigned to an RR pilot, if a regular reserve is available. Unless there are no reserves available, RR pilots should not be doing overnights.

Lastly, one of the positive aspects of ready reserve is that unless Crew Scheduling is calling you for an assignment, you don’t really talk to them on the phone. You know when you have to be at work and when your sequence is over. When your duty period is over, you leave and go home or to the crash pad, and the same at the end of your ready reserve stretch. You don’t have to call for times or to be released.

In ConclusionDO NOT WAIVE THE CONTRACT! It’s meant to protect you and

help ensure that you receive adequate rest, and that you are safe. Waiving the contract only sends the message that we don’t really need rest, and we don’t get tired. Your union and the pilot group in general have worked hard to get our contract to where it is today, and to date we have given the company more than enough in concessions and side letters. Crew Scheduling will take advantage of you if you let them! As always, if you have any questions, do not hesitate to call your local representatives at any time, even if you are a probationary pilot.

A final note from the editor and a three-year reserve pilot:While it is often difficult to apply or truly understand contract provisions without first

being in the position that sparks that “Wait, I know this doesn’t sound quite right, but I’m not sure why . . .” moment (followed by some desperate thumbing through of the CBA), it nonetheless remains your responsibility and right to read through the contract in its entirety and enforce it when necessary. However, as a useful starting point for the reserve pilot, the sections listed below highlight certain areas that are very important for you to know and succinctly serve as a starting point from which to intrinsically know your contract:

Section 1 – Recognition and Scope: 1.JSection 2 – Definitions: 2.N, 2.OOSection 3 – Pay: 3.N, 3.O, 3.SSection 5 – Travel Expenses: 5.B, 5.H (*5.H.2)Section 7 – Vacation: 7.E.1Section 8 – Deadhead: allSection 11 – Testing and Training: 11.A.7, 11.A.9, 11.ISection 12 – Hours of Service*: 12.B.1 and Note, 12.D.1.d, 12.D.3, 12.F.5,

12.6.G, H, I, JSection 25 – Scheduling*: 25.N (25.N.6 for ready reserves) Section 26 – General: 26.T

labor rates often appear to be a com-pany’s most malleable financial variable. It seems a lot quicker and easier to cut wages than to control costs in other ways, like reconfiguring manufactur-ing processes, changing corporate culture, or altering product design. Because labor costs appear to be the lever closest at hand, managers mistakenly assume it is the one that has the most leverage.”

How many times have we heard that our labor costs are not competitive? That state-ment comes from Myth #4, that low labor costs are a potent and sustainable competi-tive weapon. “In fact, labor costs are perhaps the most slippery and least sustainable way to compete.” Look at the chart for better methods that are harder to achieve but also harder for the competition to imitate.

We have also had some exposure to incentive systems, which reward a tiny per-centage of the employee group, a practice motivated by Myth #5, that individual incen-tive pay improves performance.

“Managers must recognize that pay has substantive and symbolic components. In signaling what and who in the organiza-tion is valued, pay both reflects and helps determine the organization’s culture. Therefore, managers must make sure that the messages sent by pay practices are intended. Talking about teamwork and cooperation and then not having a group-based component to the pay system matters because paying solely on an individual basis signals what the organization believes is actually important—individual behavior and performance.”

Leaders must come to see pay for what it is: just one element in a set of management practices that can either build or reduce com-mitment, teamwork, and performance.

After studying both the myth side and the reality side of the chart, you might already have come up with some practical suggestions that would be both agreeable and beneficial to our company’s owners, customers, and employees. Please communicate those ideas.

Mythscontinued from page 29

34

Sunglasses help safeguard a pilot’s most important sensory asset—vision. A qual-ity pair of sunglasses is essential in the cockpit environment to optimize visual

performance. Sunglasses reduce the effects of harsh sunlight, decrease eye fatigue, and protect ocular tissues from exposure to harmful solar radiation. Additionally, they protect the pi-lot’s eyes from impact with objects (e.g., flying debris from a bird strike, sudden decompression, or aerobatic maneuvers). Sunglasses can also aid the dark-adaptation process, which is delayed by prolonged exposure to bright sunlight.

RadiationRadiation from the sun can damage skin and eyes when

exposure is excessive or too intense. Fortunately, the Earth’s atmosphere shelters us from the more hazardous solar radiation (i.e., gamma and X-rays); however, both infrared and ultraviolet radiation are present in our environment in varying amounts, depending on factors such as the time of day and year, latitude, altitude, weather conditions, and the reflectivity of surrounding surfaces. For example, exposure to ultraviolet radiation increases by approximately 5 percent for every 1,000 feet of altitude.

Atmospheric infrared energy consists of long-wavelength radiation (780 to 1400 nanometers [nm], see Figure 1). The warmth felt from the sun is provided by infrared radiation and is thought to be harmless to the skin and eyes at normal atmospheric exposure levels. More hazardous to human tissues is short-wavelength ultraviolet radiation. Ultraviolet is divided into three bandwidths: UVA (400–315 nm), UVB (315–280 nm), and UVC (< 280 nm).1 Excessive or chronic exposure

FederalAviation Administration

Figure 1. Electromagnetic radiation spectrum including visible, infrared, UVA, UVB, and UVC wavelengths.

to UVA and, to a greater extent, UVB can cause sunburn and skin cancers and is implicated in the formation of cataracts, macular degeneration, and other eye maladies.

The American Optometric Association recommends wear-ing sunglasses that incorporate 99–100% UVA and UVB pro-tection. Fortunately, UVC, the most harmful form of ultraviolet radiation, is absorbed by the atmosphere’s ozone layer before it reaches the Earth’s surface. Some scientists believe, however, that depletion of the ozone layer may allow more ultraviolet to pass through the atmosphere,2 making 100% ultraviolet protection a wise choice when selecting eyewear.

Lens MaterialThe three most common lens

materials in use today are optical quality “crown” glass, monomer plastic (CR-39®), and polycarbonate plastic (see Table 1). Lenses made from crown glass provide excellent optical properties (as indicated by the high Abbe value). Crown glass is more scratch resistant but heavier and less impact-resistant than plastic. Glass absorbs some ultraviolet light; however, absorp-tion is improved by adding certain Table 1. Properties of the three most common lens materials.

35

chemicals during the manufacturing process or by applying a special coating. Glass retains tints best over time; however, for higher refractive correction, the color may be less uniform, as parts of the lens will be thicker than others (see Figure 2).

CR-39® plastic lenses possess excellent optical qualities and are lighter in weight and more impact-resistant than glass lenses, but are more easily scratched, even when scratch-resistant coat-ings are applied. CR-39® lenses tint easily and uniformly, even for those requiring a great deal of refractive correction, but do not hold tints as well as glass. CR-39® plastic can be bleached and retinted if fading becomes excessive at some point.

High-index materials (i.e., index of refraction –1.60) are avail-able in both glass and plastic for those who require a large degree of refractive correction and/or desire lighter, thinner lenses. High-index materials are not as widely available and require AR coats to improve optical clarity and a scratch-resistant coating for durability. In addition, most high-index materials do not accept tints as easily and are less shatter-resistant than polycarbonate.

CoatingsSpecial coatings can be applied to lens materials for reasons

such as those previously mentioned. Crown glass and most plastic lenses require a specific coating to block residual ultraviolet radia-tion. Plastic and polycarbonate lenses require a scratch-resistant coating to prolong their useful life. The scratch-resistant coating applied to polycarbonate lenses absorb tints and dyes. High-index materials benefit from AR coatings to improve transmissivity due to their high reflective properties. While AR coats can improve optical clarity, they are extremely porous, attracting water and oils, making the lenses difficult to clean. Lenses with AR coatings should be “sealed” with a smudge- and water-repellant coat that extends the useful life of the AR coat and makes the lenses easier to keep clean. Coatings must be applied correctly, and lenses must be meticulously cleaned for the process to be successful. Coated lenses should be handled with care and not subjected to excessive heat to avoid delamination or crazing.

TintsThe choice of tints for sunglasses is practically infinite. The

three most common tints are gray, gray-green, and brown, any of which would be an excellent choice for the aviator. Gray (neutral density filter) is recommended because it distorts color the least. Some pilots, however, report that gray-green and brown tints enhance vividness and minimize scattered (blue

and violet) light, thus enhancing contrast in hazy conditions. Yellow, amber, and orange (i.e., “Blue Blockers”) tints eliminate short-wavelength light from reaching the wearer’s eyes and re-portedly sharpen vision, although no scientific studies support this claim.3 In addition, these tints are known to distort colors, making it difficult to distinguish the color of navigation lights, signals, or color-coded maps and instrument displays. For fly-ing, sunglass lenses should screen out only 70–85% of visible light and not appreciably distort color. Tints that block more than 85% of visible light are not recommended for flying due to the possibility of reduced visual acuity, resulting in difficulty seeing instruments and written material inside the cockpit.

PolarizationPolarized lenses are not recommended for use in the avia-

tion environment. While useful for blocking reflected light from horizontal surfaces such as water or snow, polarization can reduce or eliminate the visibility of instruments that in-corporate anti-glare filters. Polarized lenses may also interfere with visibility through an aircraft windscreen by enhancing striations in laminated materials and masking the sparkle of light that reflects off shiny surfaces such as another aircraft’s wing or windscreen, which can reduce the time a pilot has to react in a “see-and-avoid” traffic situation.

PhotochromicGlass photochromic lenses (PhotoGray® and Photo-

Brown®), like their plastic counterparts (Transitions®), au-tomatically darken when exposed to ultraviolet and become lighter in dim light. Most of the darkening takes place in the first 60 seconds, while lightening may take several minutes. Although most photochromic lenses can get as dark as regular sunglasses, i.e., 20% light transmittance in direct sunlight, warm temperatures (>70°F) can seriously limit their ability to darken, and reduced ultraviolet exposure in a cockpit can further limit their effectiveness. In addition, the faded state of photochromic glass lenses may not be clear enough to be useful when flying in cloud cover or at night.

FramesThe selection of sunglass frames is probably more a matter

of personal preference than lens material or tint. The frames of an aviator’s sunglasses, however, must be functional and not interfere with communication headsets or protective breathing equipment. Frame styles that incorporate small lenses may not be practical, since they allow too much visible light and ultraviolet radiation to pass around the edges of the frame. A sunglass frame should be sturdy enough to take some abuse without breaking, yet light enough to be comfortable. An aviator’s sunglasses should fit well so that sudden head movements from turbulence or aerobatic maneuvers do not displace them. Finally, use of a strap is recommended to prevent prescription sunglasses from being accidentally dislodged, or a necklace chain can be used to allow them to be briefly removed and subsequently replaced.

Figure 2. Illustration of nonuniform tints with glass lenses for high hyperopic (left) and myopic (right) corrections.

continued on page 46

36

By Bob BurgessCA, PHL

ARW Negotiating Committee Member

You are at cruise heading west, and it slowly be-comes apparent that storm clouds are looming in the distance. Just a gray layer at first, but then some shape becomes visible, and soon you get a feeling deep down that this may become a major event in a day of otherwise smooth sailing. You turn on the radar and pay close attention to the words of the other aircraft on center. You check your current fuel load and expected fuel upon arrival. If you have an alternate, you check the weather there and the weather at your destina-tion. If you don’t have an alternate, you begin to plan for one anyway, just to make sure. The seat belt sign comes on as a precaution, and an announcement is made to the passengers that we may be in for a bumpy ride, so please return to your seats and fasten your seat belts.

The pilots of Air Wisconsin are at cruise with occasionally moderate turbulence, so bumps are nothing new, but there are storm clouds on the horizon. Our contract becomes amendable Oc-tober 2011, so your Negotiating Committee will open bargaining one year earlier, this October 1. The negotiating process will take approximately two to three years, hence the importance of starting early. This process has already begun, and planning, strategizing, information gathering, researching, meeting, collaborating with other airlines, and negotiating will all come into play.

Your Negotiating Committee has attended the Karrass Negotiating Seminar in preparation for opening our contract negotiations with the company. We have also met three times with Jim Rankin, Bob Frisch, and Joel Kuplack (at the company’s expense) in talks about how we might negotiate going forward. The results of these

talks so far indicate that the company wants an alternative to the traditional bargaining process; this would weaken us as a united force and is not agreeable to our MEC. We have learned to discuss sensitive issues with this management and have developed a rapport with them as we learn of their negotiating style and technique.

Your Negotiating Committee has been par-ticipating in the negotiating process with PSA and Piedmont for several months now, and we have learned what their goals and strategies are and the stumbling blocks they have encountered along the way. We are collaborating with these two wholly owned airlines in order to prevent US Airways and Air Wisconsin from whipsawing all of us and so that we all come out ahead and achieve our mutually beneficial goals.

As far as goals are concerned, your Negotiat-ing Committee works closely with your MEC and other committees, especially the Scheduling and Grievance Committees, to identify the particular “gray areas” in the contract. We are establishing the areas that management enjoys taking advantage of, and making these areas less ambiguous. We are all also painfully aware that we took huge concessions in 2003, with no hope of recovery of the work rule losses under the present contract, and we will seek recovery from our very profitable company. We note that our wages have partially recovered, because of the Wage Adjustment Mechanism, and our 401(k)s include an extra percent above the 2001 contract. From the feedback we receive from you, we know the heart of the negotiations will fall into enhance-ments to quality of life—read: work rules.

As a stakeholder in this line of storms, you can also begin to prepare for a bumpy ride. You can talk to your representatives and tell them what you want. Get educated—know the issues and the contract. Participate in any polls that may come your way. Volunteer your time, energy, and ideas to your

union because that’s what your union is. Encourage others to become involved. This is our contract, our livelihood, our quality of life. We work to live, not live to work. Make no mistake, this will get bumpy. There is a lot at stake for us and for the company. Our goals are far from what the company wants, and it may ultimately take a look over the edge for both parties to realize an outcome.

We have plenty of fuel, a good radar, and determination—we will arrive at our destination.

Storm Clouds on the Horizon

C O N F I D E N T I A L

M E D I C A L A D V I C EContact ALPA Aeromedical at

303-341-4435. Have your ALPA

member number available.

Completely confidential.

37

SudokuPuzzle 1 (Solution on page 24.) Puzzle 2 (Solution on page 41.)

You’re not in Appleton anymore, Toto.

38

Crossword Puzzle (The answers are on page 24.)

Protect your professional interests in Washington, DC:

Support ALPA-PAC today!To sign up for ALPA-PAC checkoff—our automatic payroll deduction program for PAC donations—just complete the checkoff authorization card below. Detach this page from this publication, fold as indicated, seal with tape, and drop it in the mailbox. The card is preaddressed and postage-paid. ALPA will send your authorization card to the company for processing as soon as it is received. Please allow 4-6 weeks for the company to begin the deductions from your paycheck.

To make a direct donation to ALPA-PAC, make your check payable to: ALPA-PAC. Mail it to ALPA-PAC, 1625 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20036.

U.S. ALPA members may make voluntary contributions of any amount to ALPA-PAC at any time. Donations are not tax deductible for federal income tax purposes, and are not a condition of membership in ALPA.

TO:_______________________(Airline Name)

I hereby authorize and direct the above named company to deduct the indicated amount of my gross earnings per month and to remit that amount to the Air Line Pilots Association Political Action Committee (ALPA-PAC).

This authorization is voluntarily made based

any ALPA member who is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident may make voluntary contributions of any amount to ALPA-PAC at any time up to the legal maximums;any contribution guideline amounts are merely suggestions; I am free to contribute more, less, or nothing at all. I

will not be advantaged, disadvantaged, or subject to any reprisal by reason of the amount I contribute or my decision not to contribute;federal law requires ALPA-PAC to use its best efforts to collect and report the name, address, occupation, and employer of individuals who contribute more than $200 in a calendar year;

ALPA-PAC, which is connected with the Air Line Pilots Association, International, will use the money it receives for political purposes, including but not limited to contributions to and expenditures for

;contributions to ALPA-PAC are not tax deductible; and

membership in ALPA-PAC clubs is based on total PAC contributions received by ALPA-PAC during a calendar year (Jan. 1 – Dec. 31).

Authorized by Air Line Pilots Association, International on behalf of a fundraising effort for Air Line Pilots Association Political Action Committee.

ALPA-PAC CHECKOFF AUTHORIZATION CARD

Name: __________________________________________________________________________(Please Print) Last First MI

ALPA No. _______________________________ Employee No. _____________________________

Begin Deduction of $ ______________________ Per Month (Whole Dollars)

Change Deductions to $ ___________________ Per Month (Whole Dollars)

Terminate Deductions of $ __________________ Per Month

Signature: ______________________________ Date: ____________________________________

ALPA-PAC Membership ClubsRegular Members

Annual contributions of $1.00–$99.99(up to $8.32 per month on checkoff)

Century Club MembersAnnual contributions of $100–$239.99($8.34–$19.98 per month on checkoff)

Capitol Club MembersAnnual contributions of $240–$499.99($20–$41.66 per month on checkoff)

President’s CircleAnnual contributions of $500 and more

($41.68 per month and over on checkoff)

01/10

For information, please contact the ALPA Government Affairs Department at (202) 797-4033 or governmentaffairs@alpa.org.

ALPA-PAC: Professional Insurance for ALPA MembersALPA-PAC helps elect pro-pilot candidates to Congress, educate lawmakers about pilots’

professional concerns, and enhance ALPA’s ability to achieve its legislative goals.

ALPA-PAC is made up of voluntary contributions from U.S. ALPA members.

ALPA-PAC who will support and defend the professional interests of ALPA pilots.

ALPA-PAC is the only way ALPA National participates in the federal election process; ALPA national does not use any member dues money for this purpose.

ALPA-PAC is one of the most bipartisan labor PACs in Washington, DC. It supports candidates

ALPA-PAC considers only legislative issues of professional interest to its members. It does not consider issues that are not relevant to ALPA or its representation of airline pilots.

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The Little Picture Updatecontinued from page 28

Will you put your name on something that’s merely “good enough”? Or should we ask for “nothing” . . . nothing less than what we’ve earned, deserve, and which the company can clearly afford? Because they obviously didn’t sign off on the previous contract, sans concessions, because they couldn’t turn a profit under those terms.

III. Harassment, Intimidation, Retaliation, and a Hostile Work Environment “Somebody steals from me, I’m gonna say you stole. Not talk to him for spitting on the sidewalk. Understand? Now, I have done nothing to harm these people, but they are angered with me, so what do they do?”

—Al Capone from The Untouchables

Threaten me with a (baseless and therefore subse-quently dropped) Section 19 on the last day off before my vacation?

It’s been done before. . . .Per Section 7, Part 25.A & B, our FOM clearly states

that threatening or intimidating company employees, or making false or malicious statements about an employee, are behaviors subject to dismissal.

If anyone employed by this company feels that he or she can demean or disparage your character, including recorded or otherwise documented insinuations about your willing-ness to operate a flight based on safety concerns, they are potentially subject to this provision. Furthermore, no one who is not a medical professional has the right to speculate about your physical condition without the statement of a physician (in no small part because our management has the right to request such—at their expense).

It is a fact that the Railway Labor Act requires the members of our union to pursue contractual and disciplin-ary disputes through the mediation process. As such, our union, local and national, is in some ways limited insofar as how they can assist you on issues that fall outside that realm. However, behaviors such as those mentioned above (harass-ment, intimidation, and retaliation) are not simply violations of company policy.

They are violations of the law.Because of that, here are some significant yet simple

actions you can take if you believe you have been subject to or have witnessed such actions:

Document, document, document! Via myairwis.com, you can access the Human Resources

page and file a report with Employee and Labor Relations. Trust me, I’ve done it. I recognize that many of our junior pilots have expressed concern about the potential repercus-sions of filing a report. However, not only are reports to

HR confidential, but any retaliatory action based on such a report is a serious, serious legal offense—in common par-lance, a crime. In fact, having something on paper actually protects you, whereas remaining silent, with nothing docu-mented, leaves you vulnerable to potential retaliation, given the company’s knowledge of exactly which crewmembers were involved in any given situation.

Your best defense, in either case, is to have the situation on paper, with witnesses if possible. Given recently documented encounters with flight management, during which proposed punishments (notably in lieu of extenuating circumstances or similar offenses by other pilots) far in excess of precedent have been handed out, anyone who waives his or her right to have a union member present during any interaction with management (and if at all possible to have that interaction take place on a recorded line) takes continued employment by this company into his or her own hands.

The Final WordWhile a junior man might still be “an offer you can’t

refuse” (if assigned in accordance with the provisions of the contract), and I might not know whether I’ll wake up tomorrow with a horse’s head in my bed or in my bed at the Horsehead’s Inn in ELM—anyone who thinks the “Little Picture” will end up sleeping with the fishes . . .

FUHGEDABOUTIT!

Sudoku puzzle 2 solution.

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MEC/VARS Updates: 800-ALPA-ARW (800-257-2279)

ALPA Crewroom: http://crewroom.alpa.org

ARW MEC Portal: www.awacalpa.org (for assistance, call 1-888-359-2572, 3, 3) Prompt 1 if you know your ALPA number, or prompt 2 to speak to an ALPA rep, available 0900–1700 eastern time)

ALPA Aeromedical: 303-341-4435

ALPA Accident Hotline: 202-797-4180 / 703-892-4180

ASAP Hotline: 1-800-292-2367 acc. 2992, ext. 6786 (when computer access is not available)April 2010

POSITION NAME PHONE ALT. CONTACT E-MAILMEC OFFICERS  Chairman Joe Ellis 757-754-7687 Joe.Ellis@alpa.orgVice Chairman Mark Lockwood 386-795-0874 Mark.Lockwood@alpa.orgSecretary-Treasurer John Schumacher 765-714-0833 John.Schumacher@alpa.org

 

 

Chair & Captain Rep Jeff Pruett 507-398-2700 Jeffrey.Pruett@alpa.orgVice Chair & F/O Rep Jared Armstrong 608-449-3853 Jared.Armstrong@alpa.orgSecretary-Treasurer Rob Taylor 301-518-7227 Robert.Taylor@alpa.orgRDU Liaison Thorne Saylor 317-903-8950 Thorne.Saylor@alpa.org

 

Chair & Captain Rep Rich Clarke 757-478-6319 Richard.Clarke@alpa.orgVice Chair & F/O Rep Chris Suhs 757-513-8979 Chris.Suhs@alpa.orgSecretary-Treasurer Tom Nelson 507-382-4977 Tom.Nelson@alpa.org

 

Chair & F/O Rep Joel Barman 704-953-9200 Joel.Barman@alpa.org Vice Chair & Captain Rep Steve Kern 623-229-1999 Steve.Kern@alpa.orgSecretary-Treasurer Thorne Saylor 317-903-8950 Thorne.Saylor@alpa.orgALPA CONTRACT ADMINISTRATORAttorney Jane Schraft 952-853-2363 (O)

952-853-2300 (F)612-868-4870(C) Jane.Schraft@alpa.org

Legal Secretary Barb Schilling 952-853-2362 (O) Barb.Schilling@alpa.org  

AEROMEDICAL  Chair Shaun Williams 218-779-6681 Shaun.Williams@alpa.orgMember (vacant)

ASAP - Aviation Safety Action Program  

Chair & Primary Rep Justin Maas 480-773-1514 Justin.Maas@alpa.orgSecondary Rep Dan Lehenbauer 262-617-9601 Dan.Lehenbauer@alpa.orgSecondary Rep DeWayne Geoghagen 317-331-7500 DeWayne.Geoghagen@alpa.org CASC - Central Air Safety Committee  

Chair (AI) (S) Gene Rambo 202-674-1445 Gene.Rambo@alpa.org(AI) (S) John Jester 571-239-9566 John.Jester@alpa.org(AI) Kristen Brown 386-871-0251 Kristen.Brown@alpa.org(AI) (S) Ryan von Trapp 423-836-0733 Ryan.vonTrapp@alpa.org(S) Richard Swindell 317-697-5113 Richard.Swindell@alpa.org

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cut here and save for reference

POSITION NAME PHONE ALT. CONTACT E-MAIL  

Coordinator Tim Kosloski 920-422-0429 Tim.Kosloski@alpa.orgMember Ryan Gibson 248-417-5393 Ryan.Gibson@alpa.org Member Marz Rogers 817-913-0863 lotniczka@yahoo.com Member Ben Grant 386-785-3452 captngrant@gmail.com Member Mike Bohrman 262-510-7100 mjbohrman@yahoo.com Member 757-999-3521 920-277-1537COMMUNICATIONS   The Wiss-key or PDH)  

Chair Richard Swindell 317-697-5113 Richard.Swindell@alpa.orgVice Chair Stephan Wessel 386-801-5202 Stephan.Wessel@alpa.orgWebmaster Matt Wise 386-871-3802 Matt.Wise@alpa.orgThe Wiss-key Editor Gideon Berkowitz 321-626-4176 Gideon Berkowitz@alpa.orgThe Wiss-key Asst. Editor (vacant)

PDH Editor Rob Taylor 301-518-7227 Robert.Taylor@alpa.orgTHE X-RAY Editor Thorne Saylor 317-903-8950 Thorne.Saylor@alpa.orgPhotography Ken Reinert 703-862-0596 kreinert@speedbunny.netPILOT-TO-PILOT  P2P Coordinator Rani Hobgood 703-405-5486 Rani.Hobgood@alpa.org

 

Chair & Gatekeeper (vacant)

Gatekeeper (interim) Kristen Brown 386-871-0251 Kristen.Brown@alpa.org  

Chair Bill Patterson 847-650-1736 Bill.Patterson@alpa.orgMember Bob Burgess 612-600-4359 Bob.Burgess@alpa.orgSection 19 Specialist Carl Fleming 920-475-0943 920-725-8526 pang@aol.comHOTEL  Chair Tim Vick 608-239-4681 Timothy.Vick@alpa.orgMember (AFA) Josh Lynch 630-558-7426 awachotels@hotmail.comJUMPSEAT  Chair Rob Frank 410-845-8964 Rob.Frank@alpa.orgMember Dan Schultz 414-915-8320 Dan.Schultz@alpa.orgMember Bryan Vanas 857-540-1373 Bryan.Vanas@alpa.orgMember Nicholas Chichester 614-403-5693 Nicholas.Chichester@alpa.orgMEMBERSHIP  Chair Jeremia Feyrer 724-219-5406 Jeremia.Feyrer@alpa.orgMember/PMG David Barnes 865-851-3448 David.Barnes@alpa.orgMember/PMG Ryan Gibson 248-417-5393 Ryan.Gibson@alpa.org

 

Chair Mark Lockwood 386-795-0874 Mark.Lockwood@alpa.orgMember Bill Patterson 847-650-1736 Bill.Patterson@alpa.orgMember Bob Burgess 612-600-4359 Bob.Burgess@alpa.orgPILOT ASSISTANCE  Chair Charlie Roos 386-748-7822 Charles.Roos@alpa.org Member (vacant)

PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS  Chair Jayme Schappals 574-361-3115 Jayme.Schappals@alpa.orgORF Lauren Bastian 281-744-7395 lauren_bastian@hotmail.comORF Greg Killeen 773-610-3100 Killeen75@hotmail.com

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Contact John.Schumacher@alpa.org or Richard.Swindell@alpa.org with changes.

In this case, two words, ten letters, a straightforward etymology from the Irish uisce beatha and Scottish Gaelic uisge beatha, literally meaning, “water of life.” From the phonetic alphabet, it’s the word used to pronounce the letter “W” in messages transmitted by radio; and it’s a nickname by which other pilots refer to us as a shortened derivative of Air Wisconsin. But for this pilot group, it means much more than that. It signals the heritage we have as an airline and as a pilot group. It encompasses the honor, integrity, and dedication of the individuals who constitute our ranks and the personality of the pilots who safely and professionally fly every day under the Air Wisconsin banner. It’s a hallmark of the unity of our pilot group—where we’ve been, where we are, and where we will go. Whether you fly here for a few years and move on or decide to retire here, and in addition to whatever else you are or may become, you’ll always be an “Air Whiskey” pilot—you are a part of our legacy as much as we are a part of yours.

We hope you have enjoyed this edition of The Wiss-key.

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

POSITION NAME PHONE ALT. CONTACT E-MAILDCA Mark Erickson 815-979-8490 MErickson.Prostands@Comcast.net RDU Richard Dixon 303-949-4925 rdixonva@gmail.comR&I - RETIREMENT AND INSURANCE  Chair Todd Hannemann 720-480-8257 hannemann7@juno.comTrustee Carl Fleming 920-475-0943 920-725-8526 pang@aol.comTrustee Richard Dixon 303-949-4925 rdixonva@gmail.comPlan Administrator [401(k)] Gary Miller (retired) 563-650-0454 888-417-9512 gmiller1@mchsi.com

 

Chair Brian Milburn 386-235-5662 Brian.Milburn@alpa.orgDCA Ken Reinert 703-862-0596 kreinert@speedbunny.netLGA Josh Foley 217-390-5102 joshuafoley2@yahoo.comORF Reed Donoghue 978-387-2248 reeddonoghue@gmail.comRDU Shaun Williams 218-779-6681 Shaun.Williams@alpa.orgPHL (vacant)

SECURITY  Chair Rob Frank 410-845-8964 Rob.Frank@alpa.orgMember Dan Schultz 414-915-8320 Dan.Schultz@alpa.orgMember Bryan Vanas 857-540-1373 Bryan.Vanas@alpa.orgMember Nicholas Chichester 614-403-5693 Nicholas.Chichester@alpa.org

 

Chair Ryan von Trapp 423-836-0733 Ryan.vonTrapp@alpa.orgCo-Chairman Judd Brinkman 920-268-8160 brinkbell@gmail.comUNIFORM  Chair BG Garner 870-820-2409 BG.Garner@alpa.org Member (vacant)

 

Chairman Dave Wilcox 615-904-8977 Bugout71@bellsouth.net

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Joe EllisChairman

Mark Lockwood Vice Chairman

John Schumacher Secretary-Treasurer

Jeffrey Pruett Chairman

Rob Taylor Secretary-Treasurer

Rich Clarke Chairman

Chris Suhs Vice Chairman

Tom Nelson Secretary-Treasurer

Steve Kern Vice Chairman

Thorne Saylor Secretary-Treasurer

Lea

ders

hip

Tree

Jared Armstrong Vice Chairman

Joel Barman Chairman

46

The tenets of this Code shall apply to all members without regard to gender.

1. An Air Line Pilot will keep uppermost in his mind that the safety, comfort, and well-being of the passengers who entrust their lives to him are his first and greatest responsibility.

2. An Air Line Pilot will faithfully discharge the duty he owes the airline which employs him and whose salary makes possible his way of life.

3. An Air Line Pilot will accept the responsibilities as well as the rewards of command, and will at all times so conduct himself both on duty and off as to instill and merit the confidence and respect of his crew, his fellow employees and his associates within the profession.

4. An Air Line Pilot will conduct his affairs with other members of the profession and with ALPA in such a manner as to bring credit to the profession and ALPA as well as to himself.

5. To an Air Line Pilot the honor of his profession is dear, and he will remember that his own char-acter and conduct reflect honor or dishonor upon the profession.

Having endeavored to his utmost to faithfully fulfill the obligations of the ALPA Code of Ethics and Canons for the Guidance of Air Line Pilots, a pilot may consider himself worthy to be called . . . an airline pilot.

ALPA Code of Ethics

SummaryWhile adding to the mystique of an aviator, sunglasses

protect a pilot’s eyes from glare associated with bright sunlight and the harmful effects from exposure to solar radiation.

Lenses for sunglasses that incorporate 100% ultraviolet protection are available in glass, plastic, and polycarbonate materials. Glass and CR-39® plastic lenses have superior opti-cal qualities, while polycarbonate lenses are lighter and more impact-resistant.

The choice of tints for use in the aviation environment should be limited to those that optimize visual performance while minimizing color distortion, such as a neutral gray tint with 15 to 30% light transmittance.

Polarized sunglasses are not recommended because of their possible interaction with displays or other materials in the cockpit environment.

Since sunglasses are an important asset, whether or not refractive correction is required, careful consideration should be used when selecting an appropriate pair for flying.

The technology associated with ophthalmic lenses is continually evolving, with the introduction of new materials, designs, and manufacturing techniques.

Aviators should consult with their eyecare practitioner for the most effective alternatives currently available when choos-ing a new pair of sunglasses.

References1. La Comission Interntionale de l’Eclairage (CIE). Figures cor-

respond broadly to the effects of UVR on biological tissue.2. World Meteorological Organization. Scientific Assess-

ment of Ozone Depletion: 1994, WMO Global Ozone Research and Monitoring Project – Report No. 37, Ge-neva, Switzerland: 1995.

3. Rash, CE, Manning, SD. “For Pilots, Sunglasses are Essential in Vision Protection,” Flight Safety Foundation Human Fac-tors & Aviation Medicine, July–August 2002, 49(4): 1–8.

Sunglassescontinued from page 35

Aerospace Medical Education: A Key to Aviation Safety

MEDICAL FACTS FOR PILOTSPublication AM-400-05/1

Written byRonald W. Montgomery, B.S.

Van B. Nakagawara, O.D.

Prepared byFAA Civil Aerospace Medical InstituteAerospace Medical Education Division

AAM-400, P.O. Box 25082Oklahoma City, OK 73125

Visit our website to see other topics of interest to pilots and travelers: www.faa.gov/pilots/safety.