By RICK JOHNSONColorado State Legislative Director Safety is job number one for UTU-represented pilots employed by Great Lakes Airlines. Yet their current contract with the carrier is substandard in terms of working conditions and wages that daily puts pressure on their ability to fly passengers safely. The image of airline pilots earning high wages and [...]
WASHINGTON – The House and Senate agreed Feb. 6 on legislation authorizing increased future funding for new air traffic control technology and the Essential Air Service subsidy program to rural airports as part of a reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration. Lawmakers voted to scrap an attempt by House Republicans to overturn a 2011 National Mediation [...]
WASHINGTON — The UTU and 17 other transportation labor organizations urged Congress Jan. 30 to pass a Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization without making what they called “drastic and unnecessary changes to the Railway Labor Act.” Historically, any changes to the Railway Labor Act have been jointly agreed to by labor and management – a primary [...]
JAMESTOWN, N.D. — Great Lakes Airlines crews represented by the UTU will soon be flying in and out of Jamestown. The Department of Transportation selected Great Lakes Airlines to provide air service to Jamestown Regional Airport through the Essential Air Service program, which partially subsidizes flights to small communities with federal funds. The airport reported record [...]
WASHINGTON — The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced new rules aimed at preventing dangerous fatigue among passenger aircraft pilots. The rules do not affect all-cargo aircraft pilots. The new rules are in response to a Colgan Air crash near Buffalo, N.Y., in 2009 that killed 50 people. Under the new rules: • Flight-duty times would [...]
UTU-represented pilots and flight attendants at Great Lakes Airlines received good news with the announcement that the carrier would be taking over service in North Dakota and Minnesota from Delta Air Lines. Delta had been serving Devils Lake, N.D., but switched from turboprop aircraft to regional jets. The airport’s runway is not long enough for the [...]
WASHINGTON — Congress, unable to agree on very much lately, has agreed on funding for Amtrak, bus transportation, commercial aviation and transit through Sept. 30, 2012. The funding is for fiscal year 2012, which began Oct. 1. Earlier, Congress agreed to legislation extending FY 2011 funding until final agreement on FY 2012 funding could be [...]
WASHINGTON – For more than four years, Congress has attempted, unsuccessfully, to pass a long-term commercial aviation funding bill to modernize airports and the national’s air traffic control system. Two sticking points this year in reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) are an extension of the $200 million Essential Air Service program and a [...]
WASHINGTON – Federal Transit Administration bus-project and other transit funding – in danger owing to political squabbling — will remain in place at least through March 31, 2012, following House and Senate action to extend temporarily, for the eighth time since 2009, highway taxes that fund transit programs. The House and Senate also agreed Sept. 15 to a [...]
WASHINGTON – The National Transportation Safety Board has updated its “Most Wanted” transportation safety improvements. Included are recommendations for improved bus, rail and aviation safety. Following are the NTSB’s comments of interest to UTU members: Fatigue Airplanes, buses and trains are complex machines that require the full attention of the operator, maintenance person and other [...]
Notified you are under investigation? Wish to file a grievance? Membership rights question? Click on the “Membership Toolbox” for your answer. … (Read more)
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As most railroaders can attest, there are times that procedures and operating rules set by the FRA or imposed by carriers can be difficult to understand. The language may seem vague, and the ballast-level application often is left up to … (Read More)
The dates and locations of UTU regional meetings in 2012 are: 2012 UTU Western Regional MeetingHilton Portland Hotel, Portland, Ore.June 18-20 2012 UTU Eastern Regional MeetingMemphis Peabody Hotel, Memphis, Tenn.July 23-25 Online registration for … (Read More)
