News – International Aviation Professionals

Attention All Pilots: Hot Meals are Required

There have been and there continue to be multiple instances of our flights departing without CBA Compliant Catering. Especially grievious are the increasing number of flights departing without hot meals.

Hot meals are required on all flights, regardless of fleet type, when said flights exceed 4 hours of block time.

It is important that all crew members, espcecially Captains, adhere to the CBA. Please do not put your fellow crew members in a compromising position.

If you have an oven that in inoperative and you do not have hot meals, assuming your flight exceeds 4 hours block, you do not need to depart. We recommend you advise the station rep and call a chief pilot to discuss the issue. That said, until appropriate hot meals are loaded onto your aircraft, you do not need to depart.

737 Crews – With the change over to Atlas CBA catering requirements, you are seeing some changes. One of the big changes relates to hot meals. The days of departing with a large salad and a $50.00 meal voucher are over. You are required, per the CBA, to have hot meals on your aircraft. Currently, the Company is refusing to do this. That is a direct violation of the CBA on their part. Please do not depart without a hot meal. We never have and do not currently intend on sanctioning vouchers.

747 Crews – Recently, we have had numerous instances of long-haul flights operating without an operable oven. Most of these recent flights departed without hot meals. It is wholly inappropriate to fly CVG-NRT, for example, without hot meals. Here are recent examples of flights that departed without hot meals and an inop oven:

PVG-ANC, ANC-GDL, LAX-ANC, ANC-MIA, MIA-GRU, SCL-MIA, MIA-ANC, ANC-ICN, ANC-CVG, CVG-ICN

767 Crews – We have also had recent reports of crews operating flights on aircraft with an oven deferred and departing without hot meals. Here are some legs that operated with an inop oven:

RFD-PDX, PDX-AFW, AFW-ONT, ONT-HNL, HNL-RIV

It is imperative that we, as crew members, audit our catering and ensure that each flight has CBA compliant provisions. It is important to remember that a major mitigating tactic for fatigue is proper nutrition and sustenance.

New COVID MOU Released

A new COVID MOU, called MOU III, has been signed and released to extend some of the previous MOUs in alignment with the new CBA effective in Sept. The Company ended the existing MOUs on Sept 30, and the new MOU is effective Oct 1, 2021.

The new MOU can be dowloaded here

[pdf-embedder url=”https://iap2750.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/COVID-MOU-III.pdf”]

New Union organizational structure established

The Executive Board elected in 2021 has established a new organizational chart to oversee all of the committees and volunteers doing work for Local 2750.

Chart updated Sep 5, 2021

Atlas Pilots Elect New Leadership Team

[pdf-embedder url=”https://iap2750.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/AtlasPilotsElectF.pdf”]

Local 2750 Arbitration Update – 07/16/2021

Dear Crewmembers,

Today our counsel had a conference call with JCBA Interest Arbitrator Eischen and Company counsel at the request of the Arbitrator. The Arbitrator informed our counsel that he is experiencing a family medical emergency related to his wife’s pancreatic cancer treatment that necessitates surgery for her next week. Due to his family medical needs, he was required to request a one-month extension of the issuance date of the JCBA interest arbitration award. The Arbitrator was apologetic about his need to ask for a continuance and committed to issuing his award no later than September 10, 2021 with the goal of issuing it sooner than that date. Given these circumstances, both the Company and Union of course agreed to his request. We all understand the serious impact cancer has on a family and medical issues can disrupt plans for all of us. We know all of the pilot group give their best wishes and prayers for a speedy recovery for Arbitrator Eischen’s wife. We will keep you informed of any further developments related to the JCBA interest arbitration process.

Fraternally,

Bob Kirchner
IBT Local 2750 Trustee

Updated COVID SAFO 25May21

Updated SAFO

Final JCBA Proposals Submitted

Final JCBA Proposals Submitted

February 16, 2021

Late last night, per the Protocol Agreement requirement, the final JCBA (Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement) proposals were exchanged between the union, comprised of Local 2750 representing the Atlas pilots and Local 1224 representing the Southern pilots, and the company Atlas Air. The exchange happened late last night as the company was making final adjustments to their proposal.

Sometime before the scheduled 11-day arbitration hearing, which is set to begin on March 17, 2021, the proposals will be submitted to the Arbitrator, Mr. Dana Eischen. From there, the CBA asks the arbitrator to issue the award 60 days after the beginning of the arbitration hearings, which again is March 17, 2021.

While we are still reviewing the documents, going into arbitration, the company is proposing Kalitta pay rates for the B-747 and below Kalitta pay rates for the B-777, B-767, and B-737. A 1% increase in retirement pay, offset by a reduction in medical benefits and 17 days of work per month. We will have more details as we have time to more thoroughly sort through all the documents we received late last night.

Let me refresh your memory as to how contract negotiations have gone over the past year or so. In a nutshell, while the company constantly spews out lip service on how genuine and committed they are to getting a JCBA, they have not made any real moves at the negotiating table since June of 2020. Their go-to response to our constant efforts to move things along has been, ‘Current Book’ or as of recently ‘No Provision’. On the other hand, the union has constantly made substantive changes during that same period of time to get movement at the negotiating table always with the company responding as above. Therefore, it is now obvious that the company decided to stop negotiating and wait for the arbitration that they have coveted for over 4 years. An anti-employee goal for which they have, by our estimation, wasted over $1 billion dollars to get to this point. It is clear that Atlas values their pilots at a level below what Kalitta values his pilots. Standby for more lip service from them.

On the union side, leading up to negotiations, the Atlas and Southern negotiating committees have operated separately with approximately weekly coordinating meetings to compare notes. As we approached the deadline yesterday to submit the final arbitration proposal, the two negotiating committees had discussions to put the different proposals together into one. As it turns out, both proposals were pretty close in most of the major areas that are still open. In the end, with the assistance of the IBT, the final union proposal was arrived at. I applaud the Southern negotiating committee’s hard work and diligence in their efforts to get the best result .

This arbitration process is one that was never intended to be used the way Atlas has used it over the years. It is a process that we have resisted and one that the company has used in every contract negotiation at Atlas since 2002. Their objective has been not only to keep us at wages and work rules below what we should have in this industry, but also to deny a fair and equitable process to all of us. A process that every airline big and small enjoys and has enjoyed for 2 decades while we have not. It is a process that unjustly denies every crew member at Atlas, Polar and Southern the equitable and just right to ratify the CBA which we will live under. By the way, in the company’s final proposal, they have proposed the same Article 1 we currently have, so they can keep perpetrating the same unjust process over and over again.

Over the next month, the negotiating committee and the union in general will mobilize all of its resources to create the best case going forward in arbitration. We will keep you posted.

Fraternally,

Bob Kirchner

Trustee
IBT Local 2750

Negotiating Committee Update 02/12/2021

Negotiating Committee Update

February 12, 2021

As you have sadly grown accustomed to reading, management made little movement in this final week of negotiations. Further, we regret to inform you that, after spending the last five years attempting to engage in constructive dialogue with management to reach the industry standard contract you deserve, we are left with a significant portion of the contract remaining unresolved. Throughout the years, we made countless attempts at problem solving with new and creative ways of improving the working conditions and pay for our pilot group. Unfortunately, management never approached this process in a similar fashion, but instead chose a path of resistance, delay and obstruction.

From the onset of negotiations, we have always approached issues from an analytical standpoint where we benchmarked our proposals to the industry. The goal we set out to achieve was simply to gain the pay and benefits currently enjoyed by other pilot groups — never anything more, never anything less. Despite our reasonable objective, we find ourselves today in the position where management has chosen a path of hiding behind the arbitrator rather than leading the ship by taking the actions needed to recognize the daily sacrifices this pilot group makes in building and helping this airline operate efficiently.

Town Hall and Instructor Meetings, Employee Exchanges, and Ground School sessions have often been filled with statements made by management about ‘wanting to give you the contract you deserve’ along with claims like ‘we need to pay you more’ or ‘we plan to give you an industry competitive contract.’ The reality is that they apparently never meant any of it as their actions have spoken much louder than their words. We will never forget such behavior.

Moving forward, final arbitration proposals will be submitted on Monday, February 15^th. Preparations are already underway for arbitration, in which we will be supporting our excellent attorneys and subject matter experts. Dana Eischen has been selected as the arbitrator to handle our dispute and he will meet with both parties to hear and determine all outstanding unresolved issues from March 17^th through March 31^st (excluding weekends). We will report back to you as arbitration transpires.

It has been our greatest honor to serve this pilot group throughout these challenging times. We will forever be grateful for your unwavering support.

Sincerely,

Your Negotiating Committee

Chris Knox, Doug Malcolm, Heath Martin, Keith Carbine, Lionel Largmann, and Yngve Paulsen

Jumpseating & COVID-19 Testing

February 8th, 2021

** EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY **

Jumpseating on a company airplane from an international destination, you will be required to provide a negative COVID-19 test. This requirement is ONLY FOR JUMPSEAT; if you are on duty status, i.e., Operating Crew or Deadhead, this requirement will not apply.

THE JUMPSEATER IS SOLELY RESPONSIBLE TO OBTAIN A NEGATIVE COVID-19 TEST.

Having received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine DOES NOT alleviate the Jumpseater from the requirement of having the negative test prior to entering the USA.
If you have previously tested positive for COVID-19, you are exempt from this requirement for 90 days from the initial positive test BUT must provide documentation from a medical health care provider stating you are COVID-19 recovered and eligible for travel.

As previously reported in the Pilot Support Flight Operations News (29 Jan 2021), the C.D.C. issued a new order under Section 361 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. Â§264) and 42 Code of Federal Regulation Â§Â§ 71.20 & 71.31(b) requiring passengers entering the United States to provide a Negative COVID-19 test.

The actual text from the C.D.C. states the following:

“If you plan to travel internationally, you will need to get tested no more than 3 days before you travel by air into the United States (U.S.) and show your negative result to the airline before you board your flight, or be prepared to show documentation of recovery (proof of a recent positive viral test and a letter from your healthcare provider or a public health official stating that you were cleared to travel).”

Under the F.A.Q. of the C.D.C. website that pertains to this Order, personal travel for air carriers crews’ states:

What types of crew are exempt from the requirements of the Order? What types of travel by crew are exempt from the requirements of the Order?

Crewmembers on official duty assigned by the air carrier or operator that involves operation of aircraft, or the positioning of crew not operating the aircraft (i.e., on “deadhead” status), are exempt from the requirements of the Order provided their assignment is under an air carrier’s or operator’s occupational health and safety program.

Crewmembers traveling for training, commuting to or from work, or for business reasons not associated with the operation of the aircraft are not exempt from the testing requirement. Nor are crew traveling for personal reasons, such as leisure travel.

In a positioning or “deadhead” scenario, the crew member is on the “clock” and their time and movement are directed by the air carrier either into, from, or between operational assignments. On the other hand, “commuting” to and from locations where official duty begins and ends is considered personal travel. Crew would not be exempted from the Order when they are in a commuting status.

Further information can be found at the following site:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/testing-international-air-travelers.html

This requirement is in effect immediately; if you plan to do any international travel via Jumpseating on company aircraft, please plan accordingly.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the Jumpseat Committee or Pilot Support.

Very Respectfully

CA Tony Baca
Jumpseat Chairman
832-689-7592
747fr8@gmail.com

Protocol Agreement Signed

Today, the IBT signed the interest arbitration protocol agreement with the company. The protocol agreement is a simple document that addresses structural issues relating to the conduct for the upcoming arbitration.

Let me address the process and pertinent facts we have been through to get to this point and what needs to happen going forward:

We need an arbitrator to comply with the CBA’s timeline, something that was dictated by Judge Cooper from the US District Court Washington, DC, last year.
With the timeline below in mind, I approached the company negotiators in early October to select an arbitrator. They delayed this selection for over a month and then punted it over to their anti-labor Los Angeles law firm.
This law firm demanded a ‘Protocol Agreement’ for arbitration, despite the fact that it is not required by the CBA ‘process’ or the court order.
To this day, the company’s lawyers have refused to select an arbitrator until we have a signed protocol agreement.
After months of delay, the protocol agreement has been finally signed by the IBT and the company (see below).
The protocol agreement has nothing that is airline or local union specific. What is in the document affects the Atlas and Southern pilots in completely the same manner. In fact, there is nothing that is controversial in the document.
Today, we have engaged the company on the selection and scheduling of an arbitrator. I will let you know how they respond because, as you can see, they have been in no hurry to say the least to select an arbitrator.
All the while, time grows short to select an experienced arbitrator, as their schedules fill up quickly.