TAMC on Capitol Hill

Members representing the TAMC were on the Hill this past week. On February 11th, TAMC Chairman Chris Moore and Bob Fisher had meetings with Matthew McCarthy, Legislative Assistant for Transportation for Senator Maria Cantwell, (D-WA) and Chris Brown, Staff Director of the House Subcommittee on Aviation. 

The meetings were to continue discussions on moving the TAMC agenda on Drug Testing at Foreign Repair Stations and the Moratorium on Certification of any new Repair Stations going forward. The TAMC started the conversation on these issues in 2014 and will continue to work to have them addressed during FAA Reauthorization which is set to expire in September of 2015.  

Driving the TAMC position on Drug Testing at Foreign Repair Stations is the disparity between how Drug and Alcohol testing for Safety Sensitive positions are treated differently in other countries than in the US. In the US, “No Notice” DOT testing is conducted as a deterrent to substance abuse but in many countries testing is only conducted for cause. The TAMC understands that the US cannot dictate which laws or civil liberties are in place in countries where US aircraft are maintained, but the FAA can require that US Registered Air Carriers only use vendors that conform to the same standards for testing as those within our borders.  

The TAMC demand for a moratorium on New Repair Station Certifications stems from three Inspector General Reports over a ten year period criticizing the FAA for lack of oversight of Repair Stations. The TAMC first brought this to the attention of Administrator Huerta in January of 2014 and has had continuing correspondence with Associate Administrator Gilligan throughout the Spring of 2014.  The FAA maintains that the problems can be addressed through additional training for the A.S.I.s (Aviation Safety Inspectors) and the introduction of a new Safety Assurance System. While the TAMC applauds the FAA’s efforts to ensure more effective oversight, over the last decade to provide better oversight, history has proven the efforts ineffective.  

Therefore in the interest of Aviation Safety, the TAMC will continue to pressure the FAA to impose a moratorium on certification of any new Repair Stations until there is proof of better oversight. 

Additional information may be found at www.teamsterair.org  under the TAMC tab or athttps://www.oig.dot.gov

Negotiations Update February 8, 2015

On February 3^rd the Benefits Committee convened at the offices of Cheiron in Chicago to review the TeamCare proposal. This is the proposal that was reported on in the January 17^th Dispatch and was provided to the Benefits Committee that weekend. The Benefits Committee spent the previous two weeks reviewing the proposal and the corresponding plan documents. The Benefits Committee spent all day on February 3^rd dissecting the proposal with the help of benefits actuary Gaelle Gravot to prepare questions for the meeting with TeamCare on the February 4^th.

  

On February 4^th both the Benefits and the Negotiating Committees met at the offices of TeamCare in Rosemont, IL. TeamCare made a presentation to the group explaining what they could offer the group as well as the size and health of the fund. Currently TeamCare provides insurance to close to 500,000 people and have 21.5 months of funding in reserve. What that means is that if every company in the fund stopped contributing, TeamCare would be able to provide benefits for 21.5 months. The presentation continued until lunch. After lunch, both committees asked questions of TeamCare representatives until the end of the day. It was determined that there were still questions and so both committees returned on February 5^th to get more answers. 

TeamCare had responses for the outstanding questions prepared for the group that morning. After receiving those answers, the Benefits Committee met with the assistance of Gaelle Gravot and attorney Ed Gleason. The committee discussed the proposal until right before lunch. Both committees then met and discussed the findings of the benefits committee. At the end of the discussion; given that the overall benefits provided were better and the cost was lower, the Benefits Committee unanimously recommended to the rank and file negotiating that they adopt the TeamCare proposal. The rank and file committee discussed the findings and recommendations of the benefits committee. When it appeared that all questions were asked, one of the rank and file committee members called for the question. The vote was taken and there was no opposition to the recommendation of the Benefit Committee. Before the proposal was adopted, a couple of committee members asked that all representatives except for the thirteen voting members recuse themselves. The thirteen members then met and again the recommendation of the Benefits Committee was overwhelmingly adopted without opposition.  

Accordingly, the TeamCare proposal was added to the comprehensive proposal that will be given to mediator McGuckin on Monday the 9^th.  

For those members in an HMO in California, Hawaii, Denver and Chicago; TeamCare will be replicating those plans so there will be nothing new except for whatever the final cost share ends up to be. For everyone else the proposal is for a non-grandfathered plan that is similar to the MM100 plan offered by TeamCare with coverage provided mostly by Blue Cross and Blue Shield. Non-grandfathered plans are subject to regulations of the ACA so that is why there are differences from the MM100 plan. It was deemed by the committee that it would be better to move forward with the non-grandfathered plan as it provides more benefits to the membership. To see the plan documents for MM100 navigate tohttps://myteamcare.org/forms_and_documents.aspx and use code MA. The committee was informed that 95% of all hospitals and 91% of Doctors are in network. To see if your Doctor participates navigate to https://myteamcare.org/find_a_provider.aspx 

The Benefits Committee was then excused and thanked for their diligence. At that point there were several clarifying questions to Ed Gleason about the committee’s pension proposal. In the end there were no changes recommended to the pension proposal made in November of 2013. 

The committee then worked towards putting the finishing touches on the comprehensive proposal. As stated above, this work is complete as of this writing and the proposal will be forwarded to mediator McGuckin on the 9^th. It is believed that once the mediator reviews this proposal that the parties will possibly reconvene later this month.

Paperwork: Can’t Live With It, Can’t Live Without It

As Aviation Maintenance Professionals, we all know that no matter what we do on the job there will be paper work involved. Regardless of whether we are working a job, reading GMM revisions or doing recurrent training, there is a paper trail attached to every aspect of our jobs.

Airlines are constantly upgrading Information Technology,adding new fleet types, changing GMM requirements and morphing maintenance programs. The deluge of information

and paperwork changes an be maddening. It causes confusion and frustration which can and has led to FAR violations,FAA licensing action, discipline, and in some cases termination.

Experienced mechanics can look at a problem and often have the solution before even glancing at a piece of paper.Therein lies the problem.

Regardless of the scope of the work, documentation is essential.

You must know your airlines’ paperwork and procedure requirements and follow them. If there are discrepancies,bring them to management immediately. Double check! Is the part you are installing effective for the tail number you are working on? Do you have the correct manual references for the job at hand? Are there“Lock Out Tag Out” procedures? Does the job you are performing have GMM procedures

that must be followed along with your Maintenance Manual Reference? Is there special tooling

or equipment required for the job, is it in good working condition and are the calibration dates still good? And all of this must happen before you ever pick up a wrench.

Even with the best of intentions, oversights can happen. If you cannot perform the job as written, DON’T. If you don’t have the proper tooling, don’t improvise. Document your work every step of the way. Don’t take short cuts. Don’t sign for work you did not perform unless you are in compliance with FAR 43.9 (http://ibt.io/far439) and your company’s paperwork policy regarding signing for others’ work. Remember,if you sign for it, you own it. Report all procedural discrepancies to management and use the ASAP/MSAP program at your airline to report it. Most importantly, if you become aware of a mistake, report it immediately and fill out an ASAP/MSAP report.

Many of us have been in the industry for two or three decades. We have seen and adapted to constant changes in technology on the aircraft we maintain. Along with those changes comes the ever-evolving paperwork which we must adapt to as well. Pull your paperwork, follow your paperwork,question your paperwork if it appears discrepant and, above all, Protect Your License.

United's firm commitments to purchase aircraft

As of September 30, 2014, United had firm commitments to purchase aircraft from The Boeing Company (“Boeing”), Embraer S.A. (“Embraer”) and Airbus S.A.S. (“Airbus”) presented in the table below:

Click here for more details on UAL

Aircraft Type	Number of Firm          Commitments (a)
Airbus A350-1000		35
Boeing 737-900ER		39
Boeing 737 MAX 9		100
Boeing 787-8/-9/-10		53
Embraer 175		22