OUR GOALS

Our Goals:

In our legislative efforts, the Remember 3407 Project intends to seek the following changes:

1. Amend or change current crew rest regulations to ensure 8 hours of REST, not simply ‘off duty’. Current regulations allow for situations in which crew members can not realistically expect to get 8 hours of sleep in a night.

Current rest regulations allow for things such as ‘Reduced Rest’ periods allowing that they are followed by ‘Compensatory Rest’ on the next night. Under such conditions, pilots are considered on ‘Rest’ as little as 15 MINUTES after arriving at the gate, and are given EIGHT HOURS of total rest- which ends at SHOW TIME FOR DUTY AT THE AIRPORT THE NEXT DAY. Due to travel to hotels, meal requirements, etc., this frequently places flight crewmembers in a position to receive well under eight hours of sleep a night.

2. Change policy to make sure no pilot is punished for fatigue and define "Fatigue" as a federally protected right.

Currently, some air carriers dock pilots’ pay for reporting “too tired to fly safely”. Pilots at some carriers will not declare ‘fatigue’ due to fear of termination.

3. A minimum wage for entry level airline pilots.

Recent media interest has shown that pilots often make less than $20,000 in their first year of service with some air carriers.

Subsequent wages increases are often little more than that. It is not uncommon to hear a modern airline pilot speaking of the day when they ‘make a livable wage’. Such wages often are spent towards things such as overnight hotels or ‘crashpads’ so a pilot has a place to sleep prior to beginning a trip the next day. In the absence of a ‘livable wage’, many pilots are forced to find less suitable alternatives, potentially sacrificing vital rest.

4. Raising the minimum experience requirements to be employed as an airline pilot.

Over the past few years, airlines were faced with rapid growth and had difficulty finding qualified applicants at their normally preferred levels. In the absence of those meeting high standards, airlines simply lowered their minimum hiring requirements. Contrary to public statements recently made, not all airline pilots hold Airline Transport Pilot Certificates or have 1500 hours flight experience. In the past few years, pilots were hired with less demanding Commercial Pilot Certificates and as low as 190 flight hours total experience.

5. Seek legislation to outlaw the ‘Pay-For-Job’ programs.

Some airlines, including some recently featured in the media, operate with ‘Pay-For-Job’ programs. These programs promise prospective pilots guaranteed pilot positions as First Officers upon completion of training. Remember 3407 Project believes that this obligation sold to pilots by airlines is a direct conflict of interest with an airline’s requirement to ‘wash out’ pilots who do not meet demanding training requirements.

6. Require clearer identification of Regional Airline Affiliate operations.

Public cries of‘ ”I’ll just avoid those regional airline types!” have been seen across the internet since the crash of flight 3407. Often, the relationship between ‘Major’ airlines and ‘Regional’ Airlines is so seamless that people cannot tell the difference. Remember 3407 Project intends to change that.

7. If new, restructured, reassigned or cancelled flying contracts are planned, labor must have adequate time of a predetermined length to review it before implementation. If contract disputes arise, the change is frozen until dispute is settled in court.

Frequently, unscrupulous airline management teams will suppress movements for improved working conditions by subcontracting revenue flight operations to other companies. Remember 3407 Project intends to write legislation to prevent, thereby guaranteeing job stability and regularity in airline operations.

8. Changing the Railway Labor Agreement so the National Mediation Board can't block a strike. Proper bargaining leverage has been denied to pilots for years.

Many airlines managers will tell you that “all airlines operate under the same strict set of rules”. This is at best a misleading statement. The Federal Aviation Regulations that all airlines operate under are not nearly as restrictive as many of the labor contracts negotiated by pilots. The pilots of any given airline frequently have concerns with the safety of their work environment. To address them, many bring them to the bargaining table. However, in the event of an impasse in negotiations, pilots cannot strike without permission from the National Mediation Board. This allows unscrupulous airline managers to delay contract negotiations indefinitely, all in the interest of ‘profit’.

9. ‘Whipsaw’ prevention and Contract Violation protection is also a concern.

Even when a pilot group successfully negotiations needed changes to a labor contract, many find them only as good as the paper they’re printed on. While contracts and federal labor law allow for grievance processes, these processes are usually lengthy and often non-consequential to contract violators. Beyond that, some pilots face anti-labor “Whipsaws”, in which they are threatened with losing jobs to another company under contract if they don’t provide contract concessions to airline managers. Remember 3407 Project seeks to change existing laws to prevent ‘whipsawing’ and penalize willful contract violation.

10. …. And much, much, more.

Remember 3407 Project intends to become a voice not just for the founding members, but for the airline industry as a whole. Send us your ideas, suggestions, and other concerns. In time, we hope to become a mechanism for addressing industry concerns currently overlooked or bypassed by current organizations in the airline industry.