Assistant Chief Pilot For Us Airways Joe Houghton

[deltawatch]

Fred Reid, head of the new Virgin- America, today announced the carrier's American management team.

It includes Joe Houghton, Chief Pilot: With more than 20 years of management and operations experience, Houghton was the assistant chief pilot for US Airways where he managed 725 pilots, including mainline and MetroJet operations, and logged more than 11,000 hours of flight time.

http://www.wsfa.com/Global/story.asp?S=1943389

 

[oldiebutgoody]

Go JOJO!

 

[deltawatch]

There was a rumors in May that Branson and U were talking. Could this be what they're talking about?????

Cabotage

You've heard of "outsourcing", think it can't happen to us? READ ON...

Cabotage would allow foreign air carriers to fly point-to-point within the United States for the first time in our history. We have heard a lot in the news media recently about the trend in corporate America of “outsourcingâ€￾ U.S. jobs to countries overseas. This is our version of “outsourcingâ€￾. This is one of the most dangerous initiatives being promoted by those who don’t care whether or not American jobs are lost in the process.

The AFA Government Affairs Department has been working with the AFL-CIO to ensure that American aviation jobs are not lost, and that safety and salaries are not sacrificed in the name of corporate profits.

Cabotage is an issue that has been lingering in Congress for some time. AFA staved off an attempt during this last session of Congress, and we continue to monitor this situation. Presently, Richard Branson of Virgin Atlantic is attempting to start up Virgin America. Branson has a history of undercutting the competition by paying his flight attendants minimum wage and providing next to nothing in benefits. He is also purported to have stated that flight attendants should never consider making the job a life long profession and should automatically retire at age 30. He has strong supporters in Congress that would like to see him enter the U.S. market and undercut our domestic carriers and American jobs.

AFA Government Affairs is again working with the AFL-CIO to inform Congress that foreign subsidized carriers, such as Branson’s Virgin, will hurt the ability of U.S. carriers to compete. Furthermore, we will not stand for such treatment of employees who work hard to build an airline and then are not rewarded for their labor - now or ever.