Page 6 - InterPilot Issue 1 2016
P. 6

6  NEWS, NOTES & EVENTS


         NEWS













         The Many Challenges and Successes


         of Caribbean/South America Region






                                              concerning the English Language Proficiency   currently in contact with them to encourage
           Capt. Diana Martinez (RVP SAM/North)
                                              test which had been changed from doing it   new studies on labour and social impact of the
                         The SAM/North region   person-to-person to a machine-based test,   Open Skies agreement.
                         includes the countries of   causing many pilots to fail the test. The   Since the closure of Uruguay’s national
                         Colombia,  Ecuador,  IFALPA Senior Technical Officer has under-  carrier – PLUNA – in July 2012, the Uruguay’s
                         French Guyana, Guyana,   taken to bring this issue to the attention of   Civil Airline Pilots Association (ACIPLA)
                         Panama, Peru, Suriname   ICAO to review and comment.     members have been actively involved in
                         and Venezuela.                                           creating a brand new carrier – Alas Uruguay.
                           In general terms, the                                  The Certification process was successfully
                         year of 2015 has been a   Capt. Guillermo Masnata (RVP SAM/South)  completed during the year, and the local Civil
                         positive  year.  The                The SAM/South region   Aviation Authority, DINACIA, issued the
                                                                                                           th
                         Member Associations of              covers Argentina, Brazil,   certification on Friday, October 30 2015. Alas
                         the region have been                Chile, Paraguay  and   Uruguay is expected to start its scheduled
         working together to improve labour conditions       Uruguay.             flights next summer. It is the first time in the
         in Latin America despite the anti-union                Associação Brasileira   history of Latin America that a group of airline
         policies of the commercial airlines which           de Pilotos da Aviação   workers have successfully obtained an Air
         ignore the constitutional right of free associa-    Civil (ABRAPAC) in   Operator’s Certificate (AOC), a big milestone
         tion. The airlines have been promoting policies     Brazil  has  grown    that deserves to be celebrated!
         that go against the collective labour agree-        tremendously over the
         ments and the benefits gained by the MAs, as        year. This year, the    Capt. Alfonso Sierra (RVP CAR/West)
         well as offering bonuses to discourage pilots to    Brazilian Senate created
         join an Association. These policies, which   a special committee to work on the reform of   The  CAR/West  region
         clearly improve business productivity, do not   the Brazilian Aeronautic Code (CBA), which is   covers Cuba, Costa Rica,
         take into account human factors, such as the   the most important compilation of civil   Guatemala, El Salvador,
         cost and quality of life of the pilots, when pilot   aviation law. This much needed reform   Nicaragua, Martinique,
         fatigue is not considered as important as other   pursues a complete update and a follow-up on   Puerto Rico, Honduras
         issues, and the safety of air operations.  the constant changes taking place in the      and México.
            The MAs of the region have attended   country. The same modernization process is        Asociación Sindical
         several  meetings throughout the year,   taking place regarding the Federal Law that     de Pilotos Aviadores de
         including Flight Time Limitation and Fatigue   deals with the regulation of the professional   México (ASPA Mexico)
         Risk Management Systems in Lima. The    pilot throughout Brazil. A pilot community has   recently welcomed its
         Associations had the opportunity to present   been organized to work together on several   new Secretary General,
         their concerns to different industry players   projects that have to do with the reform of   Captain Mario Alberto Gonzalez Aguilera.
         about the new policies that the regional    CBA. Furthermore, the MA has carried out   Capt. Aguilera  started  his  pilot career in
         commercial airlines want to implement. Other   successful studies to support the plan on    military aviation where he graduated with
         issues were also addressed during the meeting   integrating a Fatigue Risk Management System   honors and was worthy of international
         such as Open Skies, Freedom of Registration,   (FRMS) throughout the country.   recognitions. In 1992, he joined Aerolitoral
         Globalization of Multinational Partnership and   The MA in Chile, Asociacion de Pilotos de   Services (Aeromexico Connect) and from 1997
         Mitigation License.                  Chile (ASPCH), had the opportunity to   until this present date, he is captain of B-737 in
            Last but not least, the Pilot Group in Peru is   present their concerns of Open Skies agree-  Aeromexico. During the IFALPA CAR/SAM
         currently facing an issue with the DGAC    ments to their government. The Association is   Regional  meeting  held  in  Buenos  Aires,
         Issue 1 | 2016                                                         InterPilot | The safety and Technical Journal of IFALPA
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