Month: June 2022

The following was issued by the leaders of the EAGLE (Eliminate Aviation Gasoline Lead Emissions) initiative following the June 2022 stakeholder update:

To advance the common vision of completely eliminating the use of lead in general aviation fuel, a comprehensive update was provided on June 23 to all stakeholders and interested parties by leaders and working groups of the industry/government EAGLE initiative.

EAGLE was developed with one clear goal: eliminate lead from all aviation fuel by 2030 without negatively impacting the safe and efficient operations of the current GA fleet. Stakeholders included a wide range of more than 100 aviation associations, aircraft and fuel manufacturers, federal and local government bodies, airport officials, pilot groups, environmental organizations, and other related constituents. The meeting furthered the EAGLE objective of bringing all parties together to discuss and rally around the shared goal of an unleaded aviation future.

EAGLE leaders and working groups outlined the progress being made in a number of priority areas, including fuel testing, evaluation, and authorization; research, development, and implementation; and regulatory and policy activities. The group addressed a number of potential unleaded fuel candidates.

“This continues to be the biggest opportunity we have in general aviation, but it’s also vital that 100LL be available for those aircraft that require the fuel to operate safely during a smart transition. While we are working together to remove all lead from aviation fuel, this needs to be done smartly and safely,” said Mark Baker, president and CEO of AOPA, and EAGLE co-chair.

“It is going to take a sustained level of commitment to tackle the highly complex set of issues at play here. The spirit of partnership that is key to EAGLE’s success was evident during our discussions today, and I am excited to be a part of it,” said Lirio Liu, executive director of FAA’s Aircraft Certification Service, and EAGLE co-chair.

While the working groups continue their dedicated work on a daily basis, the next EAGLE stakeholder update is being planned for fall 2022. Plans are also underway for an EAGLE leaders update during EAA’s AirVenture in late July.

The head of the Federal Air Marshal Service’s Philadelphia office is tampering with performance reviews, pressuring workers to put off necessary medical care, and opening fraudulent investigations in an illegal attempt to harass and suppress his unionized workforce, the Air Marshal Association alleged on Wednesday June 8th.

The complaint details how Supervisory Air Marshal in Charge Richard Altomare, the Transportation Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security conspired to harass unionized employees and crush workers’ speech rights.

“The Philadelphia field office is in crisis, and workers there have endured a series of failing managers who are devoid of experience and leadership skills,” said Air Marshal Association President John Casaretti.

The complaint details how Altomare began a “despicable and targeted” pattern of harassment and intimidation of unionized employees immediately after his 2021 appointment to lead the Philadelphia field office.

In October 2021, over union protests, Altomare implemented a policy of pressuring Air Marshals, including one seeking cancer treatment, to forgo using sick leave or other forms of paid time off for medical appointments. Altomare also began altering employee performance evaluations, especially those of union members, to eliminate or reduce raises, bonuses, or promotions that they would have otherwise earned. Altomare further retaliated against employees who spoke out against his policies by “selectively” targeting them for misconduct reports. The harassment culminated with some employees receiving direct threats.

The Aviation and Transportation Security Act of the 107th Congress (2001-2002) enacted November 19, 2001 established the Transportation Security Administration, and granted the TSA Administrator broad emergency powers in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Included in these emergency provisions were blanket authorities for the TSA Administrator to create new work rules and systems of compensation. Casaretti notes, “This unprecedented authority was a human capital disaster, cultivating an environment of management abuse, favoritism and discrimination which resulted in record low employee morale, sky high turnover, unjustly stratified pay, and waves of lawsuits.”

The Philadelphia Field Office issues are just the latest in a long list of woes for Air Marshals. The Air Marshal Association is actively educating lawmakers about the harsh reality of working for 20 years as a Federal Air Marshal under the TSA systems. When common medical issues started to surface in the workgroup around 2011, the government commissioned Harvard University to conduct a sleep study on Federal Air Marshals, but the full report was suppressed when details about the grueling shifts, constant exhaustion, inadequate rest, and cognitive impairment surfaced. The agency also uses their pay authority to reward employees via subjective scorecards, and the resulting favoritism, racism, and retaliation have caused over $30,000 pay differences between otherwise equal employees.

The union also points to examples of Air Marshals being assigned to punishing shifts without rest breaks or overtime pay, such as the 18.5-hour long Newark, New Jersey and New Delhi, India nonstop mission and its 20.5 hour return flight which the TSA assigned following the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. In 2015, after years of Air Marshals flying these types of arduous missions without receiving intelligence briefings or explanation, Casaretti filed a collective action lawsuit on behalf of his co-workers to recover the unpaid overtime. The court recently allowed most elements of the precedential claim to advance.

The TSA recognized the Air Marshal Association in 2011 when it was forced to begin deducting payroll allotments for the fledgling group. Now the union meets regularly with TSA officials, collaborates with Congress on laws and appropriations, and over half of all flying Federal Air Marshals are dues paying members.

Union members have been harassed as far back as 2009, when the Association began organizing as an offshoot of a larger labor union. Since TSA security screeners were already well underway with organizing their workgroup, the agency did not want any more employees unionizing. To help stop this movement, former President George W. Bush signed an Executive Order in late 2008 to add Air Marshals to a list of government workers forbidden to bargain collectively. This executive action did not deter Casaretti, who recalls, “After the 2008 EO was signed, they launched a series of frivolous investigations on me. All were baseless, and although I was routinely harassed by investigators, I was cleared and never received any discipline.” Under TSA rules, if a manager merely opens a frivolous inquiry against an Air Marshal, the employee is ineligible for raises, bonuses, transfers, and competitive job assignments. Some inquiries purposefully take years, and because there are no deadlines for investigators to meet, careers are ruined, and managers are able to freeze pay increases indefinitely.

Recently, a multiyear Congressional inquiry from the House Oversight and Government Reform committee’s majority and minority members looked into systemic management abuse and senior official misconduct at TSA. The subsequent reports made it clear that the agency’s authority needed to be reexamined. Another oversight report made clear that Senior Executives within the TSA engaged in serious acts of misconduct but escaped discipline virtually unscathed. When lawmakers reached out to the union for input, they received volumes of data about toxic management, low morale, and an agency nurtured ‘culture of fear’. The union also provided examples of manager misconduct, which was investigated quickly then dismissed, versus identical misconduct charges against Air Marshals which resulted in long investigations and proposals to fire the employee.

However, the 2021 assignment of Altomare to the Philadelphia Field Office has brought TSA dysfunction to another level, with one supervisor sent out to ‘hunt’ for union members, and in Altomare’s own words during a management meeting, declaring “it’s us against them”. This targeted assault against the Air Marshal Association’s member’s right of free association is what finally prompted the federal court filing.

“These deprivations occur due to the unprecedented authority granted to the TSA under the ATSA,” said Casaretti. “The emergency which created the TSA is over, and it is time for Congress to place the runaway TSA bureaucracy back within regular government management systems.”

Congress is working to remake the agency via H.R.903 – the Rights for the TSA Workforce Act of 2021 which passed the House on May 12, 2022, and the companion Senate bill, S.1856 of the same name introduced on 05/26/2021. The bills seek to move the TSA from the controversial ATSA systems and place them into the established Title 5 systems enjoyed by the majority of government workers. The union has spent 5 years working closely with lawmakers on the legislation. For Air Marshals, it means fixing longstanding issues such as high suicide rates and mental health concerns, arduous duty days, intelligence-based scheduling, more diverse training, and ultimately aligning the Federal Air Marshal Service to counter current threats.

“The 20th Anniversary of the 9/11 attacks have come and gone, and the experienced Air Marshals hired in response to those attacks have almost all retired. Each of them has paid a high price for patriotism, battling an abusive agency that makes up its own rules. Individually they succeed, but it’s despite the agency and not because of it,” Casaretti says. “We will continue to work with lawmakers to fix this permanently, but we hope the courts will grant us some immediate relief.”

The union is represented by Mario Bordogna of Clark Hill PLC, and Nicholas Wieczorek of Clark Hill PLC.

The case is Air Marshal Association v. Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security et al., case number 2:22-cv-02254, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

The National Air Transportation Association has launched the NATA Career Center, a comprehensive resource for industry recruitment and career development. An evolution of NATA’s job board, the NATA Career Center enables members to connect with aviation business professionals worldwide, offers guidance on career changes, educates new and potential aviation industry entrants, and provides resources for both job seekers and employers.

“Among our members’ top challenges is employee recruitment and retention. By offering job seekers tools for career development and providing them information that highlights our industry, NATA’s Career Center is much more than a job board – it is yet another way the association is empowering the future success of aviation businesses,” said NATA Vice President of Communications Shannon Chambers.

In addition to being a source for employment opportunities, the NATA Career Center offers numerous benefits to general aviation professionals and employers, including:

• Integration of career resources, professional training, and other NATA member benefits
• Ability to anonymously post resumes, allowing control over which employers may view complete job applicant details
• Variety of options for employer exposure to passive job-seeking aviation professionals, including emails to NATA’s registered job seekers
• Integration of job content into social media channels engages the aviation community and provides valuable job exposure to NATA audiences and relevant users of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other social channels
• Extensive employment brand advertising opportunities for employers
• Mobile-responsive environment ensures an optimal experience for job seekers
• Option for alerts when new jobs become available matching personal interests and goals

“NATA is working to foster new aviation industry professionals, as well as to help individuals reach their greatest potential,” said NATA COO Keith DeBerry. “The NATA Career Center is a powerful tool for our community members to connect with one another, build a solid foundation for career development, and create a pipeline of skilled talent for our industry’s bright future.”

NATA is also working with our members and universities to create pathway programs for new entrants into the general aviation industry, while our National Air Transportation Foundation (NATF) provides access to resources that help combat pervasive workforce challenges.

NATA appreciates the support of the following Association members in helping to make this invaluable resource available to the general aviation community: Atlantic Aviation, Jet Aviation, LJ Aviation, Ross Aviation, Signature Flight Support, and World Fuel Services.

Please visit the NATA Career Center or the NATF webpage for additional information on scholarships, workforce initiatives, and resources.