Special Update

 February 2, 2004

Armed Pilot Fix Legislation Needs Your Support!

“The fact is in your world, sir, these ‘hero pilots’ will be stopping armed robberies in 7-Eleven’s or saving women from street thugs...”.

In this action-packed issue:

Ø      TSA’s dirty little secret about their thwarting Congress’ law to arm airline pilots explodes in the press! 

Ø      A bipolar TSA threatens FFDO’s for talking to Congress – then encourages them – and Congress says it’s had ENOUGH!

Ø      Does the word, legislation mean anything to you?  It will if you read the most important update we’ve ever published!

Also -

Ø      APSA bids auf viedersehen to our President, Captain Bob Lambert.

Ø      APSA Captain’s Club is cleared for takeoff at max power.

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If you’re thinking you’re just going to skim over this latest update, think again!  We’re about to tell you about the most surreal month in airline security since the armed pilots law was passed!  It’s been somewhere between Watergate and The Pelican Brief, and APSA is not standing around like TSA screeners watching it go by!  We’re right in the thick of it!  So build a fire, sit back, and read the Update that’s going to leave your jaw hanging open!

Were you getting tired of being ORANGE?  Well, we’re back to YELLOW now (sort of) after canceling a flock of flights over the holidays because the TSA knew it couldn’t prevent them from being attacked.  As this is written a new terror warning has resulted in the cancellation of numerous more flights, among them, a domestic Continental Airlines flight from Washington to Houston. 

The TSA’s flight cancellations are as subtle as a bottle rocket. The fact that al Qaeda is still targeting our airliners for hijackings means that, billions of dollars later, TSA has failed in deterring the terrorists!  If airline security is so foolproof, why do we need to cancel all those flights?  And why is the government insisting on armed officers for foreign flights, at the same time it’s leaving our own completely defenseless?!  Don’t wait for the answer because there isn’t one!  But now, there are some hard questions being asked!

The Truth Gets Out!

With help from APSA, the TSA’s dirty little secret -- it’s deliberate sabotage of the FFDO program – exploded in the press in the December 12, 2003 issue of The Washington Times (see our site). TSA was left reeling and scrambling to respond to the Times’ article—if only they could find someone to back up their story (it’s lonely at the bottom). This extremely well written synopsis of, Everything You Didn’t Want to Know about the FFDO Program and were Afraid was True, is a must-read for every airline pilot—and passenger. It details exactly why nearly 90% of initial FFDO volunteers changed their minds and now decline to participate in the TSA’s charade. Threatening “screening” that could cost a pilot his job and an unsafe weapons carry procedure, are driving pilots away, as the piece puts it, “in droves.” The read is guaranteed to cure low blood pressure.

Two weeks later, thanks to Captain Tracy Price, new APSA President Captain David Mackett and APSA Board Members, The Wall Street Journal, published an op-ed entitled “Too Few Guns in the Cockpit,” highlighting the irony of placing foreignarmed guards on incoming foreign flights, while TSA relentlessly obstructs our own FFDO officers.

How did the TSA respond?  Like the true professionals we all know them to be! They allegedly threatened their own FFDO’s with civil fines and dismissal for talking to their elected officials!  Just as last summer, when TSA bureaucrats were accused of threatening to prosecute their own air marshals under the Patriot Act for tattling to Congress about TSA incompetence, CNS News reports TSA sent an email to its FFDO’s threatening them if they talked to Congress!  Then, when the email was exposed, in an almost “schizophrenic” reversal, TSA sent another email, dripping with honey, apologizing for the first, and saying they really meant they encouraged FFDO’s to talk to Congress about the program!  We wonder if the bureaucrats at TSA would pass their own psych screening!   By the time you read this, the Washington Times will have done a follow up article lambasting TSA incompetence.   All of these articles are on our website.

The BIG NEWS – Finally!  Fix Legislation!

TSA’s threats were, “the last straw” for Senator Bunning (R-KY), and Congressman Wilson (R-SC).  They are ABOUT TO introducE legislation in both houses of Congress, which ENFORCES THE INTENT OF THE ARMED PILOTS LAW and STANDARDIZES THE FFDO PROGRAM!  How do we know it’s a real fix?  Who do you think had a big hand in writing the bill?!

This may be our last drink at the legislative trough, folks, so, when the Action Alert goes out in the next few days, get out there and start making phone calls to Congress and the White House.  Start calling now, if you like, just don’t get burned out too soon!  This is what we’ve been pushing for, for over a year!  It’s an election year and Congress will pay attention! 

If you call once, great!  If you call every day, write every week, and visit once a month, outstanding!  We’ll stop TSA in its tracks. 

We expect TSA to roll out a few “kool-aid drinking FFDO’s,” (if there are any left) to tell us everything’s just dandy and the government is here to help us!  So, Congress needs to hear America’s airline pilots, and America’s people, loud and clear!  We’re publishing a separate page with the current bill’s highlights, so read it and get excited!  We’re winning our marathon and the finish line is in sight, but we need to ‘kick it in’ now!  There will be much, much more about the pending legislation in the next few weeks, after it is formally introduced.  But, it’s going to move fast and we’re going to have opposition.  Luckily, we’re no stranger to opposition, are we?!  Get ready to start making phone calls!  There’s no time to lose!

“Silent Wings:”  A Tribute Flight to Fallen Friends

To call attention to the new legislation aimed at keeping us from ever being defenseless again, and to rededicate ourselves for the fight ahead -- in the next month, each member of your APSA Leadership Team, will fly a personal tribute flight to honor the crews who died needlessly and helplessly on September 11, 2001.  We’ve invited our Captain’s Club members to join us.  It’s a way of remembering why we’re here and the heroes that are no longer with us, and recommitting ourselves to doing whatever it takes to win this fight by passing the new law.

A Bigger, Better Alliance!

APSA continues to grow in both membership and stature.  We consistently get calls for media interviews and to consult with Congress on the issues of airline security and armed pilots.  That’s because we are an organization of airline crews, who will not flinch in telling the truth about airline security and the media and Congress knows it!  

The last remaining original APSA board member, Captain Bob Lambert, resigned as APSA President and Director effective January 1, 2004.  Bob was one of the “Original Five” who descended on Washington, DC, one blustery day in November of 2001. Bob built the original APSA Website and was our original Director of Membership. He “stood in the gap” and gave APSA continuity, responded to TSA shenanigans forcefully, and positioned APSA to move forward. The current and former APSA Board of Directors, Trustees and other APSA staff want to express our gratitude to Bob for his two plus years of very generous service (a full-time “part time” post, without compensation) and wish him well in his new job as an APSA Advisor (where old Directors go). Thanks to Bob’s persistence, APSA is now poised to leap to its next level of evolutionary change.

That change starts with the election of Captain Dave Mackett, as APSA’s new President. As Executive Vice President, Dave displayed a keen ability to not only quickly grasp the significance of situations and formulate appropriate responses, but also to get out in front. He is the right man at the right time. 

First Officer Rob Davie, a former law enforcement officer, is liaisoning with the law enforcement community, which overwhelmingly supports APSA in its goals.  In fact, just last week, Rob got a letter from one of the Supervisory Special Agents of a Regional DEA Office to tell us and his men support everything we are doing.

APSA has numerous other staff members, liaisons and consultants, all instrumental in carrying us forward.  But, we can always use more help.  If you are interested in getting involved, email David_Mackett@secure-skies.org.

Captain’s Club Cleared for Takeoff

Don’t forget to check out the latest developments on our Website and drop in on the APSA Captain’s Club.  We made a difficult decision to devote resources from a dramatic expansion of the Club, toward government affairs and media, during the Orange Alert, to take advantage of the opportunities it presented us.  Given that we have new legislation pending and massive media coverage, we know it was the right call.  Now, we’ll be concentrating on developing the Club in a big way, over the next three months.  We have put off the planned rate increase at least until then.  For the time being, the Captain’s Club membership fee will remain at the artificially low “beta test rate” of only $25 per year. 

If you have upgraded your membership to the Captain’s Club, we thank you. If not, for a measly twenty-five bucks, it entitles you to even greater discounts on the fine aviation and security merchandise there, special information, and, this month, the opportunity to join your fellow pilots and flight attendants in flying a tribute flight in honor of the crews who were murdered by terrorists. Every membership and purchase helps APSA secure your next flight.

We Are APSA! 

Okay, listen up -- because we’re all in this together!  Your APSA leadership has been working for you without compensation, on our days off, about 50 hours per week each, for almost two years.  And we’ve been glad to do it!  You, in turn, have stayed the course with us, and with each other, all that time; donated, talked up the issues, and been there for us every time we’ve asked. 

We need you to do something now.  We need you to pay very close attention to the Action Alerts on the website and in your email, tell every pilot at every aircraft change what’s going on, and give them our website address.  Tell them there’s pending legislation that enforces the intent of the law Congress already passed and standardizes the treatment of Federal Flight Deck Officers, and it’s gonna move fast!  Ask them if they’re tired of being defenseless. 

Stay tuned for more updates at the speed of light!