Airline pilots union steered $220,000 to 1Q lobbying

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/5710397.html

WASHINGTON — The Air Line Pilots Association International, a union representing 60,000 pilots, spent $220,000 in the first quarter to lobby on aviation security and other issues, according to a disclosure report filed Tuesday.

The pilots union also lobbied Congress in the January-to-March period on legislation involving pilots' retirement savings and reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration.

The union lobbied on aviation security legislation to screen airport workers with access to secure areas of airports.

Last month, the FAA ordered the audit of maintenance records at all domestic airlines after reports of missed safety inspections at Southwest Airlines. The airline was hit with a record $10.2 million fine for continuing to fly dozens of Boeing 737s that hadn't been inspected for cracks in their fuselages.

The union represents pilots of 43 U.S. and Canadian carriers, including those from Northwest Airlines Corp. and Delta Air Lines Inc., which recently announced they would combine. The union in a statement said pilots on both sides of a merger should be fully involved in the negotiations.

ALPA also supported legislation that raised the mandatory retirement age of U.S. pilots to 65, from 60. President Bush signed the measure into law in December.

Elizabeth Baker, who worked for Rep. Jerry Costello, D-Ill., is among those registered to lobby for the union, which filed the report with the House clerk's office.