FAA allows travelers to use electronic devices during flight

        Ever since digital media became portable, travelers have grumbled about the strict rules concerning the use of personal devices on aircraft.However, according to USA Today, the FAA has recently met with a committee “representing the airlines, manufacturers, electronic makers, pilots and flight attendants.” (USA Today, 2013) After meeting with the committee, the FAA made the decision to change their requirements and have made the move to allow personal devices to be used during all phases of flight, given that each airline can test and prove that their aircraft's systems are not affected. Another provision of the new regulation is that all cellular activity is still prohibited and all devices must be in airplane mode.

        The regulation was met with excitement from those who supported the changes, according to The Wall Street Journal, airlines such as Delta and JetBlue have already performed their test and are jumping to get approval from the FAA, and American Airlines had plans to apply for approval in the very near future. While most of the world seems to be excited about the change, there a some who still have their concerns.

        According to the Washington Post, ALPA is not as excited about the changes, they are concerned about the effects of devices on navigational aids during poor weather, and are concerned about the fact that it is up to individuals to put their devices in airplane mode, and they do not believe that everyone will be willing to comply. An article on NBC News states worries from flight attendants over the issue, they believe that they will have to become “tablet police” and increase the amount of confrontation between them and passengers.

        I have mixed feelings about the new regulations, on one side I believe that it will be good for the industry to be able to provide, or allow this service to take place. However, people do not generally have any loyalties to air carriers and thanks to websites like expedia.com, travelers can fly one leg of their flight on a delta aircraft and the second leg on a united or any other carrier, if one company allows the policy and the other doesn't, I don't believe people will understand why they could use their device on one plane, and not on another. I think it has the potential to lead to misunderstandings and hot tempers, but then again, I suppose that isn't something we don't see at the airport already!

Jansen, B. (2013, November 01). Faa loosens rules for electronic devices during flights. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/10/31/faa-gadgets-personal-electronics/3238207/

Lazo, L., & Berman, M. (2013, October 31). Faa to relax rules on personal electronic devices while in flight. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/faa-to-relax-rules-on-personal-electronic-devices-while-in-flight/2013/10/31/d674b04e-4243-11e3-8b74-d89d714ca4dd_story.html

Nicas, J., & Pasztor, A. (2013, October 31). Faa says fliers can use devices during all phases of flight. Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304527504579169542339497208

Popken, B. (2013, October 31). Faa to allow tablets and e-readers during all phases of flight. Retrieved from http://www.nbcnews.com/business/faa-allow-tablets-e-readers-during-all-phases-flight-8C11504132

US Airways and American Airline Merger

      Mergers within the airline industry have been happening for years but the most recent proposed merger between US Airways and American Airlines has caused some concern. There is debate over whether the merger will be good for the consumer or not, will it raise prices or lower prices? According to the Huffington Post the merger will lower competition on more than 1600 routes, while the airlines insist that the two companies only have 12 overlapping routes, others are taking into consideration the connecting routes. While there may not be many overlapping flights they will be adding those connecting routes to their schedules which reduces the competition on those routes also. Doug Parker, the CEO, of US Airways Group Inc. says that the merger will be good for consumers because of the new and extended options that will be available to them because of the added routes between each company. The merger would create the worlds largest airline, and taking into consideration Parkers view of reducing competition and creating more options for passengers I would believe that ticket prices would go down, I believe it would be unwise to present the merger as a benefit to passengers and then raise prices on them when prices are the most important thing considered when people travel by air.

Another issue that has raised concern for the merger is speculation over how the seniority list will be merged. According to David Jones, a consulting editor for FAPA, in the past the seniority list has been decided several ways, not all of them deemed fair, for example the list has been made depending on the size of the two merging companies, often the smaller companies employees, regardless of their time, were just added to the bottom of the larger companies seniority list. Another way the list has been made was according to age, regardless of hire date or experience, this happened in the 80's and when the company furloughed employees, pilots with higher level of experience were laid off because of their age while older pilots with less experience were still working. For those outside of the industry it might be difficult to understand the deep impact of this, but seniority for a pilot determines the aircraft they fly, what seat they're in and even what routes are available to them. With two major companies merging, it will be very difficult to determine the list in a way that pleases everyone. If it were up to me to determine how the seniority list was compiled, I believe that the fairest way would be to start at the top with years of employment with their company, followed by date of hire, and then the final positions would be determined by the last four digits of the employees social security number. I believe that this would be the fairest way in that experience is still being considered and the random slots assigned by SSN will be isolated to the few competing employees on a certain hire date.

While all of these topics are important to the merging of these two companies, none of it will matter if the merger is not approved by the Department of Justice. All airline mergers must be reviewed by the DoJ according to the nation's antitrust laws, antitrust laws, according to the DoJ website “protect economic freedom and opportunity by promoting free and fair competition in the marketplace.” (2013, DoJ) The reason why this particular merger has been hung up is because there are a few who believe that the merger will cause the new company to have an unfair advantage over other companies. Now this sound like a serious problem and when I first read this I wondered what huge thing this new company would have that created such a large advantage, but according to Reuters the advantage is the number of take-off slots that will be held by the company at Reagan National and a few other airports. Because the new company will hold the slots owned by US Airways and American Airlines, the company has been asked to give up a percent of those slots, while they agree to give up some, they have said that they would only be willing to give up so many. In my opinion, however, I don't foresee them not giving up the slots that gets them the approval from the DoJ.

There is a lot of controversy surrounding a larger merger like this, and it is easy to speculate what will happen, but honestly the most we can do is sit back and see what happens.

Bartz, D. (2013, November 4). Justice department details deal for american, us airways fight. Retrieved from http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/04/us-americanairlines-usairways-antitrust-idUSBRE9A30QS20131104

Department of Justice. (n.d.). Mission. Retrieved from http://www.justice.gov/atr/about/mission.html

Jones, D. (2013). Pilot seniority a hot issue at merging airlines. Retrieved from http://fapa.aero/content.asp?ID=69&Gateway=Industry

Koeing, D. (n.d.). American airlines-u.s. airways merger would reduce competition: Gao. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/20/airline-merger-competition-gao_n_3471090.html

What is Professionalism?

          Professionalism is talked about in the workplace quite often, we have all met those people who seem to embody the meaning of it, and conversely those unfortunate souls who wouldn't know what professionalism is if it were staring them in the face; but what exactly is professionalism? We know it when we see it, but it can be difficult to put a finger on it.

If I were to describe what a professional is, I would say it is those individuals who perform their jobs to the best of their ability, someone who uses their expertise and knowledge of their field, who is dependable and responsible, and is able to work with others. While this is what I believe a professional to be Monster.com has created a list of 10 ways to be professional at work, I believe that most of us would generally come up with similar answers when asked what we thought professional meant but 3 attributes of a professional that I believe are overlooked that are recommended by Monster are self-upgrading, being positive, and supporting others. When we think of self-upgrading most of us would probably say, “well of course!” but yet many people begin their careers with high hopes and slowly lose their ambition and drive, to be truly professional there needs to be a drive to move not only your company but yourself forward. That passion for forward motion can be contagious and encourage others to do the same thing. The workplace can be very stressful at times and aviation is no exception, losing your temper, or working with a poor attitude affects everyone in the office, likewise keeping a good attitude when things are stressful will not only make you someone everyone likes to work with and set you apart from your peers who become frustrated easily, its important to remember that the bosses want to be around someone with a good attitude as well. Lastly supporting others can be vital to being professional, a lone wolf can come across as arrogant, by working with others it shows them that you value their input and respect their expertise as well.

Professionalism isn't something that we are born with but rather are taught, it can be learned and must be practiced. Three areas that I have taken notice of are my knowledge/ expertise, self-regulation and integrity. Mindtools.com describes specialized knowledge as the first step to becoming professional, I have made it a point to apply myself to the best of my ability in school, not settling for passing grades but aiming for the best grade achievable. Self-regulation is extremely important in the workplace, especially for those looking to impress superiors and move up. For myself, I presently work with several individuals who insist on pushing everyone’s buttons, while I am determined to stand up to these individuals, for myself and for others, I believe it is important to handle each situation in a way that wouldn't hurt my progression in the company, or burn any bridges with the individuals I am having confrontations with. Integrity is another value that I believe to very important, I believe that everyone should have their own self governing rules to live by, principles if you will, living by those self made rules regardless of the difficulty can be the difference between being a classic example of professionalism, and just being another ordinary joe.

In terms of professionalism, even the smallest of things can distinguish someone as a professional, an article on ainonline describes a pilot who decided to go through the preflight checklist by memory, when he was called out on the action his response was “We're all professionals here, we know what we're doing.” (Epstein, 2012) Not only was this little action unprofessional, but his mindset of what is professional shows him to be lacking in that area. I like this example though because it not only shows an attitude that is contrary to the idea of professionalism, but the pilot who called him on not actually using the checklist displayed the courage and responsibility of a true professional.

All in all, while it is difficult to define what professionalism is, when you take a closer look at the topic it becomes a little clearer, respect, honestly, hard work, integrity, and the application of expertise are all things that can be used to describe a professional but the best way to be it, is to practice it.

Epstein, C. (2012, september).umwalt keeps pressure on pilot professionalism. Retrieved from http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/aviation-international-news/2012-09-01/sumwalt-keeps-pressure-pilot-professionalism

Monster Career Coach. (n.d.). 10 ways to be professional at work. Retrieved from http://career-advice.monster.ca/in-the-workplace/starting-a-new-job/10-ways-to-be-professional-at-work-canada/article.aspx

Mind Tools. (n.d.). Professionalism developing this vital characteristic . Retrieved from http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/professionalism.htm