Please find below an update regarding:
- The need for honest reflection
- Planned Overtime
- FFOD Agreement
- Delayed Reporting
- Pending Court Cases
The need for honest reflection
Since sending a reply to the CEO on 13 December 2017 two major items transpired. One being the tremendous amount of delays that occurred on 28-30 December due to a crew shortage. Nothing new there as we have conscientiously continued to highlight this to management for a long time.
The other item confirms the pilot shortage with the amount of overtime the pilots have produced. We highlight in more detail the consequence of this overtime as a topic of its own below.
This letter to the CEO highlighted concerns on safety. Through the Fatigue Safety Action Group (FSAG) objective (unbiased) data is demonstrating that the fatigue scores on Flight Duty Period (FDP) ‘hotspots’ are increasing rather than being mitigated.
While many departments are trying to rectify the shortage, with the recruiting and training departments working at their maximum to hire and train new pilots and upgrade our First Officers, the Crew Planning and Crew Control departments are having to “plead, borrow and steal” pilots within the system to accommodate the network changes and additional charters that are occurring on a daily basis.
At the same moment we see pilots resigning (6 in this year alone). Is this just the beginning of the flood gates opening up?
Continuous non-compliances and interpretations always benefiting the management leave us pilots irritated – to put it lightly. A letter has been sent to meet face to face again with the CEO to find concrete steps to reverse this behavior.
Planned Overtime
Once a year in January, Human Resources, sends a document to the Delegation President to review the overtime figures for the previous year. The data is divided between the two groups, Ground Staff and Pilots. After examining the data, the president of the delegation would either give a favorable or unfavorable opinion.
As the LCGB/ALPL head the delegation with George Karambilas being the president, the overtime data was placed on the agenda of the delegation meeting and discussed. This was the first time this was ever done at the delegation as previously none of us were even aware of this requirement. After requesting the data of the crew to be further divided to identify where the overtime was created it was clear that OFF/VAC days created the largest amount of overtime hours.
The delegation is also provided with all the rosters of the pilots and we also notice retroactively the enormous amount of changes in particular the difference between the planned and actual flown rosters and where OFF/VAC days have been used.
The labor law in Luxembourg provides protection from ‘planned’ overtime. We followed up this letter with a meeting with the Inspection du Travail et des Mines (ITM) to explain clearly the reasons for an unfavorable opinion. The ITM will draft its’ opinion and send this to the Labor Ministry who is also reviewing this document. As soon as we have something from the ministry we will pass it on.
FFOD Agreement
In a recent JCSC meeting the Immobilized Off Days Scheme or FFOD Procedure Agreement was again on the agenda.
Upper management in Cargolux still refuses to sign the agreement, while the JCSC members agreed that the FFOD procedure is the basis for Crew Planning Department to allocate the FFODs. The LCGB has sent a reminder to the CEO that this procedure needs to be signed by the unions which has also been ratified by the delegation.
Furthermore, the FFOD statistics from the first 10 roster periods in 2017 and the first roster 3 roster periods in 2018 were discussed. It was discovered that, although every pilot got their 5 x FFODs, the required minimum percentage of at least 49% in every roster period was undercut in roster period 10 for Captains and First Officers. The reason was a calculation error by Crew Planning Department in the first 9 roster periods, which was corrected in the 10th period. The minimum 49% equally distributes the FFOD allocation of the 10 roster periods.
The correct calculation procedure was reviewed by the JCSC and the statistics for the first 3 roster periods in 2018 show at least already a positive trend with the correct distribution of FFODs amongst each group of pilots.
We will monitor the application of the FFOD procedure and address any deviation in the next JCSC meeting which is planned in June 2018.
If you have any questions or experience any inconsistencies with the allocation of your FFODs, do not hesitate to contact us at cvboard@alpl.lu for further clarification.
Delayed Reporting
We have received and still receive numerous concerns from you about the correct application of the automatic delayed reporting procedure, which was implemented on 08 January 2018.
So far, the procedure confirms a great variety of inconsistencies and lack of information, which could easily lead to safety critical outcomes like an incorrect calculation of maximum FDPs being operated.
A letter was sent to the CPO with the urgent request to improve the procedure to avoid any ambiguities and therefore enable the crew members and Crew Control to correctly calculate the maximum FDPs. A follow-up letter has been sent also to the DAC-L.
In the meantime, while we are waiting on this and other issues to be followed up by the authorities, we strongly recommend familiarizing yourself thoroughly with the correct application of the Delayed Reporting procedure. Please refer to the updated “Know your CWA 2017 – Part 8: Delayed Reporting”, which can be found under “Publications” on our ALPL website.
This is to ensure that, if the current system is not adequate, you can apply your own delayed reporting procedure in order to prevent being awake for extended time periods prior operating any FDP or exceeding the maximum allowable FDPs.
If you experience any flaws in the present automatic Delayed Reporting procedure, do not hesitate to inform us via cvboard@alpl.lu.
Pending Court Cases
Currently we have two court cases running. One being the case of Reserve Standby Days (RES), which were not credited with 8 duty hours as foreseen in our previous CWA Art. 39.5.1.2.
After numerous attempts to find a solution also involving the ITM (Inspection du Travail et des Mines) and based on legal advice by the LCGB’s lawyer, the LCGB decided to challenge the company’s interpretation in court. In 2014 and 2015 we asked every member to check the relevant documents and informed everybody that the only chance to receive compensation for RES days was via legal proceedings.
Some members who were affected decided to become part of the group and the lawsuit was finally launched in June 2016. After some hearings and written statements in 2017 we expect a ruling on this issue soon.
The second is the “Time Zone Compensation case” that has been filed against the DAC-L. The details and content of this lawsuit were communicated to you in several emails and Debrief videos during the course of 2016/2017. The first hearing in court is now scheduled for October 2018. We will of course continue to keep you updated.
