Your Hotel Committee would like to give you some supplementary information on the announced “Withdrawal of Goodwill and Flexibility” call from the LCGB Union.
We would like to begin this update by informing you that we as the Hotel Committee were again not involved in the hotel selection in HKG, violating both the hotel policy and procurement policy! Hotel Committee inspections are always to include procedures and facilities in case of an emergency.
While under normal circumstances the Hotel Committee tries to ensure that flight crews can rest in a suitable accommodation, we are aware of the fact that in reality a lot of stressors can be present that have a negative impact on the rest quality.
Most of us have shown their tremendous commitment and dedication throughout the pandemic and accepted deviations from the standard of our crew hotels. Some of those deviations happened simply because of lack of alternatives. Others unfortunately happened because management unnecessarily and intentionally added additional stressors.
This forces us to initiate a thought process, to be more conservative in regard to flight safety when it comes to determining whether a rest period was adequate or more rest should be requested.
The Hotel Committee would like to give you some guidelines of potential weak points regarding hotel quality and how to react on it:
Cleanliness of Rooms
You are entitled to rest in a clean environment. This excludes untidy or filthy rooms or human remainders in e.g. bathrooms or beds. Mattresses should have a cover underneath the linen and stains on bedding sheet or mattrasses are unacceptable. Rooms in such conditions should be rejected.
Noise Emissions
To be able to get a proper rest, your hotel room needs to be quiet. Reports in the past typically came from:
- Corridor noise from guests and housekeeping
- Airconditioning/Temperature Control
- Construction works have the most negative impact on crews particularly during daytime rest. We experienced several reports in the past from the Skycity Marriott Hotel in HKG as the hotel was surrounded by construction sites
- Rest disturbances by housekeeping or reception staff by entering the room to check on booking status like in the US
- Efficient black out curtains are required. Light pollution is negatively affecting your quality of sleep
- Connecting Doors: We repeatedly get reports where hotels disrespect the “no connecting door policy” for air crews. Therefore we encourage you to check this with reception upon checkin
- Hotels are instructed to book rooms away from elevators to mitigate corridor noise and elevator
Nutrition
24/7 room service is a basic requirement but cannot always be guaranteed (e.g. some hotels in the US). While in some cases crew members can find a mitigation strategy particularly during in room confinements, the food quality and availability are of utmost importance. Especially during room service night shifts with limited selection in combination with food intolerances or dietary requirements, can cause a lack of nutrition, sensation of hunger and a resulting sleeplessness.
Physical exercise
Physical exercise has a beneficial effect on the ability to fall asleep and rest adequately. Deprivation of the possibility to work out (e.g. through in room confinement) might cause lethargy and insomnia.
Fresh air
Continuous exposure to dry air has a negative impact on your health, the sinuses in particular. The inability to get fresh air during rest times through in room confinements in between flight duties increases the risk of infections and sickness.
For more information please refer to the “Fatigue Management for long haul pilots“ document to be found in the SCL – 11. Aviation Safety. The topic of benefits of physical exercise is particularly interesting.
If you encounter any of these, or any other vital deficiencies, it is very important to determine your ability to safely operate your next scheduled flight until an adequate rest is achieved.
If it is determined that additional rest is required by any individual crew member, it is recommended that coordination with other crew member(s) is done. You will know best when you have had adequate sleep which is normally your average sleep length as well as suitable nutrition to be able to operate safely thereafter and in accordance with the requirements of the OM-A. Please ensure to advise Crew Control and/or the station of the required delay.
Please also file a proactive Fatigue Report as well as a Voyage Report regarding any hotel deficiencies and include us with a copy of your VR to cvhotels@alpl.lu.
A thorough documentation of the deficiencies is vital and can be completed with pictures and videos to help us prove them. Only then we can properly address these deficiencies with management.
Particularly (but not limited to) when enduring the negative effects of in room confinement it might be an unsafe reflex to try to get out of there as soon as possible, not being properly rested. Please note that it is your obligation to ensure a sufficient alertness level throughout the subsequent FDP.
We hope to have provided you with some helpful information in relation to the current “Withdrawal of Goodwill and Flexibility” campaign. If you have any questions please don‘t hesitate to reach out to us and seek clarification via cvhotels@alpl.lu or cvboard@alpl.lu
Fly safe!
