Please find below an update on the following topics:
- Adjustment of duty hours overtime threshold for part time pilots
- Reminder: New procedure regarding sick notes
- How to switch funds for savings and employer contribution for SwissLife
- PBS Working Group
Adjustment of Duty hours overtime threshold for part time pilots
We are pleased to announce that, after identifying a technical issue that prevented the correct adjustment of the monthly overtime threshold for part-time pilots in the past, we have now worked with management to implement a proper solution.
Rather than simply applying the part-time factor to the standard 173 duty hours per month, the threshold will now be reduced by a fixed number of duty hours per XPA day. This method ensures the same result as applying the part-time factor while accounting for the various part-time schemes available. Scheme C (full roster off) remains unaffected by these changes.
Additionally, any missing overtime will be recalculated retroactively from January 2020 and paid out as soon as possible. Please note that this adjustment applies only to the duty hours threshold and does not affect the overtime threshold for block hours, which remains unchanged.
We would like to remind you to be vigilant and report any observed irregularities to us as soon as possible. This issue could have been identified a lot earlier but thanks to three of our members this was done at least in 2023/2024.
Reminder: New procedure regarding sick notes
This is a kind reminder that since the 4th of December 2024 it is not possible anymore to send your sick note to the CNS via email.
Latest before the end of the 3rd working day of my absence from work you have to send your certificate of incapacity of work to the CNS, by using either of the following options:
Online:
Complete the form on the CNS website and upload your sick note.
By post:
To the following address:
CNS
Indemnités Pecuniaires
L-2980 Luxembourg
With regard to the requirement to send a copy of your sick note to Cargolux, nothing has changed.
How to switch funds for savings and employer contribution for SwissLife
Occasionally we still receive questions regarding the recent changes in the SwissLife supplementary pension plan.
As a reminder, we now have the choice to invest the contributions in 2 ETFs, which in the past had a higher average performance in the financial market over a longer period of time compared to the other available funds Please note that this is not a financial advise.
One of our members was kind enough to provide us with an extensive guide on how to change the allocation of the employer contribution and the already existing savings. The document is available in the members area of the ALPL website and can be found here.
PBS Working Group
In our last PBS working group meeting we received a presentation of the FEB bidding results, the first month where the new bidding options have become available. The results improved compared to previous months. Roughly one third of the bids included a waiver with roughly two thirds of them being granted, which means that this is already a good result.
Currently we are observing a perceived reduction in bid success rate indicated through the number of colleagues reporting their discontent. We got confirmation that due to high demand and school holidays in beginning of March (too many colleagues requested the same time period off) it was a challenging roster to produce. Something that we could already see in previous years.
Another challenge that Crew Planning is facing now is an unexpected significant extension in calculation time to produce rosters. Until now, several „runs“ aimed to improve the global bid success rate while ensuring that flights are covered. During this calculation time whole AIMS is put in a „freeze mode“ preventing Crew Control and Network Planning from making inputs or any changes. Therefore, this time is limited to one working day. Now, due to the added complexity a calculation run takes around 5 to 6 hours instead of roughly 1 to 2 hours, a situation which nobody could anticipate before and requires a solution. In other words, whilst in the past Crew Planning could optimize the bidding success via several runs to achieve the best result, this is currently not possible due to the time constraint. Thus, at the moment they cannot confirm whether the produced roster already is the best solution.
We would like to ask you to submit your non granted bids to us (cvboard@alpl.lu) so that we can either identify and address potential system flaws or provide guidance in case of individual unsuitable bidding strategy. Particularly non granted bids from high seniority colleagues can give us a good picture.
As mentioned already, it will require several months to collect data and analyze the system performance of the new PBS compared to the old system. February is only a snapshot, and we will see the statistics of the March and April roster in the next PBS working group.