Cargolux Hotel Committee

We would like to share some updates on:

Catering
We are happy to announce that Cargolux Senior Management has approved the purchase of a Catering App! This App will allow us to individually order meals and set preferences before flights. Once implemented we will start to use it ex LUX.

We were also able to change the catering provider in CGO to increase food quality. Catering was tested and reviewed in LUX resulting in bigger hot meals with different variety. The lids on the hot meals can be used in our ovens and are heat certified. They are made of a biodegradable material and not plastic. We hope that you perceive those changes as an improvement and if you feel to send us your feedback, please include the meal no. in the Voyage Report.

The current onboard catering expiry time of 18 hours triggered some unnecessary catering uplifts on stations with poor food quality. We therefore try to extend the limit to 24 hours after certain conditions are met.

We were also able to convince the company to replace the unpopular bamboo cutlery sets. They will be replaced as soon as the items are out of stock.

Last but not least, we are negotiating with TPE, NRT and GYD station to improve catering quality with more to come. 

In general, we are very happy to have improved the dialogue with our colleagues in the Travel Services Department.  

Hotels
LAX 
Unfortunately, we are facing a change to our well-liked Hotel in Redondo Beach. The new corporate management of the Sonesta has significantly increased the rate for a contract extension/continuation proposal. An attempt for a dialogue and a compromise with the Sonesta hotel management remained unsuccessful.  We were therefore forced to start a new tender process for new hotels starting from of 1^st Jan 2025. 

We surveyed more than 30 hotels, did 5 on-side inspections and recommended to move to the Courtyard Marriott in Marina Del Rey, which we find a very suitable alternative.

Beginning 01MAY 2024, the Courtyard Marina Del Rey confirmed to host us as our new crew hotel including the following benefits exclusively for Cargolux:

• 20% off outlets (excluding bottles of wine)
• Complimentary bike rentals
• 50% discount on Kayaks & SUPs.
• A „water-taxi-shuttle-service“ in the vicinity for 2 USD p.p.,
• A shuttle bus in the vicinity, available via an app and complimentary.

Considering these extensive benefits plus the location we are optimistic that you will appreciate the new hotel and its location in walking distance to Venice Beach.

TPE 
With a similar situation as in LAX, the Hotel Committee had to perform a tender process in TPE, also resulting in a move: As of the 01JUN2024 the Shangri La Hotel is planned to accommodate us. While the direct area around is not as lively as what we are used to in the Grand Hyatt, it is only 20 minutes walking distance away from the familiar area around the Taipei 101. 

CGK 
It is planned to recommence layovers in Jakarta and the Hotel Committee is in a dialogue with Travel Services Department about the hotel selection. The previous Mercure crew hotel was not received very well and therefore we will inform you as soon we have additional info.

In the meantime, we continue to ask you to provide us with feedback and copies of your reports to cvcatering@alpl.lu and cvhotels@alpl.lu.

We would like to share the latest Hotel Committee developments:

Catering
We are happy to let you know that the Hotel Committee adopted the tasks of the temporarily vacant Catering Committee. As our company counterparts organizing the catering are the same colleagues who do Travel and Hotel Procurement it was decided that it makes sense to keep a short communication line on the Pilot Representatives side as well. We are confident to be able to participate in improving the current catering situation in terms of quality and waste in synergy with cost efficiency. 

You can reach us via e-mail to: cvcatering@alpl.lu

Hotel Committee composition
After many years of service in the Hotel Committee, George Karambilas decided to step down as the Hotel Committee chairman. The rest of the Hotel Committee would like to thank George for his dedication in the committee work, his knowledge and experience in the diversified internal and external tasks required as a Hotel Committee member and last but not least for his patience with us. 

Furthermore, we are happy to announce that, in our effort to strengthen our relationship with our colleagues from Cargolux Italia, Massimilano (Max) Bellotto from ICV joined the Hotel Committee. Max will help us in our Committee work to ensure that adequate accommodation is continuously provided.

Current members working on the Hotel and Catering Committee and serving to ensure we all enjoy a suitable accommodation enroute are:

Ingo Schuster (Chairman)
Jochen Ehrenfeld
Tobias Woll
Jonas Hindersin
Marcel Knapp
Arnout Seynaeve
Gil Jacobs
Gerald Hulpiau
Max Bellotto

If you want to get in touch with us on any related hotel and accommodation issues or you’d like to share copies of your Voyage Reports you can do so via cvhotels@alpl.lu

The Hotel Committee wishes you Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas! 

We are pleased to share the latest hotel developments in our network.

AMM 
After having received a number of complaints regarding the current crew hotel, the „Le Royal“, we inspected some other options and are happy to announce that starting JAN 2024 we will move to the „Rotana“ hotel. In this context we would like to let you know that we deliberately suggested a non-western hotel chain as a risk mitigating strategy against potential terrorist attacks such as the 2005 series of hotel bombings in AMM. Nevertheless we are confident that the location and quality of the „Rotana“ hotel appeals to you.

KWI
Also starting JAN 2024 we will move to the Hilton Garden Inn. The overall quality as well as the location should be an improvement. 

As always we would like to encourage you to send your feedback and copies of any Voyage Reports at any stations to cvhotels@alpl.lu

We would like to give you an update on the latest hotel related developments.

GYD
We are still working on a solution there. Whilst it is our recommendation to move to another hotel, the “Park Hyatt” is putting a lot of effort into mitigating the effects of the construction works that are taking place at this time. Unfortunately, there will be additional renovations inside the hotel building that will follow at the end of this year or at the beginning of next year. With that in mind we are encouraged to go ahead with our recommendation to move at least temporarily. Good alternatives have been inspected and communicated to the Cargolux management.

CWB
We are happy to announce a hotel change from the “Bourbon“ to the “NH hotel“. We are confident that you will perceive the change as an improvement in your rest quality.

SIN
We have been very busy trying to find another crew hotel as the “Pan Pacific” does not want to host our crews any longer despite credible efforts undertaken from Cargolux management to extend the contract.

These facts in mind, the Hotel Committee performed already a number of hotel reviews in the familiar Suntec City area. Some of the inspected hotels had either some deficiencies in our mandatory requirements, others haven’t been interested in hosting us at all.

This short notice termination of contract by the “Pan Pacific” management has forced us to go on a trial period with a non-inspected hotel. For now, crews will be accommodated in “The Pullman“ hotel on Orchard road until we had the chance to set up a proper alternative for Singapore.

Your feedback and suggestions on the new hotel are highly appreciated.

For this or any other hotel related matter, including copies of Voyage Reports the contact is cvhotels@alpl.lu.

The Hotel Committee would like to share the following latest hotel related developments:

BAH 
We are happy to announce that after having received a number of Voyage Reports on the “Intercontinental” hotel the company accepted an alternative suggestion from the Hotel Committee, “The Art Hotel”, as our new crew hotel as of 01 April 2023. 

We are confident that you will be able to enjoy adequate rest in this beach resort, already hosting some other airlines like Lufthansa and KLM.

PEN 
We have been approached by hotel procurement that layover will commence in PEN as of next month. We are currently looking into options for accommodation and appreciate feedback for a preliminary selection until we’ll get the opportunity to perform hotel inspections and to find a final solution.

CGO 
We expect CGO layovers to also starting next month. Already in Pre Covid times our crew hotel had a significant deficiency regarding the functioning of the temperature control resulting in hotel rooms being far too warm. This fact in combination with a significant price increase while at the same time lowering the crew benefits triggered our initiative.

We suggested to use the “Hilton” hotel instead of the “JW Marriott” in the future based on an inspection done in the past. The Hotel Committee would appreciate feedback particularly on whether the temperature control adequately works. 

JNB
We received reports from our members about planned rotations through JNB and NBO.

Regarding JNB, at the time of drafting this member update, there is only a limited amount of layovers planned. Although the Hotel Committee did not inspect the current crew hotel we enquired with our colleagues from Cargolux Italia who are very happy with the accommodation. Please note that the former “Intercontinental” hotel in Sandton was rebranded. The “Sandton Sun”, our current crew hotel, is just across the street from the former “Interconti” and should provide adequate rest.

NBO 
Due to security reasons some airlines currently stay at airport hotels. Because the “Sheraton” hotel at the airport seems inadequate based on reports we received from ICV crews (mainly due to recent low food quality) and due to planned extended layovers (3-4 days flying LUX-JNB-NBO with a double crew) we forwarded this information to the ALPL Board to address the issue with the responsible stakeholder.

In summary it is our position that rest must be adequate and if the security situation is questionable, layovers should be avoided or at least as short as possible.

The Hotel Committee recommends to carefully evaluate the ability to operate an aircraft when rest was inadequate and your ability to safely operate an aircraft is in question, even if it is leading to potential delays or in extreme cases the necessity to position out of a destination. 

Please also, as usual, forward your hotel related reports to cvhotels@alpl.lu

We hope that you will find the following Hotel Committee Update useful.

MIA
Due to continued noise problems in our contracted crew hotel it has been decided to temporarily move the crews to the JW Marriott (Maquis) hotel which is located in the same familiar area in Miami.

Another alternative hotel, which is temporarily used, is the Marriott Biscayne Bay, which is located in a different area but has been inspected by the Hotel Committee. It is planned to move back to the AKA hotel once the ongoing renovations are complete. Any feedback on the current alternative hotels would also be appreciated for a potential recommendation to stay if desired by the crews.

BKK 
The move to the Shangri La has meanwhile commenced. There were a few starting hick-ups, which should have been resolved meanwhile.

As an example, one such issue was that no breakfast was granted as included on the day of arrival. We are in contact with the local hotel management to discuss any deficiencies.

Last but not least we would like to welcome two new colleagues supporting the Hotel Committee.

Gil Jacobs and Gerald Hulpiau are supporting the existing team and we appreciate their commitment to ensure adequate rest opportunities for all of us. The complete Hotel Committee composition is:

George Karambilas
Jochen Ehrenfeld
Tobias Woll
Jonas Hindersin
Marcel Knapp
Arnout Seynaeve
Gil Jacobs
Gerald Hulpiau
Ingo Schuster

As always, please forward your hotel related reports and feedback to cvhotels@alpl.lu.

We would like to give you an update on some hotel related matters.

BKK
We are glad to finally leave the Novotel BKK Airport hotel, as per the CPO Update, and to move back to our former contracted hotel in BKK, the Crowne Plaza Lumpini Park. As this hotel has probably also been faced with many challenges during the Covid pandemic, there might be a few hiccups that may not conform to our hotel standards. 

To facilitate a swift normalization of potential problems it would be very helpful if you report deficiencies on the suitability of the hotel via the iQSMS Voyage Report and forward a copy to you Hotel Committee via cvhotels@alpl.lu. Only then we can address any short comings to ensure the required rest quality.

JFK
Due to inadequate amount of hotel bookings in our contracted hotel, the Interconti, crew have been booked to an unsuitable alternative: The ROW 8^th Ave. A report sent to the company as well as to the Hotel Committee showed an unacceptable standard especially in terms of cleanliness.

We recommend refusing this hotel!

Alternative hotels that have been used in the past and were either inspected or recommended by the Hotel Committee in order are:

1. Westin NY at Times Square
2. Sofitel New York
3. Andaz Hotel 5^th Ave
4. Grand Hyatt NY Central Station
5. Garden Inn by Hilton Long Island. 

ANC
It has been brought to our attention that apart from our contracted Sheraton hotel downtown, another hotel, the ALOFT, is used. 

Please note that the Hotel Committee neither inspected nor suggested this hotel as an alternative accommodation.

We already received a high number of reports on the Aloft hotel ANC with the primary problems being noise issues and a breakfast which is insufficient and rather of a fast-food type.

In general, an alternate accommodation should not be necessary when sufficient rooms are booked in a timely manner. If this fails a downgrade to a potentially substandard hotel is unacceptable, particularly as we received reports from crew members that rooms were still available at formerly contracted hotels (1. Marriott, 2. Captain Cook, 3. Alyeska Resort Girdwood, 4. Hilton (refurbished tower).

Again, any reports are to be sent via the normal reporting process mentioned above. 

HKG
We received several reports about misleading information published in the FCA regarding the HKG layovers. While the FCA states that a 24-hour breakfast is available, ordering a breakfast outside of the hotel published breakfast times will result in deprivation of drinks that should normally be included in a breakfast of good standard. The hotel will charge the crew members for those drinks and miscellaneous expense reports that have been submitted were consequently denied. Please keep this in mind when ordering a breakfast. 

There are air washers located in the rooms with instructions to keep the machine operating in high mode. We understand the temptation to switch the air washer off, however, it is not recommended to act against local hotel regulations, even if they seem odd. If the noise level affects your quality of rest, please determine whether it is safe to operate an aircraft when insufficiently rested and consider asking for more rest and filing a fatigue report.

In general, any disruption to you as crew member due to noise or other factors may lead to potentially not being fit for duty. Please always determine if it is safe to operate a flight or series of flights and act accordingly.

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!

In this update we would like to inform you about the situation in US.

ANC
As the meal services have been introduced at the Sheraton, Cargolux will revert to what is outlined in the CWA for the breakfast:

The 25$ allowance will no longer be applicable in ANC and this change is already in effect.

Hotel committee members have sampled the breakfast with some colleagues, and it is found to be of the standard that we expect. Some buffet items will change with seasonality and others might be on and off as some items might not always be available due to the still ongoing supply chain disruptions or excessive pricing.

Furthermore the hotel management has informed us that a mandatory Fire Test will be performed at the hotel on 15-16 MAR 2022. The plan is to allocate rooms to crews at floors (up to level 8) which mitigate the affected by the fire alarm in order to limit the impact on crew rest.

MIA
We have received some reports from pilots that the breakfast is insufficient. The standard should include a hot meal, fruits, a regular hot and cold beverage (coffee, juice) and bakery items including all fees, taxes and gratuities.

The hotel committee is in contact with the hotel management and Cargolux procurement department in order to improve the situation

ORD
The hotel change is now complete in ORD and all crews are now booked in the the Omni Hotel. Again we would like to have some feedback on the breakfast and other items that need to be brought to our attention so that it can be addressed.

As always, if confronted with any deficiencies, please file a Voyage Report and forward a copy to cvhotels@alpl.lu 

Thanks a lot for your support and kind regards!

2021 is coming to an end and the Hotel Committee would like to take this opportunity to give a little update on the latest hotel related developments.
 
VCP 
Our former crew hotel, the „Royal Palm Towers“, has been sold to a new owner. Therefore, a return, offering the same flexibility as before the move, has become impossible. After careful evaluation and the inspection of several hotels, the hotel committee recommended to stay at the „Royal Palm Plaza Resort“. We are glad that the recommendation has been followed and a new contract was signed.
 
OVB 
As Christmas Season has started, we just would like to bring to your attention the dedicated work and service the Marriott staff in OVB is providing. As the general situation is still difficult for the people over there, please consider possible gratuities via the tipping box in front of our breakfast/evening lounge on the second floor.
 
ANC
With the upcoming end of the year, our contract expires at the current crew hotel, the Sheraton Anchorage Hotel and Spa. This requires a mandatory tender process and we were confident that we could either move back to the Cpt. Cook or the Marriott hotel. Unfortunately, both hotels were not interested in hosting more flight crews, therefore the Sheraton Anchorage hotel remains our best option for 2022, thus we ask you to keep this in mind when dealing with potential problems while you are there.
 
MIA
The hotel rebranded from „Conrad“ to „AKA“ hotel. Everything else should remain unchanged and we hope that the quality of rest as well as the level of service continue to meet your needs.
 
Hotel bookings in general
More and more often hotel bookings in the US are not done in a correct or timely manner, resulting in crew members having to wait for room allocation or being sent away to different hotels for their rest. This problem existed already before COVID and reappeared with hotel occupancies reaching higher levels again. This undesirable trend is becoming one of our main issues and in order to address this we kindly ask you to persistently report any of these deficiencies (even quickly resolved name changes at check in or inconvenient, not to mention waiting times) via a Voyage Report and provide a copy of the report to cvhotels@alpl.lu
 
This will help us to reveal any institutional short-comings and have them rectified rather than expecting the hotels to struggle on a daily basis to allocate rooms.  
 
To summarize 2021 the Hotel Committee experienced management’s goodwill in cooperation with hotel related topics. We hope to being able to continue this collaboration in 2022 to provide you an adequate accommodation for your well-deserved rest.
 
We wish you Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!