Cargolux Hotel Committee

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!

With COVID still being an issue, please understand that many restrictions are mandated at many of the destinations we operate into. These will be outside the control of the hotels and their managements. The best way we can address hotel related issues are through Voyage Reports or if necessary, through ASR’s.

We would like to give you an update on the following destinations:

ORD
The hotel decided to discontinue the buffet breakfast until further notice due to their reduced occupancy. Therefore, during check in procedure we should receive a breakfast-voucher which entitles the crew members for 36$ USD (incl. svc charge + tax) from the a’la carte menu. The hotel committee was not yet able to review the current situation. 

Therefore, please send us your feedback regarding quality of the breakfast and whether the amount is sufficient. Sufficient would include a hot meal, a regular hot and cold beverage and fruits as well as all taxes, fees and gratuities. If you feel that this necessitates a Voyage Report, please submit one and send us the report with any pictures you may have taken.

JFK 
There is a new law in place in New York that requires vaccination certificates for certain indoor activities including restaurant access. This applies also for the breakfast in the hotel restaurant. Therefore, please carry your vaccination certificates with you as well as a photo ID to ensure access.

Unvaccinated crews can still use the offered “grab and go” breakfast. 

DWC
The “Expo” in Dubai has commenced (01OCT2021 – 31MAR2022) and the city as well as our crew hotel are extremely busy.

In order to help reducing the risk of Covid infections it was agreed that a room service breakfast can be ordered free of charge instead of the buffet breakfast. In case of early departure, a breakfast box can be ordered free of charge when receiving the wakeup call.

There have been numerous occasions of inconveniences related to the Expo such as “traffic jams” to and from the airport, at the elevator and the hotel restaurant, noise problems, allocation of rooms with a connecting door and rooms not being ready upon arrival of the crews.

We know that particularly the latter is frustrating when having to wait for a room after a long Flight Duty.

The hotel is aware of these problems and assured us that they try their utmost to limit the negative impact. Furthermore, the number of bookings now include a bigger buffer, however, not all eventualities can be covered. We therefore ask you to show a certain degree of tolerance when confronted with these Expo-induced temporary deficiencies and act professional and respectful towards the hotel staff, as unilateral hotel or Cargolux imposed relieve strategies could result in more severe and potentially long-term disadvantages.

Deficiencies, however, still need to be addressed: The best way is to report them via VR and send a copy to cvhotels@alpl.lu

We remain in close contact with a cooperative and helpful hotel management to look for improvements.

We have been informed about upcoming renovations in the Hilton hotel in LCK. According to the hotel management the renovation is limited to carpet, wallcovering, upholstered items, mattresses and TV. Please find below the message from the hotel. 

„We feel confident that we can properly isolate the crew both in terms of their assigned floor as well as the hours that work would occur.  We can assign Cargolux Crew to rooms at least two floors away from the work site.”

The works will start on 01 November 2021 and are expected to finish in June 2022.

If you experience any disturbance due to the renovations, please kindly ask for a more quiet room, if available. However, we ask you to stay professional and respectful to the front desk staff. 

If required file a VR and send a copy to cvhotels@alpl.lu

In this short update we would just like to inform you that the Intercontinental Hotel in ORD has started to offer breakfast buffets 7 days a week. As a result it was decided to discontinue the 25$ allowance and to incorporate the breakfast buffet into the room rate in ORD.

No Hotel Committee member was able to inspect the current quality of the breakfast buffet, therefore we would appreciate a short feedback to cvhotels@alpl.lu

Thanks for your help on this!

MIA
The increased value of the breakfast voucher (25$) remains insufficient for a breakfast of good standard, as required per CWA. In absence of a buffet we requested an a‘la carte breakfast including one main course, fruits, a regular hot and cold beverage including all fees and gratuity to be incorporated into the room rate. We hope for a swift implementation and hope this rectification is well received.

We would like to share some information about the latest developments regarding hotels and accommodation:

USA general 
At the following destinations the additional allowance of 25$, to be claimed via CME, is applicable: ANC, ORD, JFK, DFW and SEA. 

We try to continuously monitor the quality and the offered options. As this is not always possible in a timely manner, we appreciate any feedbacks of changes (for better and worse) in order to be able to suggest alternatives.

Regarding HSV, we try to ensure that the originally agreed general standard in case of no buffet available (one main course, fruits, hot and cold regular beverage including all fees, taxes and gratuities) are met in the future.

DWC 
As already communicated by the CPO we confirm the hotel change to the Sofitel Jumeirah Beach as of 01 August 2021. The Hotel Committee asked for this change because of the persistent noise exposure that some colleagues suffered from in the Hilton JBR hotel. We are confident that now we found a good solution in terms of the mandatory suitability while still offering a good variety of amenities.

The negotiated benefits of the Sofitel are:

• 20% discount in restaurants & bars (excluding in room dining, mini bar and tobacco)
• One complimentary uniform pressing per pilot per stay
• Complimentary beach kit

The beach kit consists of a beach mat, towel, water and an umbrella. Please note that unlike in the Hilton, the sunbeds at the beach are owned by an external provider and are therefore chargeable.

For feedback please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us via email to cvhotels@alpl.lu.

Since our last members update we were mainly busy finetuning the details regarding the return to our contracted hotels in the US. This happens with a constructive dialogue between the Procurement Department, OHS, Compliance and us. We still have to ask you to remain patient while we are in the transition phase. In this update we will, however, give you some information on planned changes concerning hotel accommodation.

DWC
We have been informed that a number of reports have been filed regarding noise problems in the Hilton Jumeirah Beach.

A quiet room is of utmost importance for a crew rest. The amenities in the Hilton hotel are extensive. There is a variety of restaurants and food outlets on the hotel premises as well as beach access, giving us the opportunity to have a quality rest even when required to be in hotel confinement.

The Hotel Committee would not have any opportunity to inspect alternative hotels in the area, particularly as anyone would need a PCR test certificate to be allowed to leave the hotel. Furthermore, as this is the high tourist season, it was felt that any open hotels would be in a similar situation with higher occupancy.

Regarding the potential noise problems, we will remind the Hilton hotel management to allocate rooms on the more quiet side of the hotel (not facing the pool area and the adjacent construction site) and as far away from the elevators as possible. In order to enable you to ensure that this is respected when you check in, we would like to share the room numbering information: 

• Even room numbers are facing the quiet side (south).
• The lower numbers are further away from the elevator (eg #300 is the furthest, #350 is opposite of the elevator).

In summary it is the position of the Hotel Committee to stay at the Hilton resort. We expect the high amounts of hotel tourists to become less as soon as it gets hotter in the summertime. Furthermore, for many of us a layover in DWC will be followed by one or more layovers in BKK, where the harsh in-room confinement is still enforced. To give crew members a maximum amount of freedom beforehand is something that we would also like you to consider.

While we understand the significant problems related to disturbed crew rest, we are faced with the challenge to find suitable solutions. Therefore, we would like to encourage you to trust us and use the aforementioned information on quiet rooms to mitigate any issues, in case that the front desk fails to allocate suitable rooms in the first place.

GYD 
Crews are allowed to move freely, however, the Fly Inn Baku airport hotel is the mandated accommodation for crews by the authorities. We monitor the development and will try to organize a move back to city as soon as we are allowed to do so.

IND
Reestablishing layovers in IND started off on a bad foot. Our priority recommendation was the Conrad hotel, with the Omni as an alternate, suggested out of memory. Unfortunately, the quality of the Omni has suffered since we left it many years ago.

Thanks to your quick reports we were made aware of the deficiencies and agreed with management to reassess the situation and to contact the Conrad for an offer.

MIA
Due to certain deficiencies at the Hyatt we also agreed to move back to the Conrad.

ORD
We suggested to move back to downtown Chicago where the only known open option for the time being is the InterConti hotel.

In general USA
Regarding the overall breakfast situation in the US, it is the position of the Hotel Committee that we need some improvements in order to be CWA compliant. Therefore, we suggested to establish the following procedure:

We shall be entitled to: 

1. Breakfast buffet where available. With COVID measures this may not be possible for some time.
2. A‘la carte breakfast or Room service breakfast included in the room rate. That breakfast shall include a hot main dish, fruit, a regular hot beverage (coffee/tea), a juice and all supplementary fees like tax, delivery fee and gratuity. Premium hot beverages like Cappuccino would have to be paid by the individual crew member.
3. A 25$ daily allowance where the above is not available or not up to standard. This will be claimed via the “Reporting” application on the iPad.

This was agreed on and Procurement will try to contact the relevant hotels for incorporating this into the room rate where applicable. We will keep you updated whenever there is a change.

Texas has lifted the requirements to wear masks in public, although it is still recommended by the US health authorities. We would like to emphasize that it is nonetheless in our own interest to use the available and known COVID precautions. Please stay vigilant!

Last but not least we would like to farewell Dave Wainwright from “Your Everloving Hotel Committee”. Dave has decided that sixteen years of organizing hotels is finally enough. We respect this decision and want to thank Dave for his commitment during such a long time. He will thankfully continue to be approachable to the rest of us, allowing all of us to benefit from his experience. Cheers Dave!