Cargolux Hotel Committee

We have seen some testing times recently with regard to hotel changes. Unfortunately we have not been consulted about a few of these hotel changes but are still working to try and resolve the issues.

It appears that we have been moved back into the Hyatt in MIA solely from a cost issue. The hotel committee members and the first crews to arrive were not even told about the move, from the Conrad back to the hotel we moved away from due to noise issues.

If you see yourself booked into a hotel that is not known to you, please check with the Chief Pilot Office (CPO) and also send us an email at cvhotels@alpl.lu so we can try and follow it up. We hope to resolve the issues we have soon, but in the meantime, please use the usual channels to alert about fatigue issues relating from hotel issues.

As communicated to you by the Divisional Board in the past, should you require some additional rest in order to be fit for your next duty or series of duties, please notify Crew Control, Dispatch and the local station about your decision. Also file a proactive Fatigue Report and Air Safety Report if needed!

Please forward these reports also to the Hotel Committee at cvhotels@alpl.lu.

We move as of April 1st to the Steigenberger and Omni hotels respectively.

DWC/DXB
We have for many year tried to move away from the Crowne Plaza, and after much effort have managed to get into the Steigenberger hotel in the business district. It is a relatively new hotel, 10 minutes walk from the Burg Kahlifa and associted mall. There are a few restaurants around the local area, and it is a few miles closer to DWC airport.

ORD
We move to the Omni hotel a few blocks from our current hotel. We believe that this hotel should be quieter and hope that as we are the first airline crew that they have things will go smoothly. Please be patient with the staff if you encounter problems and send us a mail at cvhotels@alpl.lu and the associated company procedures.

We hope you can enjoy the rest!

Happy new year!

As our current hotel in ICN, the JWMarriott is undergoing renovations, and as a result has closed for up to 6 months we have re-located over the road to the Sheraton.

The hotel committee would value your feedback based on stay there via email at cvhotels@alpl.lu. As always if your rest was not satisfactory, please use either Voyage Report, Fatigue or Air Safety Report to help us address any issues.

In general, the hotel committee would like to thank all of you who are pro active in addressing issues we encounter on the road, and whilst we are do our best to address these problems, there are other factors that we have to take into consideration.

We are pleased to say that the majority of the hotels we currently stay at have been re-signed for another year or two. This is excellent news and the Hotel Committee would like to thank Cargolux management for working with us to ensure that our rest is not compromised.

You may however, see a few hotel changes on our network in the coming months, due to either us upgrading our hotel in an area, or because the hotel is undergoing renovations. The latter will be the case in ICN, BAH, and MCT, that we currently know of. We are currently working with Cargolux management to make sure suitable alternatives are provided.

In DXB we hope to be trying out a new hotel soon and will update you of progress as we go.

In NYC we will probably move to a voucher, to be submitted for breakfast. This will hopefully eliminate the current confusion surrounding what you are eligible to, but as it stands at present it remains, 1 coffee, 1 orange juice, 1 main dish, 1 side. (CV standard, steak and eggs is considered a side and main!

In Europe we are trying to find solutions to BRU and ZAZ asap. if you have any ideas solutions, please let us know!

We will bring you updates as we work on improvements throughout the year, but please keep us abreast of any issues you encounter so we can be proactive in correction these issues!

It just remains for YELHC to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, knowing that we are trying to ensure that Santa will know wherever you are on the 25th!

This also seems to be in cases whereby we have a charter to a destination and so the Hotel Committee is simple bypassed in any consultation and a hotel that is not up to the standards of supplying quality rest is being provided for your use.

If you experience this, please use a Voyage Report (VR) via the iQSMS application. Send the copy of the VR to cvhotels@alpl.lu

If you have experienced degraded rest due to the hotel conditions please file a Fatigue Report and Air Safety Report if needed. Please forward these reports also to the Hotel Committee at cvhotels@alpl.lu.

During our last CWA negotiations, our hotel standards were questioned, and suggestions of airport hotels and lower standards of hotels were on the very real agenda. The ALPL Board and members of the Hotel Committee (HC) fought very hard to ensure that we keep the standards and as a result a “Hotel Policy” was drawn up. This fulfills the basic requirements for crew accommodation. Our crew accommodation over the years has remained stable, changes have been rare, and the standard in most cities is good.

However, while we see business improving, management are making what we still see as a constant threat to our accommodation standards and inevitably degraded conditions as they try to save costs! The fact is that management have received almost NO flight delays, and very few Voyage Reports (VR) or Air Safety Reports (ASR) with regards to hotel standards and crews not being able to obtain undisturbed rest. We are monitoring carefully the next steps as management are using external consultants to suggest possible hotel changes. We have made it clear that the standards must not be challenged in order to save costs.

The HC members have put in alternative suggestions about our problem hotels, yet our inputs go ignored and in some stations, we are left with accommodation that is below the acceptable standard. Below we have also added additional information and ask you to adhere to the requirements.

JFK
There is still an ongoing problem whereby crew are over extending their breakfast allowance, and not paying for it! You are allowed 1 main, 1 side dish, coffee and juice. Anything else you must pay for, and insist on a bill for it from the server. This bill must be settled by you. Even if the server says, “don’t worry about it”, Cargolux is billed for all the extras and we are in very real danger of losing this hotel. Hopefully in the new contract, if we can stay there, this will be resolved, but until then, please make sure that your bill is settled.

DXB
With the move to the DWC airport, we have seen an increase in travel times from our current hotel, this and the general decline in standards of the crew hotel in Dubai has meant that we need feedback should you encounter issues with rest, condition of rooms or travel times. Be aware that the partnership with Emirates will most likely be strengthened and we will see more layovers in DXB. Please send all feedback via a VR or FR in the iQSMS application.

KRW
Please send a VR via the iQSMS if you are put in a room with no black out curtains, this is the only way we can address this issue with hotel management. We have also asked that crews are not put into rooms on the ground floor.

LUX
With the back to back operations, crews are accommodated at a variety of hotels. The HC believes and has addressed the issue that none of these hotels in Luxembourg conform to the EASA requirement as the a/c or heating is regulated by the hotels central system. Hotels must have an independent temperature control for the rooms. If you find that the temperature requirements are not satisfactory please fill out a VR or FR if your rest was impaired. 

BQN
Very little choice on the island, but we are aware of some disturbances that have occurred at the hotel and are trying to address this with their management.

Airport hotels
The hotel policy says quite clearly that airport hotels are not to be used. We have seen this creep in whereby crews are put up at airport hotels in Europe for ACMI operations. We have alerted the company to this fact and are working on a solution.

Disruptions by acts of nature
Many of you might have been affected by recent acts of nature and ended in not our normal accommodation. At times like this we must be sensible about the reality of what is going on and work together with the company and the ground stations who will be trying very hard to ensure a suitable outcome for all.

In general, should you find yourselves at a hotel whereby your rest is disrupted, we ask you to fill out a FR and if necessary delay the next flight should you require additional rest. If you have completed a report, please forward this to the HC at cvhotels@alpl.lu so that we may keep a track of where the problem areas are.

To address issues with management we need a paper trail from either VR or FR. It is up to you to help us and yourselves in this matter! Without the input from you, we cannot guarantee that the standards we have can be maintained as we could well see a steady erosion of standards.

Additionally, if you have read this, please speak with your less well informed colleagues and encourage them to help themselves by reporting via the appropriate channels!