We have received numerous reports by our members that the Company is in violation of the CWA, both in the planning stage when rosters are published as well as during flight operations. We therefore would like to ask you to report ANY NON-COMPLIANCE to cvboard@alpl.lu.
In your E-Mail please include as much evidence as you can. This will enable us to take action in the near future. Confidentiality will be assured if requested.
In his recent letter regarding the profit share, our CEO stated his concerns regarding staff numbers, safety and efficiency of our operation. What Mr. Forson might have missed is the fact that this has been our main concern since the beginning of the year.
Although these key issues have been pointed out by ALPL over and over again, he and Flight Operations Management failed to timely put measures into place to prevent a further deterioration of the situation. Furthermore, we have seen another aircraft placed into operations despite lacking crews to operate the current fleet.
In the past months, numerous recommendations made by the Aviation Safety Department in respect to;
have been ignored. In addition, rosters are changing daily, further hindering every pilot’s ability to plan their rest. Also, Crew Control is sending block SMS messages to pilots on off-days asking whether they would like to work on their days off.
The CWA, with all its misgivings with an obvious advantage to management, is not being respected and flights are either planned into the CODs without the consent of the pilots, planned to arrive less than 12 hours before the first VAC day or rosters are changed without respecting rest or flight time limitations.
We are addressing this with Human Resources and asking them to ensure that the CWA is respected.
At the same time, it came to our attention, that members of EXCOM are appearing at the recurrent ground school, telling pilots, that they are not working enough and that management will try to align the old CWA working conditions with the new conditions in order to gain more efficiency. This gives an indication about the real focus and concerns regarding the staff and the actual disdain for the work carried out.
While other companies tried to counteract this pilot shortage by significantly improving pilot conditions with major two-digit salary increases, more time off and other benefits, this demeanor further deteriorates an already critical situation. The fact that even road-shows fail to raise a sufficient number of new First Officers who are willing to take on the challenge flying for Cargolux under the “new” conditions is an indication that we might have reached a tipping-point with respect to pilot work-load, CWA conditions and competitiveness of our remuneration package.
We ask you to remain vigilant. If you notice any roster non-conformity please send a polite email to Crew Control asking them to modify your roster to respect the CWA before you accept any changes.
Please also log into the new ALPL website where all relevant documents and Debrief videos have been uploaded for your reference. As always, if you have any questions we are doing our best to answer them as soon as we can. Send your concerns directly to cvboard@alpl.lu.
The ALPL Board would like to thank those colleagues who have already participated in the Fatigue Risk Management (FRM) survey. Currently we have received close to 200 responses. The average time taken to fill out the survey is 12-14 minutes.
If you have not participated in the survey yet, we kindly ask you to do so latest until 15 October 2017. The email containing the link to the survey was sent to your Cargolux email account on 22 September 2017 by the Aviation Safety Department on behalf of the FSAG.
Less than 15 minutes of your time are a valuable investment in determining where improvements to managing and mitigating fatigue in our flight operations can be made.
Beginning mid October the Dutch NLR will be seeking volunteers to collect live data for a period of 12 days for the EASA Study on the EU FTLs. We also strongly encourage you to participate in this live data collection. The results will have a direct impact on the EU FTLs and in turn our working conditions.
The following is an update on the data that has been collected from the fatigue reports filed by our crews.
The data clearly points to two key hotspots:
To address these hotspots, the following recommendations were sent to the Safety Review Board (SRB) to be actioned by the appropriate post holders.
Another important issue that your submitted fatigue reports have highlighted is that the fatigue modeling software is underestimating the alertness scores by 20-25%. This means that those flights mentioned above will not necessarily trigger an alert of an approaching fatigue risk.
Again, we ask that you keep a sleep log to serve as a predictor of your alertness on upcoming sectors. If you need additional rest in order to mitigate a potential fatigue risk, please inform the other member/s of your crew, dispatch and the local station of your required new wake up time.
Don’t forget that the CWA does incorporate a measure of protection. The standard crewFDPs must be 30 minutes less than the EASA limits when duties are published (before signing on for a duty). Please refer to the roster publication limits in B1-36.3.1 and insist, that your CWA is respected!
As always, if you need any clarification or assistance please contact your Board at cvboard@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!
In our last issue of our series “Know your CWA” we take a closer look at “Vacation”.
Below you find the articles as published in the current CWA. Further below we provide some comments and explanations for these articles.
In general, these rules are applicable for all pilots. Only the number of vacation days a pilot is entitled to is different for pilots, who were employed at or after 01 December 2015 and mentioned in CWA B3-35.4.
Like always it is the obligation of the company to follow these rules and a pilot is entitled to a roster reflecting these rules. However, as a pilot you should know what these rules are. If a pilot notices a none compliance with the CWA it is his right that his roster will be changed to be fully compliant with the CWA.
Vacation is governed by articles B1-37.2, B2-36.3 and B3-35.4.
B1-37.2. Vacation
B1-37.2.1 General Rules
Vacation time begins and ends at the Pilot’s Home Base. The Pilot will be scheduled to be Off Duty for at least 12 hours before the start of vacation time.
In case of ground Duty (any Duty excluding positioning or operating an aircraft) at Home Base, the Pilot will be scheduled to be Off Duty 6 hours before his vacation period.
Vacation during the initial training period is addressed in the individual employment contract.
During the calendar month in which the Pilot is on vacation, his Crew Duty will be regulated as follows for the purpose of calculating overtime:
Each day of vacation time is credited as 8 hour towards the 160 hours limit per 28 day Roster Period. For the calculation of paid vacation hours, 8 hours per day and 56 hours per week will however be taken into account.
B1-37.2.2. Sickness during vacation
If a Pilot falls ill during his vacation, the days during which he is ill will not be counted as vacation if he notifies Crew Control by means of a doctors’ certificate.
8 hours per day are counted towards credit hours, but not more than 40 hours per week for sickness of more than 5 consecutive days. This rule applies for sickness during the year.
B2-36.3 Vacation
The annual vacation will be 42 calendar days per year after the first year of service. Vacation for an incomplete year of service equals to number of months employed by the Company times 3.5 days.
* Note: For pilots employed after 01 December 2015 the following article is applicable:
B3-35.4 Vacation
The annual vacation will be 35 calendar days at the date of employment. Vacation in the first year will be pro rata of 35 days. The annual vacation entitlement increases as per below table until the maximum of 42 days per calendar year is reached. No additional vacation entitlement is due during the starting year.
The CWA contains only the general rules outlining vacation entitlements for pilots. The rules how vacation days are allocated are not stipulated in the CWA but outlined in the “Vacation-Bidding-System” document, which is distributed every year at the beginning of the vacation bidding period.
Below you will find some comments and explanations.
*Note: For pilots employed at or after 01 December 2015, a spool up of vacation days – from 35 (pro rata) in year 1 to 42 in year 8 – is applicable.
Example A:
A pilot is scheduled to arrive back at Home Base the day before his first Vacation Day. The flight is scheduled to arrive at 08.15h UTC (10.15h local time). As the pilot operates this flight his duty ends 30 minutes after arriving back at Home Base, at 10.45h local time. This is in line with Art. 37.2.1 as the pilot “… will be scheduled to be Off Duty for at least 12 hours before his vacation period.”
Example B:
Pilot A and Pilot B have both vacation days scheduled immediately the day after they arrive back at Home Base. Pilot A is operating the flight back from IAH, while Pilot B is only positioning from IAH back to LUX.
Due to a network change the flight is now planned to arrive (Block On) at 09.40h UTC (11.40h local time).
In this case the Duty of Pilot A ends 30 minutes after Block On at 12.10h local time, while the Duty of Pilot B ends with Block On at 11.40h local time. As Pilot A is not “…Off Duty for at least 12 hours before his vacation period.” , his roster shall be changed. Pilot B still is “…Off Duty for at least 12 hours before his vacation period”, as his Duty ends as defined in B1-36.2. at Block On, which is in this example at 11.40h local time.
Example C:
A pilot is scheduled for ground school the day before his first vacation day. This duty should end at 15.00h UTC (17.00h local time), which gives the pilot more than the required “… 6 hours before the vacation period.”
Please follow this link to download your copy of the CWA for your perusal on the company provided iPad or any other computer for future reference.
If you have any questions do not hesitate to contact us at cvboard@alpl.lu for clarification.
All parts of this series can be found here in the Publications section under Cargolux Board.
On 22 September 2017 the Cargolux Safety Department released a Fatigue Risk Management (FRM) survey on behalf of the Fatigue Safety Action Group (FSAG).
The FSAG is comprised of representatives from the Aviation Safety Department (ASD), Flight Operations management (Chief Pilots Office), Crew Control and two Pilot Representatives from the ALPL. The survey contains questions seeking general and specific information that will assist the FSAG in analyzing where improvements to managing and mitigating fatigue can be made.
If you have not viewed the Fatigue Awareness and Countermeasures Training (FACT) that was produced by the Aviation Safety Department, please take the time to access it on your iPad via the “CrewPad Player” application.
In addition to the current Cargolux FRM survey a request from EASA to participate in live data gathering for a research study will be released at the end of October. Here is a brief description of this survey:
Cargolux has been selected as one of a number of airlines to collect live data for this important EASA study. This live data will be critical in determining the potential need for adjustments to the current EASA FTL’s.
Considering the far-reaching consequences EASA FTL have on our operation and the possibility of demonstrating the necessity for adjustments to those FTL, we strongly encourage all members to participate in the Cargolux FRM survey, which was launched on 22 September 2017 (see your Cargolux email for further details and the link to the survey) and take part in the live data gathering for the research study conducted by the NLR on behalf of EASA. Please note, that these are two different surveys/studies! The live data gathering for the NLR research study will be launched at a later date.
Please find below an update on:
Immobilized Off Days (FFOD)
In January 2017 Cargolux introduced a system to immobilize FOD (FFOD), which principles are laid down in CWA B1-37.1.3. c).
After the publication of Roster Period 10 we would like to take the opportunity to remind everybody to check the receipt of their entitled blocks of FFOD.
Attached is the text of the not yet ratified „FFOD agreement “, which deals with the allocation process of the FFOD and the harmonization with part time, long term sick leave and pilots, who join the company during the year.
In the event of any discrepancies, please feel free to contact us at cvboard@alpl.lu for further investigation.
Joint Venture Airline (JVA) in China
A letter was recently sent to all members regarding the situation of the JVA. Management has provided information that the JVA will most likely commence in the 4th quarter of 2018. Other than that information nothing has been heard. As your Representatives we have two major concerns:
Following the letter that was sent a commitment to sit at the table and discuss how opportunities will be offered to First Officers for positions as Captains is now pending.
CWA Negotiation Survey
On 30 June 2017 we asked all our members to participate in a survey to highlight the most pressing issues which need to be changed in the upcoming negotiations.
In the last Divisional Board meeting on 04 September 2017, the result of the survey was presented and discussed. Based on that analysis, further steps regarding the strategy and preparing the negotiations were agreed on and will be communicated to the LCGB.
Without going too much into detail, the main priorities of our members focus, in no particular order, on removing the “B-scale”, roster stability, improving FTLs and salary increases.
Based on these results, this gives the ALPL a clear mandate what needs to be negotiated when the CWA expires in late 2018. A negotiating team has been formed and is now working on preparing all arguments.
Flight Duty Periods (FDP) Published Limits – Standard Crew
We are receiving reports that after roster changes the CWA FDP Roster publication limits for Standard Crews are not being respected.
It is important to know, that the word “published” is not only applicable at roster publication but must also be applied when your roster has been re-published after a change. It remains logical that the FDP you are now scheduled to operate are still bound to conform with ALL CWA limits.
EASA regulations clearly state an operator´s responsibility is to ensure that flights are planned to be completed within the allowable flight duty period. The 30 minutes buffer was agreed upon to prevent pilots always having to go into discretion.
Once a Standard Crew reports for duty, the full legal limits are applicable in case of unforeseen delays.
Please remain vigilant on enforcing your CWA. As always please contact us if you are not sure if your roster is compliant with the CWA.
Minimum Rest Periods
After recognizing an operational delay in AIMS during a rotation and the consequential request to confirm the change, many members noticed, that the related minimum rest requirements thereafter were not published accurately.
In these cases, please send a polite email to crew control requesting a corrected published roster with the correct minimum rest requirements as per the CWA.
SwissLife Supplementary Pension
It was brought to our attention by our members that there are apparently problems regarding the SwissLife Supplementary Pension Scheme. Several were reported, but the most pressing issue is an apparent age-discrimination that could have a serious impact on the benefits of eligible members.
Without going too much into detail, the problem is that the total annual amount of fixed contributions paid by the company is calculated at the beginning of the year at a fixed date while the benefits could vary decisively depending on the actual date of the beneficiary’s birthday.
This effect is further amplified by the allocation any employee to a certain age group which is influenced by the member’s actual date of birth, too. This allocation has in turn a critical effect on the date of migration of a beneficiary to the next higher contribution group and thus directly determines the total amount of money paid into the scheme over the course of time.
Together with interest-effects this could mean that certain beneficiaries could receive a substantially lower pension lump-sum at the end of the contractual period than other employees with the same number of years of contribution.
This discrimination by age was confirmed by IGSS of Luxembourg, which also proposed a different way of calculating the benefits in order to rectify this problem.
Since all employees are affected by the issue we put it on the agenda of the last delegation meeting. Our aim is to amend the scheme with the company in order to get these problems fixed and to avoid discrimination.
On 07 September 2017 members of the ALPL Cargolux Divisional Board, the ALPL Executive Board and the National President of the LCGB met with François Bausch, Minister for Sustainable Development and Infrastructure, to clarify urgent questions about the strategy of Cargolux in terms of Henan Cargo Airlines (HCA) and the possible benefits or disadvantages for Cargolux and its staff.
Regarding the economic situation of Cargolux, Minister Bausch believed a positive outlook was possible for the 2017 annual results. He further assessed the partnership with Emirates Sky Cargo as constructive. He distinctly dismissed any internal rumors that Emirates Sky Cargo wanted to end the partnership.
Cargolux’s zig-zag course concerning the Chinese-Luxembourgish joint venture HCA is, however, irritating. LCGB and ALPL raised various questions relating to the impact on the maintenance center and the pilots. In particular, the ancillary agreements, pilot training and a possible placement of Cargolux pilots at HCA and the possible reduction of the fleet size due to possible aircraft transfers to HCA. As numerous questions remain unanswered, Minister Bausch stated that it currently would be difficult to assess the development of the partnership and the possible contribution options for Cargolux. An active participation by means of transferring 3 aircraft to HCA is just one of many options.
Your representatives made it clear that the current fleet size of Cargolux will have to be maintained even in case of a transfer of aircraft from Cargolux to the Henan Cargo Airline. Additionally, ALPL and LCGB have no doubt that growth must also be generated at Cargolux in order to permanently secure the company’s existence as well as the jobs in Luxembourg.
Minister Bausch assured that due to structural and personnel changes in the HNCA shareholder, no profound changes could be expected for the fleet size before the end of 2019.
It was underlined by your ALPL and LCGB representatives, that urgent solutions must be found and that it is important to send a clear message to the staff at Cargolux. Regular meetings with employee representatives and making transparent important information is indispensable in order to avoid wild speculations and uncertainties.
After we looked at the CODs in the last issue of our series „Know your CWA“, in this issue we take a closer look at the „Floating Off- Days“ or in short FODs.
Below you find the article as published in the current CWA. Further below we provide some comments and explanations for this article.
These rules are applicable for all pilots except for the allocation and entitlement of RBO. The entitlement of RBO for pilots employed at or after 01 December 2015 is regulated differently and was explained in the issue “Off Days – General”.
Like always it is the obligation of the company to follow these rules and a pilot is entitled to a roster reflecting these rules. However, as a pilot you should know what these rules are. If a pilot notices a none compliance with the CWA it is his right that his roster will be changed to be fully compliant with the CWA.
37.1.3. FODays
a) Once the 3 FODays have been published, they can only be changed as follows:
i) They can be moved within the initially scheduled Roster Period as a block, provided that the Pilot receives a minimum of 24 hours notice of the planned change when at Home Base. When the Pilot is away from Home Base, a minimum notification time is not required.
ii) If the number of FODays is reduced, or if a Pilot´s ground Duty is not completed by 22:00 local before the 1st FODay, or if the Pilot´s Duty ends whether operating, positioning or dead-heading – 00:01 or later on the day before the first planned FODay, in which cases the Pilot is compensated as follows:
1) For each FODay and/or the 24RBO, a one-for-one day is attached to the CODays of the following unpublished Roster, carrying the same value as a CODay.
2) In case the entire block of FODays and the 24RBO will be moved into the next unpublished Roster, the Pilot is credited, in addition to 1), with 8 Duty Hours (not counting to the maximum Duty Hours limitation).
b) If the FODays and a block of vacation days are scheduled back to back, only one 24RBO is scheduled preceding this combined block of OFF and vacation days.
c) As of January 01 2017 the Company will introduce a system to immobilize the FODs. Details of this system will be worked out by the JCSC based on following principles:
i) Immobilizing FODays during the roster periods 11 through 13 inclusive is not permitted.
ii) 5 instances per full calendar year.
iii) FODays that have been immobilized have the same value as CODays.
iv) The RBOs, as applicable, are not affected by the FOD immobilization and shall be handled as per the general rules applicable to Rest Before Off as set out in the CWA.
v) Not more than 50% of either BC or FO can be on immobilized FOD in any given roster.
Below you will find some comments and explanations regarding Art. 37.1.3.
Important: According to B1-37.1.1., the RBO can be reduced from 24 hours to 18 hours without receiving any compensation in the event of a delay.
In other words:
1. In case of a delay, compensation according to Art. 37.1.2 e) is only applicable if the pilot´s duty ends at 06.01h local time or later.
2. In case of a reschedule, e.g. roster change with different return flight, the pilot is entitled to select compensation if the duty ends already at 00.01 h local time or later on the day before the first planned COD.
The following options exists for the company to compensate the pilot:
1. Receive 1 Off-Day for every FOD and the RBO to be scheduled within the next unpublished roster period, attached to the 6 COD block for that roster period. These “owed FOD” will then have the same value as COD, meaning they will be treated like COD in the roster period they will be moved to and all rules stipulated in CWA Art. 37.1.2. for COD are applicable to these “owed FOD”.
2. If the entire block of FOD including the RBO is moved into the next unpublished roster period the pilot shall receive additionally 8 Duty Hours in the roster period the FOD were removed from.
Please follow this link to download your copy of the CWA for your perusal on the company provided iPad or any other computer for future reference.
If you have any questions do not hesitate to contact us at cvboard@alpl.lu for clarification.
All parts of this series can be found here in the Publications section under Cargolux Board.
With the high season ahead of us, fatigue mitigation will be crucial to ensure a safe operation of the aircraft. George Karambilas answers questions in regards to EASA FTL, fatigue mitigation in general and filing Fatigue Reports aiming at giving our members guidelines and support to fly safely through the peak season.
Please click here for some legal references, which may be of interest.
Guidance on how to Report Fatigue or Potential Fatigue can be downloaded here.
