Michael Kaiser No Comments

Hotel Committee Update – July 2022

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 8th 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 5th 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.

Michael Kaiser No Comments

Withdrawal of Good Will and Flexibility – Update 02 July 2022

Most of our members take part in the campaign and there is no doubt about the impact on flight operations. 
 
Those effects, which require extra efforts from every participant, also sometimes have inconvenient consequences for the pilots. Therefore, we’d like to express our appreciation for your support and the personal sacrifices! In the absence of any feedback from management it is important to keep up the necessary pressure and to continue to follow our guidelines.
 
Layovers in SGN
We received a report from a member, who decided to park an aircraft in SGN that the local ground staff provided wrong information concerning layovers in SGN to persuade the operating crew to continue. It is our position that the potential use of Commander´s Discretion is a crew decision only and an interference of ground staff in this respect is unacceptable.Knowingly providing wrong information to the crews to conveniently making them continue by applying Commander’s Discretion could be seen as a reportable safety concern.
 
Ultimately it turned out that crew layovers in context with COVID-19 in SGN are possible without any restrictions, additionally raising the question of how this fits into the picture of management´s communicated intention to reduce double sectors. If you are confronted with ground staff showing a similar behavior, please do your own research and contact the company or us to receive correct information.
 
Communication with crew control
It´s obvious that our campaign puts extra pressure on crew control and makes their work more difficult. When communicating with our colleagues from crew control, please stay professional and don`t engage in emotional discussions. Their sometimes-desperate actions are only a “symptom” and not the “disease” and it only proves the effect of the campaign.
 
We want to make clear that, despite the work pressure in crew control, any inappropriate comments, that could be understood as a threat, questioning the motivation of crew members or intimidating behavior are not tolerable and should be reported.
 
If you don`t agree with roster changes or you are exposed to such inadequate language or pressure, please send an email to cvboard@alpl.lu  and provide us with the details. We will give you the necessary support.
 
False allegations
Despite the call for unity and solidarity we are aware that not all colleagues are following our guidelines all the time. We would like to urge those to reconsider their position, to join their fellow colleagues and to be united and solidary with them.
 
Sometimes it might also appear that a colleague is offering his/her flexibility to the company whereas it only was a roster change within the framework of the CWA and fully compliant with our guidelines. Thus, we would like to ask everyone to refrain from accusing colleagues based on rumors or uninformed grounds.

False allegations, or even worse, mobbing, will not result in increased support and unity but will result in the opposite.
 
Finally, we would like to thank all of you for your dedication and efforts! With the negotiations ahead, we must stay strong and united! 
  
Thank you for your support! 

Michael Kaiser No Comments

Request for negotiations

On 17 June 2022 both Unions, the LCGB and OGBL, sent an official letter to Cargolux management with the request to officially engage in negotiations for an adjusted Collective Work Agreement (CWA).
 
Our claims are based on the survey conducted in early 2022, on inputs which we received from our members during the last years and as well as on topics that we consider important for the near future and the changed business environment.
 
The feedback from our members has given us a clear picture of the needs of the Cargolux pilot community. These claims will be compiled in a list, which will be communicated to management and to you in due time.
 
It is now up to Cargolux management to accept this request and schedule an initial meeting with the Unions to engage in earnest negotiations. 

Michael Kaiser No Comments

Members Update – June 2022

Please see below an update concerning: 

  • Withdrawal of Good Will and Flexibility
  • Layovers in BKK 

Withdrawal of Good Will and Flexibility
It is promising to see an overwhelming participation in the “Withdrawal of Good Will and Flexibility” campaign and to receive positive feedback from our members. 

The true effects of this campaign may not be obvious by only looking at the flight movement screen, but it is making an impact. We are aware of noticeable network disruptions and significant delays due to lack of crews. Something that does not come unexpected as management continuously relied on the flexibility of us pilots.

The published guidelines have been received very well by our colleagues and pilots are frequently making use of the draft text sample that we provided when they contact crew control. The impact of the campaign can also be experienced by how crew control sometimes desperately is reaching out to pilots in their off days to cover flights and the change of tone of some of their emails.

The first 11 days of the campaign have also revealed some issues that we would like to address in this update. 

  1. Some colleagues still offer their flexibility and continue to be available during their off days. This unfortunately is undermining the joint effort of the pilot community and we would like to ask those of you to reconsider their position and to show unity as well as solidarity with your fellow colleagues. A united workforce now will also demonstrate our strength and determination in the upcoming negotiations. It is an investment in our future. 
  2. The deadline to ask for a 2 for 1 or 1 for 1 compensation to be allocated in July has passed. We therefore ask you to have your entire off day block moved as per CWA 36.16.2.b.1 and 36.16.3.b.1 respectively if you arrive late at home base into your off days. Don’t accept to have your off days reduced as this would instantly give management the required flexibility, which they take for granted. 
  3. Many pilots use applications like iAIMS or others to update their rosters. Please make sure to deactivate the automatic update function and only manually check your rosters. Every login to eCrew is logged and crew control knows exactly when a roster was checked by an individual pilot. This can put you in a very unpleasant situation, especially when you don’t have to be reachable as per the CWA. Please also note in this context that a roster change being seen by the respective crew member is potentially proof enough to become valid. It doesn’t necessarily require the confirmation of the change.  
  4. Some colleagues provided their private email address to crew control. Be aware that every email can be traced and a receipt or read notification could be triggered. We strongly recommend instructing crew control to delete your private email address and to be only reachable via the company provided email address. Again, please do not open your emails during times when you don’t have to be reachable! In this respect we also strongly recommend not to set up your private devices (private phones, iPads or laptops) in a way so that company emails can be received. Also, the company iPad does not need to be opened or updated during off times. This can be done after reporting for duty.  
  5. Crew control sometimes becomes very creative in allocating different Flight Duty Periods. Always make sure that OM-A, Chapter 7, Section 1 “Roster Amendments” is respected. The relatively new table lists restrictions regarding amendments to FDPs and (re)scheduled departure times and when crew consent is required. At least in one case crew control tried to activate a deadheading crew member on short notice. According to OM-A 7.1.2, changes to FDP, especially after reporting time, are only possible under very tight prerequisites. This regulation (ORO.FTL.110) is mandatory and cannot be waived. In case you receive a roster change, be aware of this table, which is not part of the CWA. Please familiarize yourself to have more clarity in terms of what crew control can change and when your consent is required. We will also update our guidelines in the future.

Finally, if you experience a discussion with crew control, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us at cvboard@alpl.lu, so we can assist you. We also highly recommend continuing to follow the published guidelines on “Withdrawal of Good Will and Flexibility”, which you can download here should you not have done so yet and to read the “Know your CWA” series on our website. Guidelines for hotel accommodation can be downloaded here.

We would like to take this opportunity and thank you for your support and unity! Please continue with “Withdrawal of Good Will and Flexibility” until 26 July 2022. 

Layovers in BKK
Thai authorities have lifted the restriction for vaccinated crews to stay in the mandated quarantine hotel, which is the Novotel. With most of the pilots being vaccinated it should be possible for management to schedule layovers again in the contracted crew hotel downtown.

Please click here to read a letter from the LCGB that was sent to the CEO on 14 June 2022.

Michael Kaiser No Comments

Hotel Committee Update – June 2022

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!

Michael Kaiser No Comments

Update on HKG layovers

Today the pilot delegates sent another letter to the CEO highlighting that Cargolux pilots have suffered enough in-room confinement during the pandemic and therefore demanded to stop the layovers in HKG.

Please click here to read the letter.

We are awaiting a response from management until 26 May 2022, the latest. The next steps will highly depend on their reply and rest assured that – as requested by many of our members – all pilot representatives are ready to escalate things to the next level, should this become necessary.

The required work is currently being done in the background and we would like you to be mentally prepared, as the next step will require your assistance. 

We will keep you posted. Thank you for your support!

Michael Kaiser No Comments

Members Update – May 2022

Please see below an update regarding: 

  • Per Diem in case of B2B in connection with a Ground Duty
  • Recurrent Extended Recovery Rest Period
  • PBS
  • HKG layovers

Per Diem in case of B2B in connection with a Ground Duty
We have received confirmation that in cases where a pilot agrees to a B2B in connection with a Ground Duty, the Per Diem is only paid until the off-duty time for the Duty or Flight Duty, preceding the Ground Duty. For the Ground Duty as well as for the required Rest before, no Per Diem is paid.

Please note that according to the CWA, a B2B in connection with a Ground Duty requires the consent of the pilot. We hope that the knowledge of how this is handled helps you to make a careful consideration when your cooperation might result in a financial disadvantage due to increased costs when staying in a hotel.

Recurrent Extended Recovery Rest Period
In response to an enquiry that we sent to the DAC, we have received a letter, where the replanning and notification of the Recurrent Extended Recovery Rest Period for pilots is clarified. 

According to the DAC, a pilot shall be notified about the RERRP before the Rest Period has started and retroactively converting a “normal” Rest Period into a RERRP is not allowed.

After having received the letter, the Delegation sent a letter to Flight Operations Management, in which the implementation of the above-mentioned points into the OM-A was requested. Please click here to read all letters in this context. No response has been received so far.

PBS
After several meetings with the PBS working group, a letter has been sent to Flight Operations Management with the request to implement two additional bidding options into the PBS, which have been identified as main issues:

  1. The implementation of the “split and wrap” option for the monthly bidding, similar to what is presently used for the V-OFF Day bidding, and
  2. The possibility to mark a specific request as “very important”. 

As stated in this letter, the detailed rules still would have to be discussed and agreed upon by the involved parties, but this could be first steps to improve the bidding award success rate and improve our quality of life.

Please click here to read the letter.

We would like to assure you that we know how important this is for most of our members and therefore treat this topic with a high priority.

However, the response rate for the monthly PBS survey still remains relatively low. Your participation is highly appreciated and helps us to prove our point of view when addressing the issues as well as identify trends. So please continue to persistently fill out the monthly PBS survey. Thank you for your support!

HKG layovers
We can slowly see that various authorities worldwide are lifting COVID-19 restrictions step by step. These are welcome changes on a path back to normality. To keep the risk for us pilots in context with possible layovers and updated entry restrictions in HKG at a minimum, the Delegation sent a position paper to Senior Management a few weeks ago. 

Please click here to read the letter.

Dirk Becker No Comments

Cargolux Divisional Assembly 2022 – Screencast

A recording of the Divisional Assembly 2022 is available online at www.alpl.lu. We encourage everyone, who was not able to attend the assembly on 19 April 2022 to watch this screencast.

The main agenda items in this assembly were:

  • Summary of the Division´ s activities including future challenges and the upcoming CWA negotiations
  • Forecasted financial plan for the year
  • Fee exemption for active Board Members
  • Miscellaneous 

Please click on the image below to view the video.

Michael Kaiser No Comments

Fatigue Reports

Over the past two years our operation has been characterized by a sharp increase in augmented crew multisector duties coupled with shorter rest periods at our destinations.
 
The increase in block hours flown combined with more tightly planned rotations potentially means that we are operating many duties within the WOCL (window of circadian low), resulting in disrupted sleeping patterns with the risk of increased levels of fatigue.
 
The mental stress factors of in-room confinement, constant roster changes, the potential lack of recovery times at destinations and having to address private life issues due to unfavorable rosters, can also contribute to a reduced quality of sleep.
 
Cargolux uses a Biomathematical Model (BMM) to predict levels of fatigue which has its limitations. All BMM vendors clearly state that their model only predicts fatigue levels and sleep opportunities for an ‘average’ pilot. Additionally, there is very little data on how the body clock adjusts when we cross the international dateline.  More importantly BMM do not take into account disturbances (e.g. noise, turbulences, rooms that cannot be darkened), quality of sleep at a hotel or on an aircraft.
 
We as pilots are the most important data source of what happens during actual operations. The Fatigue Report is the only effective and confidential means for us pilots to communicate a realistic picture of the operation. The collection of this data is vital in any discussion with management to highlight fatigue “hotspots”, even if scheduling is within legal limits. While your report maybe subjective (i.e. personal), when many pilots are communicating via the confidential reporting system, the same subjective information becomes a collection of many data points and thus objective data.
 
We would also like to address two concerns that we sometimes hear in connection with Fatigue Reports: “After I sent the fatigue report I did not hear anything and/or nothing changed” and “I am afraid that I will admit to having flown fatigued with a Fatigue Report”.
 
In regard to the first concern please bear in mind that the safety system in any organization takes a certain amount of time to collect a reasonable number of reports (objective data) to be able to make recommendations to changes for FDP’s and rotations. If insufficient data is received, it is difficult to act on a handful of reports.
 
Regarding the second concern it is important to understand that suffering fatigue is not a failure of any individual. We are all human and we have difficulties to self-assess when fatigue may occur during a future FDP. If you have done your best to obtain adequate sleep before a duty, or series of duties, and you none-the-less experience fatigue during a flight, it is important that this data is accurately communicated without emotions.
 
Please click on this link for more information on how to report fatigue or potential fatigue. 
We will also post more guidelines and mitigating measures in the future to support this very important safety mechanism.
 
We want to conclude with a reminder that fatigue reporting not only is defined in EU regulations as a mandatory reportable occurrence, but more importantly is the crucial element in data collection required to bring about changes in our operations where simply complying with FTL’s is insufficient. 

Michael Kaiser No Comments

Members Update – March 2022

Please see below an update regarding:

  • Falling sick or being quarantined while on a rotation
  • Non-compliance of CWA article 36.17.1
  • Developments regarding the index increase in Luxembourg 

Falling sick or being quarantined while on a rotation
We have received reports from colleagues who are confronted with a refused compensation for Off-Days according to CWA 36.16 while the pilots either fell sick or had been mandated to be in quarantine while on a rotation. This represents a significant change in how management treats such cases as this never has happened in the past.

It goes without saying that we strongly oppose this disappointing and unfortunate behavior from management, as this could potentially result in pilots being away from home for excessively long times under unacceptable circumstances. Especially regarding the fact that the first in first out principle in BKK is not applied anymore and the risk of having to take PCR tests has increased, this should not be underestimated, and the fitness and health should be carefully assessed before leaving on a trip.

Article 36.16.1 of the CWA clearly states that all off days must be fixed at home base. The consideration of Off-Days to be taken during a rotation while falling sick or having to undergo a quarantine thus poses a clear violation of the above-mentioned article. This has already been communicated to Management in February 2022, without success.

In the meantime, we have involved the Unions who will follow the respective legal steps to tackle this violation and we will keep you informed about any development regarding this issue.

Please also report any attempt to deprive you of your Off-Days to cvboard@alpl.lu. 

Non-Compliance of CWA article 36.17.1
We have been informed about the incorrect application of article 36.17.1 of the CWA.

This article specifically defines the compensation a pilot is entitled to in case of a late arrival at home base before a vacation period. 

It has come to our attention that the hours from 12.00 local time until going off duty to be compensated according to this article due to the late arrival have been deducted from the pilot´s regular monthly duty overtime, thus reducing his overtime payments.

When this article was discussed in the negotiations, it was agreed that the supplement for overtime is to be applied for the purpose of calculating the compensation to be paid to the pilot as a “fine” for the company.

With management´s deliberate decision to interpret this article in a different way than its original purpose, management creates a scenario where any pilot who already is working for more than 173 duty hours in a roster period and arrives late at home base before a vacation period is de facto not receiving any financial compensation as per article 36.17.1. Or, in other words, the pilot is paying this compensation out of his own pocket.

We have addressed this with management but again unfortunately without any success. The Unions will also take this topic to the next level.

We ask you to get in touch with us should the company not correctly apply the CWA in this context.

Developments regarding the index increase in Luxemburg
Last week, the government met with representatives of employer organizations and the Unions (Tripartite).

In those meetings it was agreed to have only one index increase this year, which most likely will be announced in April 2022.

Before those meetings, the employers lobbied to get rid of the index system which would have affected the salaries of all employees in Luxemburg in the years to come.

The index system in Luxembourg provides a very effective inflation compensation and should any additional index increase become necessary according to the calculations of STATEC in 2022, this increase would be postponed until next year.

As pilots we will benefit from an additional salary increase of 1% effective 01 August 2022 according to the current CWA.