NJS – AFAP Council Meeting – January 2024 Minutes
On the 10th of January the NJS AFAP Council (Anthony, Eric and Justin) met at the Melbourne AFAP office along with Chris Aikens (AFAP Senior Industrial Officer) for our quarterly council meeting. Joining a bit later in the day were NJS management representatives Justine Hughes (Manager Flight Crew), Ian Verner (Senior Manager Line Operations) and Tony Macdonald (incoming Head of Flight Operations). Unfortunately Andrew Page (COO) was unable to make it as he was on leave.
The following topics were discussed between the council members in the morning and then most were then presented to management for comment or follow up during the afternoon.
You will note that quite a few items were again asked of management as we had not seen outcomes from the last meeting. Our Industrial Officer (Chris Aikens) advised us that perseverance pays off, so we will continue to challenge the company on issues until we get a resolution.
Overall we were very impressed with the engagement, knowledge and personability of our new Head of Flight Operations and we believe he will help facilitate an effective working relationship with NJS management.
Council Vacancy
Ideally we would like to see one other pilot from our ranks join the NJS Council to make up the required number of four. If any members are keen to see how these meetings are run, feel free to come along and join in.
Accommodation
Both CFS and NTL were previously identified as having issues with location, noise and transport. Given both these ports should not be having overnights rostered for at least the medium term, we have elected to discontinue pursuing alternatives at these ports.
We have requested to involve pilot representatives with the accommodation selection process.
Meals
Once again meal provision, quality and eating opportunity was discussed. Unfortunately, the way that the PEA is written, meals to be supplied in meal periods is contentious. Per the FRMS, access to meals and sustenance breaks is a regulatory requirement. Work in progress.
Food quality is a big issue for many members and we once again encouraged the company to look at a trial of alternative meals (like those provided to QantasLink crew). We could trial at least one meal per pairing and ask for feedback from the crew after three months or so.
We again offered to provide personnel to participate in reviewing food quality going forward.
First Officer A220 Upgrade Protocols
Tony Macdonald was questioned regarding the minimum requirement for first officers to upgrade on the A220. We encouraged the company to look at the possibility of reviewing the qualification requirements or providing additional training to upgrade candidates to make up the 150 hours. Tony will look into whether there was a risk assessment or other process used that established the current requirements and he’ll get back to us. We still want the company to provide assurance that senior first officers receive their opportunity to upgrade relative to their seniority in their individual bases - which will likely always be the case given the way training is being dispersed around the bases’ personnel.
A220 Roster Protocols
As mentioned from the last meeting, we presented an alternative set of roster protocols to the company that effectively have the current B717 protocols mirrored for initial A220 flying (whilst the new aircraft flies the same type of flying currently performed). This is inclusive of the 10x RDO per 28 day roster requirement. The AFAP pilot reps believe that this may well be considered by the company and in doing so shall provide a much better base of lifestyle provisions to negotiate from into the next PEA. A revised arrangement may require a variation to the current agreement.
Duty Travel
Management were again briefed on our suggestion to have available Business seats booked for duty travel and that middle seats were unacceptable. We are confident of a resolution regarding paxing arrangements very soon.
Until we see positive change to the way duty travel is managed however, if crew feel that their level of fatigue is adversely affected by paxing in seats other than Business or the minimum standard suggested above (ie: Business or Aisle), please ensure it is reported in Intelex.
‘Alternate duty travel’ was also discussed with management. This is a situation where a ‘commuting’ crewmember may opt to fly directly to their city of domicile in lieu of their assigned home base ahead of rostered days off. This requires more lobbying of the company as it would be of welcome assistance to a number of crew.
Base Transfers
Justine Hughes reiterated that whilst no additional positions are necessary in Sydney, no transfers will take place. As flying winds down it will likely retract out of Sydney for a period of time, therefore sending extra staff to the base would be counter-productive. Again, management stated they are very keen to ensure crew get to their desired base when opportunity presents.
Engagement and Pilot Retention
Management reiterated that they wish to retain ALL current crew through the slow down of B717 flying into the training period of the A220 and through to the ramping up of that aircraft’s utilisation. They simply cannot afford to lose experienced crew during this period and have indicated their desire to work with us to find means to improve engagement and staff morale. This is a great point in time for us to build a solid working relationship with the company with a view to improve terms and conditions of our employment.
A220 Type Rating Accommodation
Out of base crew will spend 3 nights in accommodation during visits to Melbourne when completing their type rating training. It is likely that the company will utilise the Hyatt Essendon Fields for this, but they may be open to exploring other options that might be more appropriate (ie: with cooking facilities and additional amenities around the accommodation).
Pre-Paid Allowances during Type Rating Training
All staff moving to the A220 will be rostered using iFlight. All allowances from weeks one and two of a given roster shall be paid at the end of the fourth week. Weeks three and four shall be paid at the end of the next roster’s week two. Given that allowances shall be paid only two weeks in arrears we do not believe the concept of prepaid allowances is appropriate to pursue.
Direct Company contribution of Loss of License Insurance allowance
We will follow up with the MBF regarding how we might implement a system where the company pays their contribution of Loss of License Insurance directly to the AAPMBF and the crewmember pays the balance (either in total or monthly). This will remove the requirement of crew to pay the entirety and then claim back the allowance from Qantas. We shall report on this in the future.
CAQ events
The AFAP recently provided an open invitation to crew to participate in a study of human toxicology as it relates to aircraft CAQ events. We wanted to thank everyone that volunteered for the CAQ blood test but unfortunately at this stage we have failed to reach the minimum numbers required for the study. We will be in contact shortly with those who volunteered with more information on developments. We suggested that maybe cabin crew might wish to participate and the AFAP shall investigate along those lines.
Superannuation
We again requested of management to have Payroll brief us on which parts of our remuneration attract the current 11% contributions. Included in this requested brief is the payment frequency and what date ranges are being calculated.
2024 Meetings Schedule
Tentatively we have pencilled in the following locations and dates for this year’s council meetings - 01/05 Sydney, 17/07 CBR 23/10 HBA. Once again, if members are interested in attending, they would be very welcome. Please contact one of the us below and we’ll send details when confirmed. As always your council reps are:
Anthony Clouting on
clouters@me.com
Eric Galliers on
ericgalliers@hotmail.com
Justin Gordon on
justin.gordon69@gmail.com
In addition, AFAP staff member Chris Aikens can be contacted on
chris@afap.org.au. The AFAP also has their Member Assistance Program (MAP) which can be accessed via Freecall 1300 307 912.