Dear Colleagues,
On behalf of LUXAIR pilots the Association Luxembourgeoise des Pilotes de Ligne (ALPL) is requesting Mutual Assistance as per Chapter 2 of the IFALPA Industrial Manual.
LUXAIR, like many other airlines, was hit by the COVID pandemic. As a result, the total number of staff employed by LUXAIR in all areas was reduced. With the recovery from the pandemic, it became evident that the remaining staff is not able to cope with the increasing demand, which is about to surpass prepandemic levels. As a result, LUXAIR schedules its crews to the maximum of what is legally possible. This results in frequent fatigue reports by LUXAIR pilots.
The LUXAIR Divisional Board of ALPL, together with the unions, addressed these issues in various meetings with LUXAIR management since July 2022. Unfortunately, LUXAIR management was not willing to find solutions related to fatigue. At one point in time LUXAIR management even refused to continue the dialogue with the unions. Following this break down of social dialogue, the aviation tripartite group agreed
on the proposal of the Chairman of UXAIR Board of Directors that a mediation should take place with the aim to restart social dialogue between LUXAIR management and the unions.
Since October 2022 several meetings within the mediation took place, and on 22 February 2023 the mediation was declared as concluded. Unfortunately, this mediation did not re-establish a constructive dialogue between the airline’s management and the unions, as LUXAIR’s management is still not open to
address fatigue related issues reported by LUXAIR crews.
As the situation for the LUXAIR pilots became unbearable, LUXAIR Divisional Board of ALPL, together with the unions representing the ground staff (which face similar problems due to a severe understaffing in all departments), decided to ask all LUXAIR employees to withdraw all flexibility provided to the company beyond what is agreed in the Collective Labour Agreement, as of 15 March 2023 midnight.
While some dialogue between ALPL’s LUXAIR Divisional Board and unions on one side, and LUXAIR management are still ongoing, there is great concern that the management will continue to disregard fatigue related issues.
In light of the above, and on behalf of the LUXAIR pilots, ALPL is requesting Mutual Assistance, as per the IFALPA Industrial Manual, starting on 15 March 2023 at 00.00 local time Luxembourg, and until further notice: The ALPL requests the Mutual Assistance outlined below and further requests letters of support for LUXAIR pilots to be sent to the attention of the of Captain Lars Christiansen, President of ALPL’s LUXAIR Divisional Board, at [email protected] with a CC to [email protected] and [email protected]
- Request for Ban on Wet Leasing (2.4.1)
- Request for Assistance to Pilots Stranded Away from their Home Base (2.4.5)
- Request for Prohibition of Pilot Contracting (2.4.6)
- Request for Submissions and Representations (2.4.7)
The ALPL will keep IFALPA and its Member Associations informed of any further developments.