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Scheduling Committee Update April 20, 2023

20 Apr, 2023

Dear Cabin Crew,

The AFA Scheduling Committee met with Management 19-20APR at the head office in Arendal. The following topics discussed were:

Automated/Manual Bidding system
Vacation Bidding system
Swap App
Scheduling policy
Summer Pairings (V patterns)
Interoperability between Norway and UK AOC
Winter Schedule

Automated/Manual Bidding System

The Company has admitted that no progress has been made on obtaining an automated bidding system for the crew. The union was told back in October that the process was started to procure a bidding system but this hasn’t happened. We expressed our huge disappointment and asked that the process be started NOW and that in the meantime we develop a manual bidding system. Management agreed to this concept and agreed to develop a manual bidding system with PDC this summer. We will be a part of the procurement process to secure an automated bidding system going forward. Management has signaled that they are open to the concept of obtaining a complete crew management software suite from a well-established aviation software company that will not just provide a bidding module but replace their entire crew management system.

Vacation Bidding system

Management is aware that vacation requests have not been granted in a timely manner as a result of not having a proper system in place. They agreed to let the AFA Scheduling Committee to develop a manual bidding system based on seniority in accordance with our CBA. The initial period for bidding will be open the first week of May for slots in the summer schedule (01JUL-31OCT). There will be another vacation bidding period in July/August for the winter season once the winter schedule is finalized. Each vacation slot will encompass seven (7) calendar days starting on Monday, ending on Sunday, with 4 days being deducted from the vacation allotment and 3 days counting towards the contractual 12 days off.

Swap App

The swap app is currently undergoing beta testing by the AFA Scheduling Committee and other unions and we expect it to be available for release soon. In the meantime, you will soon be able to download the app and at the very least, view your schedules.

Scheduling Agreement

The AFA Scheduling Committee and the Company have agreed to a basic scheduling agreement that outlines basic scheduling policies such as standby/reserve, roster construction, and trip swaps. As soon as the agreement is signed by Management, we will send it out to the crew. Once signed, the Agreement will hold the same weight as contract language.

Summer Pairings (V patterns)

The Company gave us an insight on what pairings will look like for the summer schedule:

The FLL UK AOC will fly 6-day and 7-day FLL-LGW-MCO-LGW-FLL “V patterns”, in addition with FLL-LGW-IAD-LGW-FLL and FLL-LGW-BOS-LGW-FLL later in the summer season.
The FLL NO AOC will fly 4-day and 5-day trips FLL-OSL-FLL.
The JFK UK AOC will fly JFK-LGW-JFK until 30JUN, with the addition of a 6-day JFK-LGW-LAX-LGW-JFK V pattern.
The JFK NO AOC will fly 3-day trips JFK-CDG-JFK, JFK-FCO-JFK, JFK-BER-JFK and 4-day trips JFK-BER-JFK.

Interoperability between Norway and UK AOC

The Company just applied for approval for an “AOC briefing” that will allow crew to fly on both Norway and UK AOCs as long as a briefing is given/received before each flight if all crew hold qualifications for both AOCs. The Company is still awaiting approval for “joint-recurrent” training that will allow one (1) recurrent training to satisfy the requirements of both AOCs.

Winter Schedule

The winter schedule has not been finalized by the Commercial Team. According to Management announcements and Alting meetings, the Company has yet to reveal all winter destinations and corresponding routes. We expect the winter destinations to be announced in the next few months. In the meantime, we will be working closely with Management to ensure that the crew does not suffer a loss of block hours during the winter season.

Thank you for reading this newsletter. If you have any questions, feel free to email the AFA Scheduling Committee from your work (Norse) email address: [email protected]