Scheduling Committee Update October 6, 2023

Crew Control/Crew Planning Town Hall

Valentin Lorien (he/him) attended the Crew Control/Crew Planning Town Hall in his capacity as the Scheduling Committee chair to represent the union. Also on the call were other members of the scheduling committee, the HRE & Communications Committee Chair, and your MEC President and Vice President.

Those of you who attended the Crew Control/Crew Planning Town Hall witnessed a disaster. Despite planning this event for 2 months and sending in our questions ahead of time, Ops Management was not prepared for our questions and concerns.  This prompted our Chief Cabin Crew to continuously talk and make excuses for the failures of a department that refuses to take ownership.

Many of you weren’t surprised at how poorly this meeting was conducted because we’re now used to it. Ops Management’s lack of regard for the crew has been apparent since day 1 here at Norse. Today, we are still dealing with:

1. No automated swapping system (App).
2. No manual bidding system.
3. No signed agreement with the Union on a Scheduling Policy
4. Failure to utilize the Union’s Scheduling Committee to improve rosters for the crew.

The meeting was not a total failure, though, as Kjetil, the Director of Flight Operations, did make some promises:

1. All crew would be dual qualified (on both AOCs) by next summer.
2. The Company would work with the Union to develop rosters before they’re finalized.
3. The upcoming charter assignments will be put out for a bid.

The Union will make sure that the Company follows through with all of these promises with written agreements, as we have learned that verbal agreements mean nothing here at Norse.

The company also stated at the meeting that there will be no vacation granted between December 15, 2023-January 15, 2024. We understand that the crew are disheartened by this news, especially considering that due to a late finalization of the winter schedule, crew have been unable to bid for any vacation all winter long. Crew will have noticed that if they placed a request for cacation in Crew Connex for December or January, that those were cancelled. Norse stated that this was due to some Winter Charter Flights that they wanted the US crew to operate, and so they needed all crew to be available.

Winter Charter Flights

The most important charter flights for Norse this winter are the ACMI contract with Neos, an Italian airline based in Milan. The Neos charter flights essentially require crew to be “temporarily based” in Milan from the middle of December to the middle of January. The company said that only crew on the Norwegian AOC will be eligible to work these flights. Destinations served by the charter will be: MBA, ZNZ, and LRM. While many crew are excited with the prospect of working these flights, the Union is going to ensure the following conditions are met:

1. There must be a bidding process and the assignments will be awarded in seniority order.
2. If the Company is going to require the crew to perform security checks, they must be adequately compensated.
3. Crew will receive per diem from the moment they leave home base (JFK or MIA) until the moment they return.
4. The safety and security of the crew shall be prioritized over all other factors.

Dual AOC Flying

For those crew that are currently Dual AOC qualified, UK AOC and NOR AOC, you might be asking why you do not have the opportunity to fly those Neos charter flights, or other flights available to either AOC. This is because we do not have the necessary approvals to seamlessly switch between AOCs.

Currently, those crew who are on the UK AOC can operate NOR AOC flights with a quick conversion CBT. However, in order to return to the UK AOC, current regulations require that crew take part in a 4-5 day conversation course in order to "requalify" to fly UK AOC flights again, even if you just did your UK conversion course. This conversion course must be done EVERY time you switch between AOCs.

The company is currently in talks with the UK CAA to try to adjust these requirements, but there is no clear timeline on when this will occur.

As a reminder: the company has promised that all US cabin crew members will be Dual AOC certified by Summer 2024. 

If you are a UK AOC certified crew member who has worked both NOR and UK flights without a conversion course in between, please reach out to us at [email protected] and cc [email protected]