Zoom Recording and ACMI Discussion October 2022

Dear Norse Cabin Crew,

Yesterday we held a Union update Zoom call. A recording of the call is available here:

https://us06web.zoom.us/rec/share/uL9Mrged22-FaeeahDSkSfw8dOYH1WqOWSN7xWmPZ9M3Lb1ak_0bSBakekzzGHDq.azdDcK-KsiHKeUDy?startTime=1665849939000

Passcode: 9hN.2BHt

Also yesterday was the JFK crew base meeting with the CEO. Several of you attended and vocalized your concerns over rostering and staff travel. A big thank you to the crew who attended and spoke up! Speaking up and exercising our power as workers is what belonging to a Union is all about.
 

At the meeting, Bjorn Tore was told that the crew have little flying and he was asked why the crew wasn’t offered utilize leaves of absence, part-time rosters, and trip drops. Bjorn Tore responded that the company doesn’t want to give any leaves just yet because he is currently in negotiations with another company for an ACMI lease. ACMI is an airline industry term that stands for Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance and Insurance. There are two main types of ACMI lease: wet leasing, when a supplying airline (Norse) provides all four of these elements to a customer airline (the lessee); and damp leasing, when the lessee provides their own cabin crew. The type of agreement Norse is currently negotiating is a wet lease. Having additional work for the crew is definitely good news, but we are disappointed that the company did not notify us beforehand of poor roster quality before the release and not responding to our requests for leaves of absence and part-time rosters.

The AFA will continue to press the company for leaves of absence and part-time rosters and will also be asking the company to answer several questions: 1) When will we know for sure if we have signed an agreement to do the flying?  2) How long it will take for the flights to be put on our rosters, 3) How much flying will there be and which bases will get the flying, and 4) How long will the ACMI contract last?  

If you planning on going to the meeting with the CEO in FLL on the 18th, feel free to ask the CEO questions about ACMI—specifically, when we expect to have an agreement so it can be decided if crew can be given leaves of absence, part-time schedules, and trip drops. Also, please ask the CEO why the US crew are being charged a fee for ID travel when no US airline employee has to pay their airline a fee to travel. We know that there is a tax liability for Europeans who use ID travel but Americans do not have the same tax liability.

The reason why it’s bad that we are getting charged a fee for ID travel is because it will impact our ability to obtain reciprocal jumpseat agreements with other airlines. Reciprocal jumpseat agreements work by crew from one airline riding on another airline for free only paying taxes if any. If Norse intends to charge any kind of fee, other airlines will not be interested in entering into a reciprocal jumpseat agreement with us. Please let Bjorn Tore know that if the fee for ID travel is not removed, we will lose our ability to negotiate any reciprocal jumpseat agreements.
 

If you aren’t able to attend a meeting with the Bjorn Tore, all hope is not lost—you can still email him and he will respond to your email. Please also copy the Chief Culture Officer Kristin Berthelsen to the email: [email protected], [email protected]. Personal and individual heartfelt emails are very important for the CEO to see but keep in mind that he probably receives 300+ emails per day, so please keep your email as short as possible—several sentences or one paragraph maximum.

Finally, if you see any of our other top management: Ben Boiling, Thom-Arne Norheim, Michael Scheurich, Andrew Hodges, and Kristen Berthelsen, please let them know how you feel. Their only experience with crew is when they’re flying on Norse and they need to hear what’s actually going on. Be respectful, but don’t sugar-coat anything. If you just say “everything’s fine,” you missed an opportunity to do something meaningful for yourself and your fellow crew.

If you have any questions, please email us at: [email protected]