AFAP Jetstar Update - PCC Meeting and AFAP/Jetstar Meeting
NEWSFLASH:
Multiple Allocation FSO’s and Bidding
The Company has advised FSO 138/23 (issued today) is the first of three consecutive allocations through to February 2024 (one per month), with the latter two including Perth base vacancies.
FSO 138/23 has been published with 20 (A320) Commands and 29 (A320) FO positions.
Standing Preference Form
Following the announcement of a Perth base opening in 2024, a new standing preference form has been created to include the bid preferences of NB CP, NB FO Perth and all previous standing bids in the system have been deleted.
That is as of 1630 on 05 December 2023, all standing preference bids that have previously been submitted are now deemed invalid.
What does this mean for you?
Pilot who DOES NOT want to move Base, Rank or Fleet, either:
- Don’t do anything, NO bid = No move OR
- On the pilot standing bid form at Q3. Tick ‘YES’, I wish to remain in the Base, Rank and Type I currently hold.
Pilot who WANTS TO BE CONSIDERED FOR A VACANCY, including consequential vacancies.
- You are required to number those boxes in order of preference including your current position.
- For example - A current MEL A320 CPT who wants a MEL B787 Command would preference - 1. CAPT MEL WB and 2. CAPT MEL NB.
Standing Bid Form can be located – JEN, Pilots, Forms, My Employment then Pilot Standing Preference
As these FSO’s will be published in a short timeframe the AFAP JPF recommends that a pilot wishing to be considered for a vacancy between December 2023 and February 2024 should update their standing bids to reflect their personal choice. This includes submitting a standing bid preference for NB CP, NB FO Perth even though these vacancies will not be advertised until the next allocation in January 2024.
If submitting a preference for a promotion to Narrow Body Captain or Wide Body First Officer, please note you MUST complete the hour submission form to confirm your flying hours. We expect that this will more than likely be required each time an allocation FSO is published. Refer to FSO138/23 for the ‘Hour submission form’ link.
November PCC and AFAP/Jetstar Meeting
In late November the Pilot Consultative Committee (PCC) convened its fourth meeting under the 2019 Enterprise Agreement (EA).
Attending on behalf of the pilot group were AFAP pilot representatives Chris Gibson, Dom Corcoran, Paul Hogan, Daniel Blakemore and Darren Fielder along with AIPA pilot representatives Harold Boyd and Nicholas Chetelat. AFAP Senior legal/industrial officers Deanna Cain and Pat Larkins and were also in attendance.
Attending on behalf of Jetstar was Tyrone Simes, Leah Everton, Michael Porch, Renee Edgley, Alisha Lavea-Williams and Teyah Andrews.
The items that were raised and discussed at the PCC meeting are summarised below:
PCC Standing Items
DIL Balance
Jetstar advised that there are still 1998 outstanding DILS to be acquitted across the pilot group. See below for a further update on acquittal of DILs.
Sick Leave Pool Balance
Jetstar advised that the Sick Leave Pool is currently sitting at 448 days. The sick leave pool will be topped up by 1 day per pilot on the 5 December 2023 consistent with clause 54.2.1 (b) of the EA.
Individual Flexibility Agreements
There are currently 4 pilots on an approved IFAs.
Hotel Update
Current Hotel status
Jetstar provided the PCC with an update on the crew hotels that have recently been subject to the Request for Proposal (RFP) process:
- Perth – Novotel Perth, Murray Street has been contracted and is the primary hotel in Perth.
- Auckland - Holiday Inn Express, Auckland City, Bangkok - Rembrandt Hotel & Suites and Bali - Holiday Inn Baruna (Tech) / Express (CC) all currently under contract review.
Adhoc Hotels
There have been reports of the occasional use of Adhoc hotels which do not meet the EA requirements in accordance with clause 62.3.1 of the EA. There is not a list of agreed ad hoc hotels and often ad hoc/overflow hotels are required and booked at the eleventh hour.
A reminder that the process to follow if the Ad hoc hotel is not to standard is as follow:
- Submit Intelex report (photos are recommended if appropriate to illustrate the problem/s)
- Request hard lying allowance in accordance with clause 62.7 of the EA.
The Company will be looking to start a ‘Do not book’ list of hotels to stop this reoccurring however it could be problematic in the smaller ports where options are limited.
International Crew Meals
An RFP for International Crew Meals is nearing completion with the two providers Mile One and Dnata.
The next step is for 4 PCC representatives, along with Cabin crew delegates to conduct taste tests and review the meals and snack draws which is taking place on the 6th and 7th of December. The pilot and cabin crew representatives will supply feedback and recommendations to Jetstar and to the two providers.
Following this process Jetstar will contract one of the providers for the next two years with a target commencement date of Q2 2024.
Sydney International Carpark for Narrow Body pilots
There are reports of some narrow body pilots being unable to access the Sydney international carpark or access suitable transport arrangements between T2 and T1, for the early morning departure of JQ039.
The Company is escalating the issue however the short-term solution is to pay for the carpark at the international terminal and submit an expense claim through Concur. We are hoping this issue will be solved expeditiously.
JBid
Jetstar has asked the PCC and unions for feedback over issues that may arise if the company embarks on fundamental changes to the JBid system, noting that the survey data continues to demonstrate a significant level of dissatisfaction with JBid bid outcomes even following the simplifications that were made to the system in June in an effort to improve roster satisfaction.
A JBid Steering Committee has recently been constituted to conduct a more wholesale review of JBid and we have asked for pilot representatives to be directly appointed to this Committee as a predecessor to any formal consultation process that may be required.
We will continue to work with Jetstar on this matter.
Perth Base Briefing
The PCC received a briefing on the reopening of the Perth base and the proposed flying when operations commence out for Perth. The key points were:
- 4 A321 NEO frames by December 2024
- Minimum of 30 Crews (60 pilots)
- Launching routes from Perth to Singapore, Phuket and Bangkok
- Base transfers will be awarded in two steps:
Step 1 – FSO released with no promotional/training opportunities (base transfers only)
1.
1.
i. Right Of Return (ROR) - 1 in 3 positions will be awarded to pilots with ROR for PER (who have not changed rank or type) and who have submitted bids.
ii. The other 2 in 3 positions awarded in accordance with seniority
Step 2 – Advertise remaining vacancies as per the normal process.
- The first FSO for PER will be in January 2024
- The second FSO for PER and consequential positions will be February 2024
- No date on the official PER Base opening, will be dependent on schedule and protecting the Spring Peak.
AFAP and Jetstar Meeting
Immediately following the PCC meeting AFAP representatives met with Jetstar representatives to discuss a number of matters that are not within the remit of the PCC under the terms of the EA and are more appropriately dealt with at a union level.
A summary of the matters discussed directly between the AFAP and Jetstar are summarised below:
Flexiline and Flexible Working Arrangement (FWA) for over 55’s
After the AFAP briefing 3 November 2023 we have received numerous emails from pilots who are currently wait listed for Flexiline, 55 years or older and wish to reduce their working days/hours as they are approaching retirement. Unfortunately, the 2019 EA doesn’t have any provisions for a Part Time arrangement outside of a Job Share and the oversubscribed Flexiline provisions.
In light of this, the JPF proposed that one solution for pilots wishing to transition to a less demanding flying schedule may be for Jetstar to reconsider the AFAP’s previously proposed Transition to Retirement (TTR) proposal which was tabled but not agreed by Jetstar during bargaining. TTR would enable pilots to work less than 12 roster periods (RPs) per annum to a minimum of 6 RPs by being able to take full roster periods of LWOP and would fit neatly within the scope of the current EA provisions.
The Company acknowledge there is a need to address this area as Flexiline wait periods are currently over 22 months. The Company will respond to the AFAP when they have had time to process the operational considerations of the proposed TTR.
Annual DDO Allocation
Again, following on from the AFAP briefing on 3 November it has become apparent that several pilots have not received the required 132 DDO’s in the 2023 calendar year. This was confirmed by the Company who had identified 7 pilots thus far. We have an additional 2 pilots that have reached out to the AFAP who were not in the Company identified 7. Therefore we recommend ALL pilots check their annual DDO allocation for 2023 Calendar year to confirm compliance.
The Company have confirmed that pilots identified with a DDO short fall will be paid a WDS payment for each day in accordance with the Federal Circuit Court Settlement Agreement that was reached between Jetstar and the AFAP in 2017. The WDS formula is:
S x [(R/231) x 2 + (5.5 x E)]
S = The shortfall of DDO’s
R = The particular pilots base remuneration
E = The particular pilots EFA rate
If pilots have any concerns with their annual 132 DDO entitlement you should contact your Base Manager in the first instance, and if unresolved please get in touch with the AFAP.
WDO Restrictions after FTG removal (FSO 129/23)
The AFAP questioned why the time free of duty restrictions following a FTG removal do not apply to any subsequent duty.
Jetstar’s reasoning for this requirement applying to a WDO and not a rostered duty was that a pilots published roster has been run through bio-mathematical models and is deemed to be in accordance with the Jetstar’s FRMS and not considered a fatigue hazard. Therefore if a pilot reports FTG and is subsequently removed from a rostered duty the Company don’t see any requirement to remove them from further subsequent duties as their roster had been deemed to have applied with FRMS principles and rest period requirements.
We made the point that this FSO will likely drive pilots to utilise UFD as opposed to FTG and have a negative impact on fatigue reporting under what is meant to be a data driven FRMS. where data is essential to optimise fatigue risk management outcomes.
As always the AFAP recommend if you are FTG then the correct process is to follow the FTG process and Intelex reporting.
Compliance with clause 63.2 of EA
Under clause 63.2 of the EA, for scheduled positioning travel on a JQ flight, Jetstar is required to make a firm booking at the time of roster publication/duty notification. Some pilots have questioned whether scheduled positioning travel is being booked at the time of roster publication and how they can monitor compliance with that EA requirement given that PNR/booking confirmations were not being sent to pilots until several days/one week later.
Jetstar confirmed that the ‘bot’ (automated system) was making these bookings at the time of roster publication and pilots could log into Travel hub to see that the booking was being made in accordance with the EA.
Acquittal of DILS
Jetstar is still in the process of developing guidelines around the taking and acquittal of DILS (see previous update), with the objective of acquitting all remaining 1998 DILS be the end of the current EA (November 2025).
Workforce planning are working through how many DILS can be made available each roster period in each cohort from a resourcing perspective.
Once this has been determined the parties will then need to determine how these DILs are allocated/prioritised to pilots who bid (i.e. Seniority) and in the case of no one bidding an agreed process for assigning them. Jetstar has committed to tabling its proposed guidelines by the next PCC and AFAP Meeting in Feb 2024.
Qantas Club Access for Commuters
Jetstar will further investigate the option of commuting pilots being able to purchase Qantas Club access solely for the purpose of traveling to and from their place of residence. Jetstar will also be exploring whether payment can be made via a salary sacrifice. This proposal is utilized at Qanats and is only being considered for commuting pilots between their residence and domicile port for work purposes only.
Base Transfers and Moving Days
With a significant amount of upcoming training movements and base transfers we thought it timely to highlight the provisions in the Roster Protocol (clause 10) around moving days.
Pilots are entitled to a minimum of 4 Moving days as per the table below:
The moving days rostered will be drawn from the pilot’s Designated Days Off or Annual Leave entitlement as preferred by the pilot, however if a pilot prefers to only utilize their Designated Day Off entitlement, then clause 10.5 of the Roster Protocol stipulates that the moving days must commence at the end of a consecutively into the next roster period.
Christmas and New Year
On behalf of the JPF Committee, we wish all members and their families a Merry Christmas and a very happy and prosperous New Year. Undoubtedly most of us will be working at some point over this period. It is important to remember, and take pride in, the sacrifice we make so others can enjoy their holiday period.
Fly safe, and we hope you enjoy what holiday time you may have.
Please note that the AFAP’s office will be open and staffed between the Christmas and New Year period with the exception of the main public holidays.
Your pilot representatives are on hand if you have any questions regarding above. Alternatively, you can contact your AFAP industrial officers Deanna Cain, Pat Larkins or Andrew Molnar via email deanna@afap.org.au, patrick@afap.org.au, or andrew@afap.org.au or call (03) 9928 5737.
Regards
AFAP Jetstar Pilot Federation Committee
Darren Fielder, Jeremy MacPhail, Daniel Blakemore, Ed Greenidge, Yianni Manousaridis, Dominic Corcoran, Mark Buttel, Darren Davis, Chris Gibson, Clinton Baxter, Andrew Ward, Christopher Doyle, Christo Hailes, Paul Hogan, Raj Krishnan