Qantas

AFAP And Virgin Reach In Principle Agreement

The AFAP are pleased to announce we have reached an in principle agreement with Virgin regarding the terms of a final EA package. This package has been endorsed by the AFAP Virgin Pilot Federation (VPF), the elected AFAP Pilot Council representing Virgin pilots.

The next steps will be to draft the full document to reflect the in principle agreement and have pilots vote on the document (which is expected to be in mid to late May). This will provide opportunity for pilots to consider the package on offer over the next month prior to voting.

Summary of Remuneration



The remuneration structure is made up of the following:

Base Salary:

• Composed of 845 hours at Base Hourly Rate and 30 hours at Productivity Hourly Rate (as compensation for 6 less DDOs)
• Pays for 65 hours in off-peak rosters and 70 hours in peak rosters

Retention:

• Retention is a productivity-based payment, with a minimum guaranteed per annum of 65 x 11.5 x Base Hourly Rate x 3%
• Paid on annual flying, pax, training and agreed ground duties
• In addition to the above any flying, pax, training and agreed ground duties above 747.5 hours per annum will attract additional retention payment.

Productivity Rate:

• 13.2% above Base Hourly Rate
• In off-peak rosters paid on every hour above 65 hours
• In peak rosters paid on every hour above 70 hours (hours between 65 and 70 are pre-paid for in Base Salary at 5 hours at the Productivity Rate)

Drafts (min 5 hours):

• Now paid at Productivity Rate

DTA:

• A new allowance paid on day trips
• Paid on all duty hours including flying, paxing, training and agreed ground duties
• Estimation of 80 hours based upon an average amount of day trips per RP
• This figure can be considered guaranteed as an entire RP of day trips will pay more than 80 hours

ODTA:

• A change of overnight meal and incidental allowance to be paid by the hour or part thereof instead of through a meal allowance window
• Payable from sign on to sign off in home base of all multi-day trips
• This is also moved from Table 2 to Table 3 of the ATO TD
• Will pay more in circumstances where pilots sign on or off just outside a meal window

Process since our last meeting

Following our last update, the AFAP negotiating team has engaged in an intensive period of bargaining over the past fortnight to address key issues with the Company offer provided on Wednesday 27 March.

Despite the offer being described by Virgin as a “best and final offer”, the approach of the AFAP team was to outline critical areas that will not gain our support and not be influenced or held to an arbitrary deadline of Virgin’s own making.

Virgin explained it was putting a deadline on the offer as it was adamant that it had put on the table a substantial package that demonstrated it had valued the pilot group, and it wanted an agreement as soon as possible, and importantly before the expiry of the current agreement.

In the end, while the AFAP supported having a document out to vote as soon as possible, the AFAP’s focus was simply on whether we could secure improvements to the package, required to satisfy the mandate from our feedback through our survey and member roadshows prior to bargaining commencing, and thus allow us to endorse a deal being put to a vote of pilots. The only alternative would be that Virgin release the package without our endorsement, something it was not willing to do.

From there the AFAP team provided a written response to the Company and engaged in discussions throughout last week reinforcing our issues with the work rule changes proposed and the impact on fatigue and pilot lifestyle (i.e. time at home).

While the Company indicated it was prepared to engage in negotiations on work rules it reiterated that the return of 6 DDOs at peak periods was non-negotiable and would form part of the package.

Consistent with our approach throughout bargaining we said we could support this change provided the value paid for these days off was consistent with the current practice of working on a day off, calculated with the re-introduction of a productivity rate.

We met with Virgin on Tuesday this week and engaged in extensive further discussions regarding the outstanding work rule items, with particular focus on the combination of the FDP table, buffers around days off, and the early start definition changes which would drive fatigue and compress pilots time at home.

Multiple options were presented to the AFAP, where the retention rate varied, according to which concessions the company obtained. Based on our survey, where members wanted to retain the 2018 work rules, we advised the company that we needed to return to the elected Pilot Council (the VPF) to obtain their endorsement on how to proceed.

The Company then facilitated the removal of the elected AFAP VPF pilot representatives from duty to attend an all-day meeting to review the package.

VPF Meeting

The VPF met on 10 April and reviewed the offer and engaged in extensive robust discussion and debate. We were clear that the role of the VPF is to represent members views and to provide AFAP endorsement to a package that secured a deal worthy of members approval and whether the package on offer had met the members expectations based on the survey data that formulated the AFAP claims presented to the Company.

The VPF considered advice from the EA negotiators and legal advice from the AFAP legal team. The EA team emphasised to the Council that they needed to assess the “base” package and whether this was enough.

The AFAP VPF considered a package containing various options and unanimously chose the one that best secured critical fatigue and lifestyle protections including the existing FDPs and DDO buffers.

The VPF then wanted to ensure we had secured the best financial package we could before it considered whether it would endorse the package.

Following further discussions between the EA team and Virgin we were able to secure a further increase to base salary (rolling in productivity payments for DDOs into the base) and an additional years annual retention payment for September 2024 (this payment will be calculated based on credits for the 2023 financial year), with the other payments 2025, 2026 and September 2027 (so beyond the expiry of the agreement if it is not replaced by a new EA from 1 July 2027).

The EA team explored and exhausted all avenues to secure additional remuneration throughout the past fortnight and it was clear we had reached a point in the afternoon where the Company were not prepared to add any further cost to the package on offer as it was outside of the ELT mandate.

The VPF then considered the final package and engaged in extensive further debate around the alternative to endorsing a deal and the request from some members to re-survey pilots to determine whether the pilot group has shifted its position.

The conclusion reached was that the deal met the mandate from members to secure a package that restored annual earnings from the 2018 EA accounting for cost-of-living increases and retained critical fatigue and lifestyle work rules. It also secured improvements in addition to the 2018 EA, which we outline further below.

The VPF considered the next stages if endorsement was not given and recognised it would inevitably result in a lengthy hiatus in bargaining to ensure we provided detailed information to members on the package and the risks in changing position prior to surveying and then assessing the survey results.

The VPF then voted formally to endorse the package outlined below, with 12 of the 15 representatives voting in favour of endorsing the package. Out of respect for the sanctity of these deliberations we will not be identifying which pilots voted yes or no and the Council members should not be pressured into revealing this information.

What is important is that the VPF representing a broad cross-section of ranks and bases have taken the time to consider the package and the implications of taking an alternative path. The outcome reflects a healthy committee and internal democratic process of your elected representatives where contradictory views and dissenting opinions are respected and valued.

From here all VPF members respect the outcome of the process and that the focus of the AFAP now needs to be on drafting the agreement and ensuring members are fully informed prior to voting on the EA.

What has changed from Company offer on 27 March?

Over the past fortnight we have been able to secure the removal or amendment of the following Company work rules claims:



We also secured financial improvements to the Company offer on 27 March as follows:

• Increased base salary by rolling in productivity paid for 6 DDOs into base salary (rather than being paid in the big pay for each peak RP);
• Retention amended as stated earlier; and
• Indexing of DTA by 3% each year

Details of the Offer

The following are the key changes to the agreement when compared to pilots current terms and conditions.

Gains

• Headline salary/ REM increases.
• Increased guaranteed minimum fortnightly income by way of increased hourly rate and MCG to 65 in 7 off-peak rosters and 70 in 6 peak rosters
• 30 hours at the productivity rate rolled into the base salary for reduction in DDOs.
• Introduction of credit protection for genuine work related fatigue removals (i.e. pilots will receive credits for lost duty and paid at productivity rate if above threshold)
• Return to percentages for calculating Check and training Allowances:
• 16% for Check CPTs, 13% for Senior Training CPTs, 10% for Training CPTs and FOs (NB: TFOs allowance calculated on CPT salary).
• Ad-Hoc Training Allowance reintroduced and increased to $501.69.
• Increased PDOs from 4 to 8 and rotating access to days off on Christmas Day.
• Annual Leave credit of 2.46:
• Pilot rostered a full RP of ALV gets 69 credits in an off-peak (4 hours of productivity pay) and 70 hours in a peak (5 hours of productivity pay).
• Increased access to part-time from 12 to 15%.
• Introduction of part-time arrangements for carers and transition to retirement (consistent with Fair Work Act requirements).
• The following Company discretionary conditions in place will form part of the terms of the new EA (i.e. be made permanent and legally binding):
  
  • 50% credit for paxing in all seats;
  • 4 hours credit for SBY/ SBYD including unused;
  • min 4 hours credit for SBY when used; and
  • Published roster credit protection.

Offsets

• Reduction in minimum days off by 6 per annum with 11 DDOs in 6 defined peak periods and 12 DDOs in 7 off-peak periods for all ranks.
• Minimum slots annual leave at peak weeks reduced from 10% to 7.5% minimum, only provided if and when the Company implement an agreed multi-ballot system that provides for fairer access to peak weeks. 10% remains in place, which is the current slot allocation, until successful implementation of the system.
• Personal Leave credit when above Productivity Threshold of 2.46 paid at base hourly rate not productivity rate.
• Combined ground duties in a single day attract 4.5 credits only
• Part-time:
• Pro-rated days off to be based on 11/12 DDOs for full-time pilots; and
• Reintroduction of Offline Days (DDOs that do not attract minimum draft payments).
• Infringement of a DDO buffer:
  
  • Up to 1 hour = 2.0 hard credit at productivity rate
  • 1 hour up to 2 hours = 4.0 hard credit at productivity rate
  • Greater than 2 hours = 5.0 hard credit at productivity rate
• Draft payments to be one per calendar day (plus any applicable infringement payment)

Work Rule Changes:

• Early Start rule changes:
  
  • Removal of 1500 sign-off limit on day 4 and 5 (so pilots can perform duties beyond this time); and
  • 62 hours rest after 4 or 5 consecutive earlies to be 60 hours rest and an industrial rule (no material change as Virgin can roster 2 DDOs but permits pilots drafting)

BOC rule changes:

• Adopt EA21 provisions including the definition. Pilots may be rostered return BOC duties within limits:
  
  • Maximum two (2) Sectors total;
  • Maximum one (1) Sector longer than 180 minutes Flight Time;
  • If the first Sector is longer than 180 minutes Flight Time, the second Sector cannot be an operating Sector, and is limited to a Positioning Sector of 120 minutes Flight Time (unless otherwise agreed by the Pilot).

Charter rule changes:

• AIC agreed changes sent via email from Nev Spencer 19 March 2024 to be term of EA
• Additionally, 0500-0559 FDP limits from 2021 EA table adopted for stand-alone Charter duties only, see definition in the above-mentioned email.

Standby changes:

• Limit on rostering of full reserve rosters (first allocating to those who opt-in and only up to a maximum of 10% of each resource group)

Other Items:

• Nominal expiry date of 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2027

Next Steps

From here the AFAP and the Company will focus on drafting the document over the coming weeks with a planned timeline to vote to be confirmed once we are satisfied the document is finalised and agreed.

Summary

The AFAP team thank members for their support while the AFAP took the necessary time to negotiate the best deal on behalf of members. As with any EA negotiation, the AFAP did not achieve every claim or resolve every issue that we pursued during the bargaining process.

However, we genuinely believe that we have reached the best possible outcome for Virgin pilots without exposing the Virgin pilot group to further risk or uncertainty.

We cannot ignore the anger and resentment amongst the pilot group from the failed implementation of the 2021 EA and the opportunity to have a document voted on before the current EA expires that would restore pilot incomes from 1 July 2024 is a positive step forward in improving engagement of pilots.

We will provide further detail and background regarding how and why we landed where we did on certain claims as part of education material/updates we release to members over the coming weeks. Rest assured though, our EA team has worked tirelessly to consider every way they can to maximise the value of the deal for members.

We will now turn our focus to drafting clauses and proposals to reflect the in principle package outlined above for incorporation into a new Virgin Narrow Body Pilots 2024 EA. Although the AFAP has already provided Virgin with a comprehensive draft document during the course of bargaining there is still detail around some of the agreed concepts to be finalised between the parties as part of the drafting process.

The AFAP ask that whatever your initial view of the package is that you take the time to ask questions of the AFAP, read the AFAP communications and to consider closely the offer in its entirety leading up to an expected vote in late May or early June.

The AFAP will be ensuring we provide factual information on the document throughout the lead up to the vote. We will also deliver roadshows to outline the full package and to offer members the opportunity to ask questions and be informed prior to voting.

We will be releasing a separate update with a pay calculator in which pilots can insert their credits from under the current agreement to compare to what they would earn under the new EA. It is critically important that all pilots before voting understand the value of the package on offer. Although the base salary of $276,049 and $179,421 may seem below expectations, additional guaranteed payments that are new payments within Virgin EAs (DTA, Retention) will increase this figure. When combined with the additional payments (re-introduction of a productivity rate, increased ODTA) pilots have significant earning potential under this EA.

Finally, we ask that members keep communications professional and respectful. The AFAP has not ignored views of any party, all matters raised have been considered and debated. We also respect some members will have a different view as to how the AFAP have approached bargaining however at the very least all we ask is that you take the time to consider the information provided by the negotiating team throughout the rest of the process.

As always members should contact the elected representatives directly, or alternatively post on the AFAP Forum (https://afapvpf.discussioncommunity.com/) or email virginNBEBA@afap.org.au should you have any questions regarding EA negotiations.

Alternatively, email general industrial queries to virginaic@afap.org.au, Safety and Technical matters to technical@afap.org.au, and HOTAC issues/ reports to HOTAC@afap.org.au.

Regards,

AFAP 2024 EA Negotiating Team
First Officer Steve Hungerford
First Officer Shaun Rudduck
Captain Ben Raby
Captain Brad Wilson
Captain Mark Bannister
Pat Larkins – AFAP Senior Industrial/ Legal Officer
Deanna Cain – AFAP Senior Industrial/ Legal Officer

AFAP Virgin Pilot Federation
First Officer Steve Hungerford (SYD) – Chair
First Officer Shaun Rudduck (PER) – Vice-Chair
Captain Rod Aldridge (MEL)
Captain Mark Bannister (SYD)
First Officer Marco Bohun (SYD)
Captain David Cunningham (SYD)
Captain Matt Duggan (SYD)
Check Captain Wal Gowans (MEL)
Captain Sean McCarthy (MEL)
Training First Officer Michael McGinnis (MEL)
Captain Ben Raby (MEL)
Captain Darren Smith (BNE)
First Officer Peter Werda (BNE)
Training Captain Brad Wilson (SYD)
First Officer Ken Winslow (SYD)