Sunstate Pilot Council Minutes - May 2024
On Friday 17 May 2024 the Sunstate Pilot Council Committee met at the AFAP Brisbane Office. The Sunstate Pilot Council Committee is:
Jarrod Blaker (Chair and Rostering)
Anthony Berko (Vice-Chair)
Richard Copland (Secretary, Meals and Welfare)
Louise Pole (Meals & Annual Leave)
Dan Lyons (Rostering)
Bianca Salim (Rostering)
Thomas Dunphy (Rostering)
Russell Thompson
Russell Thompson was an apology for the meeting due to annual leave. Chris Aikens from the AFAP was also present at the meeting. After lunch David Nelson joined the meeting to provide responses to our various suggestions and questions.
MBF RENEWALS REMINDER
All Sunstate Pilots are reminded that the MBF membership renewals are now due. Renewals will close 2359 (AEST) 31 May 2024. If members are still receiving reminders and they believe they have completed the renewals, it means they have missed something. Reminders are only being sent to members who have not completed the renewals in full (online renewal and payment (if required)). If MBF have a bulk billing arrangement with the employers then members are expected to just complete the online renewal and if there is any out-of-pocket (OOP) amount, clear/pay the OOP amount. If members want the OOP to be paid monthly, they will need to call the MBF office to arrange it.
Rostering
Part Time and Pro Rated Days Off - The Council reviewed a table supplied by the company detailing UA days and their interaction with annual leave. The link below (under 'Request System Success Rate') details the relevant information.
Request System Success Rate – The roster checking reps confirmed that while the success rate for obtaining days off was very good (around 90%) the success rate for obtaining trip bids was not as good. The Council requested the company make the pairings available for pilots to view prior to bidding close to enable higher success on trip bids for crew. The attached document details some tips which will ensure pilots maximise their success rate in obtaining the desired trips - click on the link to view the tips and AL/UA Days.
Establishment Numbers – There was much discussion around the how the low establishment levels within Sunstate were negatively impacting factors like late finishes, call-ins on days off, and equitable workload distribution. In addition the new EA also was designed to enable establishment levels to be reached to achieve 10 days off per roster. In order to ensure that movement towards 10 days off (and the other benefits from having the correct establishment levels) the Council requested that the company provide periodical data on establishment levels required to achieve 10 days off. The company agreed that the Council will be supplied point in time figures as to what establishment would be required to achieve 10 days off per roster.
Call-ins and CAO Days – The company confirmed that call-ins on days off or annual leave were only a last resort if the resultant effect was that other pilots were impacted by pilots not flying due to CAO limits being reached. The Council again reminded the company that the system needed to be policed equitably to ensure that those with fewest call-ins were approached first. The company confirmed that due to the high turnover within the ROC further approaches are to be made to ensure this approach is undertaken in the future.
Re-Timed Flights Off Reserve – The Council were continuing to receive reports that pilots were being called at (for example) 1000 off reserve for a 1050 departure and that crewing were retiming the departure to 1100, instead of asking if the pilot could start 10 minutes prior to their reserve and accept a payment. Please be aware that the retiming flights to avoid the payment is not allowed. If you are impacted by such changes please advise your council reps providing details.
Cairns Resourcing – With a recent drop in numbers in the Cairns base, issues were arising where crewing was swapping duties without pilot agreement and reserves were not being used on the basis of lowest hours first. The Company agreed that issues existed and were hopeful that impending movements into the base would alleviate the problems. For those Cairns based crew encountering issues please contact both your SBP and your Council reps.
Meals & Accommodation
The company advised that stainless steel cutlery was starting to be introduced over the next couple of months and that they believed coverage would be across all areas. The Council welcomed this news and will keep an eye out to ensure universal coverage.
The Council discussed the ongoing safety issues arising from overnighting in Townsville and the recent assault on cabin crew. The company was currently reviewing all alternative options in this outport and the membership were advised to ensure all incidents they encountered where they either felt unsafe or encountered specific incidents should be reported. The company advised that further communication regarding Townsville was imminent.
Port Lincoln was experiencing overnight roadworks which if impacted your rest should result in the submission of fatigue reports fatigue reports.
Annual Leave Bidding
The Council had extensive discussion around the confusion arising from the recent AL bidding especially as it related to part time pilots. Leave was being allocated into UA days, and other instances of leave being awarded and then removed from pilots. The company explained that the system was one that varied if the pilot was on blocks of part-time/work or just had days off interspersed through the roster. The objective from their perspective was to ensure that each pilot received the ability to achieve their pro-rata requirement. The company did not believe that due to current establishment numbers, that leave should automatically be granted where the pilot wanted to use additional accrued leave and that this was currently best obtained through ad hoc leave.
In light of the lack of clarity surrounding how the system worked and the recent increase in those seeking to work part-time, members were advised to raise their concerns directly with their SBP and flag with the Council should problems occur. It was clear that there were problems with pilots currently seeking to access their accrued leave and the also have obtained leave being taken off individuals. This also was a result of establishment numbers resulting in pilots being unable to access accrued leave due to pilot numbers.
In light of the lack of current transparent guidance on this topic the Council agreed that further work needed to be done to ensure the next years process was clearly spelt out prior to the bidding window commencing.
Flight Pulse App
The recent advent of the Flight Pulse App while initially being seen by many as a positive ability to access flight data also was discussed at length by the Council. In particular it was noted that the unstructured introduction of the app was raising some significant questions for the Council. The following were all seen as issues of concern:
- The potential for ongoing access to stats to both subconsciously and consciously impact how a flight crew member flew the aircraft.
- The lack of controls around how such information was accessible by both the crew members whilst flight data had to remain individually confidential.
- How the app and information within it would co-exist with the current FOQA system that was handled within tight restrictions and required ongoing agreement of the Sunstate Council.
- There was a lack of clarity around what the company were seeking to achieve with the apps introduction and how this could potentially impact performance management.
In light of these real concerns the Council will be seeking to meet the company separately to discuss and clarify the issues detailed above.
Seniority List
The ongoing sore point of a previous Chief Pilot remaining on the Sunstate seniority list was again raised with the company. While the Council reiterated their opposition to this continuing the company refused to change their position.
If you have any questions regarding a Sunstate matter please contact a Sunstate Council Committee member or AFAP staff members Chris Aikens on chris@afap.org.au or Simon Lutton on simon@afap.org.au or (03) 9299 5737. The AFAP Member Assistance Program (MAP) can be contacted via Freecall 1300 307 912.
Regards,
Jarrod Blaker, Anthony Berko, Russell Thompson, Richard Copland, Dan Lyons, Louise Pole, Bianca Salim and Thomas Dunphy
Sunstate Pilot Council Committee