AFAP Christmas 2024 AIC Update
New VPF Council & EA Commencement
The VPF Committee met in October to hand over to the newly elected Committee for 2024 to 2026 and to appoint roles within the VPF structure.
Following the confirmation of the VPF Committee the Australia Electoral Commission confirmed in December the collegiate election results. We wish to congratulate Brad Wilson on his appointment as Vice-Chair of the Committee. Steve Hungerford will remain on as Chair and Marco Bohun as Secretary. Your newly elected Committee members are as follows:
First Officer Steve Hungerford – VPF Chair/ AIC Primary
Captain Brad Wilson – VPF Vice-Chair/ AIC Primary
First Officer Marco Bohun – VPF Secretary/ FSAG Secondary
Captain Mark Bannister – AIC HOTAC
Captain Danny Billings – Membership Officer/ HOTAC Secondary
Captain Matt Duggan – Hotel Inspections/ Membership Officer Secondary
Captain Wal Gowans – AAPMBF
Captain Darren Gray – AFAP Welfare Director
Captain Sean McCarthy – CAST/PRC
First Officer Mick McGinnis – AFAP VP Admin & Finance/ FDAP Secondary
Captain Ben Raby – AIC Secondary
First Officer Richard Roberts-Thomson – Safety & Technical
Captain Darren Smith – FDAP Primary
Captain Sven Wagner – CAST/PRC Secondary
First Officer Pete Werda – FSAG Primary
AFAP Virgin members can be proud that they have an extremely active elected committee keen to serve the pilot body seeking the betterment of your terms and conditions at every opportunity.
We take this opportunity to thank outgoing VPF Council Committee members Shaun Rudduck, David Cunningham, Ken Winslow and Rod Aldridge. The contribution of these reps has been significant, and we thank them for all their time and efforts on behalf of Virgin pilots.
While reticent to single out reps, we must call out the exemplary efforts of Rod over many years as Chair, Vice-Chair, EA negotiator and FSAG representative for the AFAP members at Virgin. Rod was also the inaugural Terry O’Connell award winner, recognising his outstanding contribution to representing the industrial interests of members.
Rod has been a steadfast advocate for pilot conditions at Virgin Australia, playing a pivotal role in establishing work rules and conditions that are highly regarded within the industry. His relentless dedication to improving pilot fatigue management and lifestyle has earned him the respect of both colleagues and management.
As Rod transitions to a less active role in the AFAP we hope he can enjoy his well-deserved personal time with his family.
Before we bring the year to a close, we wanted to provide some further updates to our last AIC update.
Single Source Work Rules Document
Pilots will have received on Friday the single source work rules document from Virgin Australia as required by clause 1(e) of Appendix 1 is as follows:
(e) At the Commencement Date, Virgin Australia will make available to Pilots a Work Rules document consolidating the more limiting of the FRMS Rules and the Industrial Work Rules. FRMS Rules will be displayed as Hard Industrial Rules.
The AFAP negotiated the above clause to provide pilots with a single work rules document to refer to in day of operations. We are frustrated by Virgin’s decision to ignore feedback from the AFAP that by including clauses in strike through (that are not yet in operation) and some FRMS clauses in red font has created an unnecessarily confusing document.
We have written to Virgin advising it needs to provide pilots a clean document with SSM7 rules in normal font and industrial rules in bold and italics. The latter can be waived by agreement between Virgin and the individual pilot. If Virgin wishes to outline the clauses from EA24 work rules not yet implemented, then we have encouraged them to do so in a separate document for pilots reference.
As the Company updates software and systems and implements work rule clauses from EA24 (such as the new BOC provisions) then the AIC will update the document and notify pilots of the changes. The implementation of new work rules can only occur once pilots are notified and at the beginning of the next full roster period.
Fatigue Credit Protection
With EA24 commencing at the commencement of RP1 (23 December) we wanted to remind pilots of the introduction of the Fatigue Credit Protection negotiated within clause 19 of the EA below:
19.1 When a Pilot:
(a) removes themselves from Duty due to fatigue; and
(b) submits a fatigue report in accordance with the process in the Company manual outlining the circumstances leading to the fatigued state,
they shall retain the Credit for the removed Duty, provided the circumstances that led to fatigue were as a result of being on Duty and every effort was made by the Pilot to utilise the Rest Period or time away from Duty to arrive at work fit for Duty.
We expect the current standard of some hotels within the network to continue to drive some fatigue related issues. In this scenario it is important for pilots to make every effort to be rested and fit for duty. For example, proactively notifying reception of inadequate hotel rooms for rest (noise, lack of air conditioning control etc.) and asking to be relocated is advisable, and if necessary subsequently filing the appropriate hotel reports and fatigue reports.
Unscheduled Overnights and Own Way Travel
Appendix 1 Work Rules of the EA allows for pilots to cancel positioning sectors they do not wish to use. Importantly the AFAP negotiated within the EA to maintain the positioning credits and allowances providing you travel to your home base at a later time.
The Work Rules also allows for a pilot to agree to position outside the FDP or Duty limits to your home base or nominated domicile. As a result of this we had to concede to the Company that where a pilot is on an unscheduled overnight with positioning sectors on a day off, you must travel on the rostered positioning sector to be eligible for the working on a day off payment under clause 37 of the Agreement.
Port Villa Services
The AFAP want to take this opportunity to commend the crew who were stuck in Port Villa during the recent earthquake. The pilots managed an extremely challenging situation professionally, along with their colleagues from cabin crew and engineering. We also want to acknowledge the support provided by Virgin management to the crew.
Merry Christmas
Finally, we would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a safe and happy New Year. Look after each other over this busy time and feel free to contact myself, Steve on 0421 003 551 if you need anything. For any emergencies the 24/7 AFAP Emergency Hotline 0459 747 757 or the Member Assistance Program (MAP) 1300 307 912.
Questions
Should you have any questions regarding the above, please feel free to contact your AFAP AIC representatives directly, or AFAP legal industrial team of Senior Legal/ Industrial Officer Patrick Larkins (
patrick@afap.org.au) or AFAP Senior Legal/ Industrial Officer Deanna Cain (
deanna@afap.org.au) at the AFAP dedicated AIC email address
virginaic@afap.org.au, or alternatively by posting on the VPF Forum (
https://afapvpf.discussioncommunity.com/) or by calling the AFAP office on (03) 9928 5737.
AFAP AIC Representatives
First Officer Steve Hungerford – Chair
Captain Brad Wilson – Vice-Chair
Captain Mark Bannister – HOTAC