https://luftfart.nu/cityjet-piloter-...rbejdsvilkaar/
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A new pilot alliance has seen the light of day. It is the pilots of the airline CityJet who have teamed up with the desire for a strengthened unity across the bases where the pilots work from.The need for a transnational cohesion has arisen as CityJet has expanded its network of bases, from which flights are produced for customers all over Europe - including SAS.
"The goal is that pilots can communicate with a common voice to the management and streamline a number of conditions," says Peter Hjort, chairman of the CityJet pilots in Denmark, who have taken the initiative for the new transnational alliance.
"When the company communicates with a voice to all pilots, it is also important that we can respond with one voice and make common demands on the company. Ultimately, it's about avoiding being played against each other, ”he elaborates.
WANT ALL WITH
The Alliance is fostered through the European Cockpit Association, a pan-European pilot association.
The cooperation includes CityJet's pilot bases in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, Brussels, Dublin, Paris and Tallinn and is conducted through the respective national unions.
In Scandinavia, since 2017, there has been a good relationship between the Danish pilots, organized in the Flight Industry Personnel Union, and the Finns and Swedes in the Finnish Pilot Association and the Swedish Pilot Association respectively. But the desire is to bring everyone along, explains Peter Hjort.
The pilots at the Belgian Cockpit Association, the Irish Air Line Pilot Association and SNPL (Syndicat National des Pilotes de Ligne) recently joined the community.
GETTING STARTED ON TERMS AND CONDITIONS
In a short time, CityJet has built up a large business around so-called ACMI flights. That is, the company produces flights on behalf of external customers, including SAS.
Precisely because the company has more customers, the pilots move around between the company's bases, in order to get the production to hang together. The cooperation between the pilots must, among other things, prevent the company from being speculated about exploiting the differences that are found in the national working rules and agreements of the individual bases.
The development in CityJet is not an isolated case. At European level, there has been a growth of 66 percent of so-called regional ACMI flights in five years. For companies such as SAS, greater flexibility is created when aircraft and staff are "hired" rather than "owned". But the development also has an inconvenient backside:
For the suppliers, it is a question of delivering a sharp price to win the contracts that SAS among other companies send in tenders. One way to keep costs down is by pressing employees' terms, showing experiences from the US, where the development is 20 years ahead.
It is this development that the pilots are now trying to counter. First of all, by talking together and creating a forum for cross-border dialogue.
AGREEMENT IS A NATIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES
Although the collaboration is about defending the pilots' working conditions, there is no question of a desire for transnational agreements, Peter Hjort emphasizes.
"Agreements are first and foremost a national matter. Furthermore, there is a difference between what the pilots in the individual countries emphasize. In Copenhagen, leisure plays a role, while other bases have a desire to get the salary up, ”he says and adds:
“For us, it's all about getting the overall level up. Initially, we need to find out what makes sense. ”
According to the pilot chairman, it would be relevant to get a uniform standby and positioning, because the company moves a lot around its staff between the different bases.
Collaborating as the CityJet pilots have started here is also known from EasyJet and Norwegian.