EuroFTL's vs Scheduling agreements
Hi Betty Girl,
I think I understand your point - scheme might increase but our agreements would prevent BA implementing this increase. (to paraphrase).
Pilots in BA are rostered to Bidline rules (which are more restricitve than scheme) in the same way Cabin Crew are rostered to their scheduling agreements.
'On the day' Pilots will usually extend to scheme, but have the option not to, of course.
That's how things stand today with CAP 371 (scheme) and everyones agreements.
Now project forward just 2 or 3 years....
The new EuroFTL's are in place and 2 or 3 airlines have pushed through agreements with their crews to work close to these new limits: 1000hrs/yr... arriving at a longhaul destination in the morning & departing that same evening... 5 sectors in Shorthaul, 7hrs in a hotel then 3 sectors (then the same the next day).... impromtu split duties... the list of horrifically fatiguing things goes on.
BA approaches BALPA & BASSA with the news that we crew are double the cost of our competitors - we must become more productive or the airline will not survive (sound familiar?!). And it's true - our competitors will have huge competative advantages.
What to do?
Strike? Possibly - but if BA genuinly can't support our pay & conditions, how will that help?
So we'd have to negotiate, and inevitably our scheduling agreements would trend closer & closer to these new EuroFTL's.
Surely the best response is to try and influence the FTL legislation before it's set in stone?
BALPA has put enormous amounts of effort into organising resistance to these changes, and the FTL's will have just a profound effect on Cabin Crew as Pilots.
In short - neither Cabin Crew or Pilots will be able to rely on scheduling agreements to protect them if these EuroFTL's ,in their current form, become law.