Bluebird Cargo lays off all its unionized pilots
 

Bluebird Cargo just laid off all their pilots that are members of the Icelandic Pilots Union and have a collective agreement, because "they are by far the highest paid pilots in the company, to increase the company's competitiveness" as it was put in their announcement to the media in Iceland. The affected pilots are from 5 countries, Iceland, Denmark, Germany, Belgium and The Netherlands. The airline was recently acquired by Avia Solutions Group that also owns Smartlynks Airlines and Avion Express.

Unfortunetely I haven´t found the announcement in English yet
https://www.vb.is/frettir/blafugl-se...monnum/166064/

The race to the bottom continues...

Bluebird was unfortunately bought by that shady outfit mostly known for running pay2fly outfits although good riddance Small Planet is gone. Probably Smartlynx and Avion Express are not doing to well either. ASG ownership hails from a country not really known for its honesty and law abiding citizens roaming around Europe...even if its headquarters are elsewhere.
Hope the Union uses every legal resource to throw the book at them.

Given their track record of the indigenous Icelandic airline entrepreneurs and financiers, guess it matters a little who else you go to work for.

Speaking of Small Planet, in their last Cypriot shell reincarnation, they paid all employees every missing cent due after the collapse and on time I hear it was too. Proper employment contract, and social security / health insurance paid as required. Perhaps it's worth mentioning the names of Primera and SAIL instead when discussing dodgy companies. The gold-harp operator of 470 aeroplanes of another island state, do they pay social security on behalf their employees at other places apart from the UK?

Sorry for the rant. If I tried harder I could have remembered, thank you.

Having standard and proper employment practices eroded anywhere in the world is sad news regardless where or why.

FlightDetent

Yes they do, in Germany Spain Portugal and Italy, apart UK and Ireland..you are just a bit behind...

Italy based crews pay their taxes in Italy, it's been like this for a while now.

fulminn

The more the better! Before I go rest in peace, just a SOP double-check: Employment contract, hopefully, same as you had in mind, means:
- it says on it "employed" by an entity of RYR holdings
- it list a fixed base
- pursuant to Regulation (EC) 883/2004 (hefty guide here http://www.eurodetachement-travail.e...obile_EN_1.pdf) the Company deducts and pays on behalf of the pilot the appropriate contributions to public health insurance, state pension and social security - to the tax office of the declared base country.

The full verse of suggestion is to check how many "bogus contract" pilots are there for those 467 aircraft, ergo out of approx 1600 uniformed harp riders. All the above-listed wildling airlines have what - 47 aircraft combined at full pre-covid steam?

Since the fingerpointing already is juvenile, par for the course is also finding out who started it first: RYR for atypical employment, Brookfield as the agent, J.C. of EZY for payed training - that's how far behind I actually am. Moutnain High consultants: incorporated in Malta, sitting across the McD's in Crawley. Or which agency tried to hire strike-breakers for A330 and B787 during the Avianca strike of 2017 for less than the Travel Service summer contract pay (who do full employment contract in France, btw, where RYR just refused and were ousted)? Not Aerviva of Dubai. :)

By their fruit ...

This is about Blue bird pilots.

Your're right. Bless them it turns for the better not too long from now. Unfortunately firing for union work is not unheard of.

I guess you haven't been truly jobless until you've been jobless on an island outside EU.

jobless on an island outside EU......that'll be UK then.

As per the latest news regarding this matter in Iceland, the affected pilot's went on a strike starting 1st of February and union members prevented contractors to step in as a result and a flight got cancelled. See below link.
Then what happened next was that Bluebird tried to stop the actions of union reps preventing strike violations only to fail, as the law's are not on their side. Since then, Bluebird has been bringing pilots to KEF only to let them rest at their handling company's office airside, so that union reps cannot prevent them from strike violations as the union reps cannot access that area.

https://www.fia.is/en/fréttir-fundag...nordic-strike/

Luftfart.nu

Bluebird has fired all permanent pilots: Now FPU (Flight Personnel Union) sends conflict warning

FPU suspects that the Icelandic airline Bluebird has a base in Copenhagen that is not covered by the collective agreement. Bluebird has previously fired all permanent pilots in Iceland and said that it will only use "self-employed" pilots.

FPU has sent a conflict warning to the Icelandic airline Bluebird. This is because the Icelandic trade union estimates that Bluebird probably has a base in Copenhagen. This has caused concern in FPU because the company that flies with cargo has fired all its permanent pilots in Iceland.

All the fired pilots were members of the FÍA, and according to the FÍA, the company will in future use pilots who are employed through a Dutch recruitment agency and who are "self-employed contractors", or what the trade union movement calls false self-employed.

“There are indications that the company has a base in Copenhagen. If this is the case, we will do our utmost to ensure that they work under orderly conditions, and therefore we have sent a conflict notice and a collective agreement proposal. We are very concerned about the messages we receive from Iceland. It is completely unheard of to fire all permanent pilots and instead state that you want to use self-employed pilots. It smells far away from social dumping and miserable conditions, ”says Anders Mark Jensen, deputy chairman of FPU.

Luftfart.nu and googletranslate

In a little over two weeks, the conflict against the Icelandic cargo company Bluebird Nordic will begin. The company is accused of using fake self-employed people and doing so via a base at Copenhagen Airport.

FPU has sent another conflict warning to Icelandic Bluebird Nordic. In the notice, the union has stated the date for the beginning of the conflict to be 1 May 2021. Thus, the workers' international day of struggle will be the starting date for the conflict against Bluebird Nordic's Danish operations out of Copenhagen Airport.

FPU's deputy chairman states that the union met with the company's Danish lawyer at a meeting that did not result in an agreement. But in the past month, FPU has collected information about the company's activities, and according to the union, all available information points in the direction that the Icelandic company has a base in Copenhagen with affiliated pilots.

Good. The Bluebird Cargo, FIA pilots need all the help they can get.

As a EU born, current US pilot, it is mind boggling to see every pilot in the US getting full pay or be on some sort of no fly line with 75% pay paid by the government.....
And we are all unionized in a country with very low unionization rates...

don’t have a solution, but the problem needs pointing out

One huge advantage though: Just one country there. Unlike Europe or even the EU, which is not a country, does not allow for transnational unions and therefore is easy pickings for every employer who really wants it, especially when times are bad.

Good point. The EU allows transnational airlines, even an EU (EASA AOC), but not transnational unions. And the glorious management of Wizz, Norwegian, Bluebird (ASG actually) take their full advantage of the situation.

Luftfart.nu and google translate

Bluebird Nordic refuses to sign an agreement for their employees, and the company has instead as of today chosen to close their base for pilots in Denmark in order to avoid the impending conflict.

This afternoon, an email ticked in at FPU. Here, the Danish lawyer for the Icelandic cargo company, Bluebird Nordic, explains that the company intends to close their Danish base for pilots at Copenhagen Airport. This happens just a few days after FPU sent another conflict warning to Bluebird Nordic.

The conflict should have begun on 1 May 2021, and aimed to bring Bluebird Nordic's management to the negotiating table and secure an agreement for the Danish-based cargo pilots. The conflict alert has now been suspended. This is explained by FPU's deputy chairman, Anders Mark Jensen

“Instead of negotiating some orderly terms in place for their pilots, the company chooses to relocate their base. It is a pity for the pilots that the company did not choose the negotiating route, ”explains FPU's deputy chairman, who also elaborates on the motives behind the conflict.

"We will not accept dumping terms at Copenhagen Airport, and the very suspicion that the used fake self-employed pilots has made us act decisively in this case. We will now support our European colleagues' fight for fair conditions at Bluebird Nordic, ”says Anders Mark Jensen.

More like the EU only cares about corporate profit. Bear in mind that the EU is based on a cartel philosophy. Transnational airlines but national unions is the case in point.

The Labor Tribunal in Iceland today has declared the layoffs of the Union (FIA) pilots at Bluebird Nordic illegal. While this in itself does not get them their jobs back, it opens the way for the pilots to sue the company for every penny of lost wages plus damages.
As for the contract trash that took their jobs… my opinion of them is unprintable.

Great news! I see a bit of a parallel (regardless of unions) with Wizz firing pilots last year then this year filling the void mostly with outsiders... these kind of pilots are called scabs Stateside.

As a fmr. member of a recruitment team i would definitely pass on candidates who were employed/given contract during AND instead of pilots engaged in industrial action or dismissed under questionable terms and conditions/reasons.

TF OIL. You’re post is unintelligible, I have no idea what you’re trying to say. Pretty much the same for bandana Joe.
Just say what you mean for Crikes sake.

There’s pretty much no side to this, the action taken by the company is reprehensible.

Check in.dk and google translate:

This was not the case when the airline chose to lay off its organized pilots and instead hire a number of "self-employed pilots" to take over the work of the contract pilots.
It was illegal when the Icelandic cargo airline Bluebird Nordic shortly before Christmas last year chose to lay off 11 contract pilots, at the same time as the company had hired a number of "independent pilots".
It says a judgment that has just been handed down in the Labor Court in Iceland, in a case between the Icelandic Business Pilots Association (FÍA) and the Association of Icelandic Employers on behalf of Bluebird Nordic.
In the middle of the wage negotiations at the end of last year, all Bluebird Nordic's organized pilots were fired. Subsequently, the airline announced that in future it would only employ "self-employed pilots".
Fired and employees
"The fact of the matter is that a fast-growing Icelandic airline fired all its pilots, who were union members, only weeks after hiring a similar number of fake self-employed contractors," said Jón Þór Þorvaldsson, chairman of the FÍA, in a comment to dommen.
"This was done despite the fact that the collective agreement between the parties contained a provision on the preferential rights of FÍA members to work for Bluebird, which the court confirmed was still valid, as the Court of Appeal has previously ruled," he continues.
The pilots call the victory important. Not just for themselves, but for all unions in Iceland.
"It is important for trade unions, supervisory authorities and the government, which all fight against false independent companies," says Jón Þór Þorvaldsson.
A cheaper solution
According to the pilots, the ruling from the Icelandic labor law will set a precedent that it is not allowed to dismiss employees who work under a collective agreement and instead employ the so-called false self-employed at a significantly lower salary.
Some companies hire fake self-employed people instead of hiring them as employees. In this way, companies do not have to pay wages during illness, holiday pay and pension, for example.
The Icelandic case draws threads to Denmark. In the spring, the Aviation Industry Personnel Union (FPU) suspected Bluebird of using the method with the “fake” self-employed at the base in Denmark. The union sent a conflict warning, after which Bluebird chose to close its base in Copenhagen.
Owned by Cypriot company
Since January 2020, Bluebird Nordic has been owned by Avia Solutions Group, headquartered in Cyprus. The company operates on the basis of a commercial operating license issued by the civil aviation authorities of Iceland.

Stay away from them, abusive behaviour towards pilots and fake self-employed contract
 

You don’t get a contract, you’re a service provider and even though this type of contact is already banned in Europe as it’s ilegal it’s the only one they are offering.

The company has reduced the amount of days off from 9 to 7. If you still want 9 days off per month then you have to refuse taking holidays during the whole year. This has been changed unilaterally without any explanation. It’s hard to believe I know, but the company is all run by new management that doesn’t care about pilots. They can change your base without respecting any notice and they expect you to move to your new base from day to night.

The block hours is very low BUT with the roster it’s imposible to keep your self in good shape. You don’t get enough rest, all can change from night to day. They call you on days off, there is a total lack of ethics from the management side. The amount of pressure and stress is imposible to handle as you never have anything clear of what to expect for your month, week or even day.

Lot of taxis in the middle of the night to cover gaps in productions. You can start your duty at 01.00 in the morning flying from A to B, then taking a 2 hours taxi in the middle of the night from B to C and then another flying duty again from C to D. Easily 10 hours duty in total because of their lack of crew and resources. It’s crazy but that’s what it is.

Floating contracts were also removed from day to night without even respecting the notice for that.

They don’t release a real roster, what they’re basically doing is to release a roster full of “blank days” and then they use those blank days in order to change all your duties without any notice. It’s imposible to plan anything or have any sort of life. Sometimes they’re changing already past blank days to off so you end up waisting your off days.

Bases are random and are also unstable.

The pay is low compared to all other cargo companies.

The SOPs are weak, the maintenance of the planes is very poor. Lot of issues happening in the line. Recent depressurisation with an emergency descent in a plane that had been reported several times from the pilots. Everything ended badly for BlueBird and Amazon is not considering them reliable anymore. Let’s see what happens but they’re far from success when it comes to customers.

Most of their pilots are looking for other jobs but according to BlueBird they just don’t care and they’re in control of the situation.
Avoid attending to their assessment unless you don’t have anything else.

New info
 

Hi,

any information regarding the current situation at Bluebird? What are their current bases?

Common problems for the companies under Avia Solution Group. They are plague for European aviation industry.

Since the majority of European airlines are garbage these days, there's no point in discussing which one is the biggest crap. However, I'm still interested in finding out their bases.

I’ve heard its BRU, Leipzig, MXP, CGN and maybe Paris. But I don’t think it matters. You will be thrown around.

Thank you for the reply. Is the information regarding rostering provided by 737pilots still correct (no pattern, random scheduling of off days)?

It will until the majority can value their skillset not to jump at Pay2Fly or awful operators where CEOs openly tell people to fly fatigued.

Any idea of what’s happening to their 777’s? Are they still going to fly them?

Improved T&C
 

Anyone willing to share any info on promised new roster?

What is the average FO salary and average hours flown? Does anyone have details regarding the "new terms" ?

Any confirmed changes at all ? Roster, Pay ?

This is from september 2022

Monthly fee
Captain:
Basic fee: €6400 per month*, from start of line training
Additional (per diem): €1000 (fixed) per month, from start of line training
Training fee: €50 per training day.
*up to 75 block hours. When 75 hours are exceeded, an additional fee is involved.
First Officer:
Basic fee: €4500 per month*
Additional (per diem): €1000 (fixed) per month, from start of line training
Training fee: €50 per training day.
*up to 75 block hours. When 75 hours per month is exceeded, an additional fee is involved.

Accomodation
• The Client provides suitable accommodation unless if the Client’s operational base is the same
as the Individual’s Nearest International Airport (NIA) or if the Individual lives within 60
kilometres of the assigned operational base. Suitable accommodation can be provided upon
request to prevent excessive fatigue in accordance with the Fatigue Risk Management System
principles.
• Any damage caused by the individual to the accommodation provided by the client (incl. lost
keys) will be covered by the Individual.
•
Travel
• The Client arranges all travel from/to the Nearest International Airport (NIA) (ref Schedule One)
for duty purposes and whilst in training, unless the NIA of the individual and the client
operational base are the same.
• All non-duty travel costs will be borne by the individual.
• The Individual will be responsible for their own transport to the NIA, regardless of the client’s
operational base.
Roster
• Roster Pattern 20 on / 10 off
• Travel to and from base is done on your off days

Would appreciate some insights of what the life is like at bluebird recently - besides from the relatively low untaxed b2b salary. From whats been said here, it doesn't sound too exciting.

Are the quoted September rates 1000(cp) and 2500(fo) higher compared to ASG summer ACMI Baltic ops?

The latter being Airbus of course, still, perhaps this suggests the pool of expired pilots is emptied by now.

Take home at 75 hours seems to be on par with RYR, using their own invented 2b2 taxation rules. Sure, there is more to work compensation apart from the cash flow.

​​​​​​

Which pilot agency is advertising this contract?

confair