On 23 and 24 February 2015, another Thomas Cook Pilot Group (TCPG) meeting was held in London, England. Scandinavia brought 4 people to the table, Germany 2, England 4 and yours truly from Belgium.

We met up with new pilot representatives elected in the Company Council / Ondernemingsraad / Conseil d’entreprise (CC/OR/CE) in England. Afterwards, every country gave an update on their situation.

TCAS (Scandinavia): 215 pilots, 12 aircraft, ratio 17,9

• The position for DFO has just opened.
• Biggest issue at the moment is the pension, which the company doesn’t want to pay above the age of 60.
• For info: TCAS also has an automatic inflation adjustment on salaries (Index)!

CONDOR (Germany): 650 pilots, 40 Aircraft, ratio 16,3

• Flying with older aircraft that have been sold and leased back. All the money went to England.
• Rosters were published 3 DAYS in advance, now they will be published around the 20th of each month for the next month.
• Rumors on the concept of a “SUPER-pilot”. These will be pilots who get trained and released on the line in all the 4 airlines of the group. This will assure they can be put to use everywhere in the group, at anytime.
• For info: On the A320 fleet, they have the same seasonality with the same effects as in Belgium. Overall it doesn’t look that bad, because management always uses the figures for long haul combined with short haul. In Germany everybody who desires it has a 100% contract during the entire year. No forced part-time contracts.

TCAB (Belgium): Around 60 pilots during the peaks / 3-6 aircraft depending on the seasonality / ratio between 10 and 20

• I think we all know our problems! ☺
• I stressed the fact that in Belgium we have the same amount of work as in any other country, but not enough people to get the work done. So I hereby call on everybody who wants to make a (small) difference, please join our team!
• We are coming close to have a deal with management on an improved LOL-agreement. The Upgrading Policy discussion is still ongoing.

TCUK (England): 438 pilots, 32 aircraft, ratio 13,7

• Ongoing discussions on pay. No automatic indexation, so in real buying power, England has taken a serious hit. These discussions, when unfruitful, will lead to industrial actions.
• For info: In England a pilot can refuse to fly overtime.

I hope you all noticed the ratio aircraft/pilots in the different countries.

Together we looked at the best way of sharing information and influence.

We agreed on the way to act in case of industrial actions in another part of the airline.

We are working on a direct line of contact with higher management on a more regular basis. Not to replace the European Work council, but in addition to it, to discuss pilot topics.

Next meeting will be on 16 and 17 June in Scandinavia.

Happy landings,

Bart Smet

Vice-President Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium