By Christophe Sambre, Vice-President Brussels Airlines

This article summarises the main developments that have happened in Brussels Airlines since the last edition of our Cockpit Flash.

Ebola

The information to the crews operating flights to and from the 3 countries affected by the Ebola virus outbreak has improved. Crews received now a detailed briefing about the virus, its transmission, operational guidelines in case of sick passenger, use of the protection equipment. Thanks to the pilot delegation, flights have now been rerouted with a technical stop for crew change in Dakar (no more layover in Liberia). However, this brings some issues since those flights are operated close to the legal limits. Brussels Airlines being the last airline flying to those 3 countries, operations brings good revenue but it should not be done to the detriment of the safety of the crews and the passengers.

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Avro Fleet

The last Avro RJ85 left in September. Brussels Airlines Avro fleet is now composed of RJ100s, but their replacement has again been delayed till 2017. Avro pilots are still waiting for a plan to be relocated on the replacement aircraft. However, at the same time, the management is planning to make use of contract pilots and wet leased aircraft to operate the production.

A320 Fleet

It was a busy summer, with many flights operated on behalf of Thomas Cook. About 30 contract pilots were hired to cope with the peak of production but should, according to the CLA, leave the company in winter time if there is no surge in training linked to the Avro replacement.

A330 Fleet

The flights to Washington, leaving Brussels in the afternoon and returning at noon, are suspended for the winter season. They will restart for the summer season, with an earlier departure time (leaving BRU in the morning, landing early in the morning) which should improve the load factor of connecting passengers.

Conciliation meeting 29 Sept

A conciliation meeting was requested by the union delegation on several matters, such as pilot pension, holiday allocation, crew safety during night stops in Africa and respect of Flight Time Duty Times. The conciliation failed despite the promises made by the management during the social actions held in November 2013. Furthermore, the management wishes to “improve the speed and agility of social dialogue” by reducing the social (pilot) delegations. If you are interested in reading the full report of the meeting, you can find it on the B-united website (http://b-united.wix.com/b-united). The report is only available to Brussels Airlines pilots.