Dirk BECKER, Executive Secretary ALPL; Credit: Chronicle.lu

Following the new regulations that came into force on Friday 29 January 2021, the Association Luxembourgeoise des Pilotes de Ligne asbl (ALPL) - which represents pilots working at both Luxair and Cargolux - is working hard for clarification on issues related to tests and, in particular, quarantine restrictions when moving from country to country. 

Chronicle.lu talked with Dirk Becker, Executive Secretary of the ALPL, who confirmed that the ALPL represents around 600 members, involving circa 85% of pilots from both Cargolux and Luxair.

He explained that as a large number of pilots working for Cargolux (roughly 600 - Luxair employs roughly 180) live outside the Grand Duchy, and each country has their own set of guidelines / regulations / restrictions regarding travel, specifically regarding isolation / quarantine restrictions, the ALPL is calling for harmonisation, at least at a European level, on these issues.

He explained that COVID-19 has been the biggest crisis affecting Global Aviation since WWII and affects everyone in the industry, including pilots.

For Luxair, he confirmed that all pilots were put on chomage partiel during lockdown as soon as the company was forced to cancel all flights in and out of Luxembourg, during spring 2020 - this included all staff on passenger operations, not only pilots. For pilots themselves, this led to up to a 70% reduction in salary. Over summer 2020, the number of Luxair pilots on chomage partiel reduced as the airline started flying again. 

In the case of Cargolux, the cargo airline operated operated at maximum capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic, the pilots were working overtime in some cases to keep up with demand, and none have been on chomage partiel during COVID-19; in fact, Cargolux actually recruited additional pilots on temporary contracts due to high demand. 

Another issue is that (Cargolux) pilots are facing many restrictions when on lay-overs in other destinations - e.g. at Singapore and Bangkok, pilots are confined to their hotel rooms for the duration of their stays which could be a few days, defending on rotations. This can have an effect on the mental health of pilots (who are certainly not alone in this regard) who are then needed to fly on their next flight from their lay-over destination.

Dirk Becker also revealed that the volume of cargo increase was not just regarding PPEs being flown from Asia to Europe, but also in additional cargo volumes, partly as passenger planes were not carrying cargo at that time.

He also stressed that the ALPL has been conscious of respecting the operational needs of the airlines while respecting the needs of the pilots which include their mental health.