Dear Members,

For many people the current lockdown may be only "light" - for us in aviation it is by no means. Closed restaurants are compensated with 75% of revenue, but for us they "only" ban many occasions where people travel. What use has an airplane if passengers are allowed to board, but can only disembark with quarantine? It has no use at all! And that although air traffic in particular, according to RKI statistics, is absolutely no driver of infections. As a guest at the air traffic summit today, I was able to tell Andreas Scheuer, our Transport Minister, that politics has tightened the wrong screws here. But that was all I could say and that makes me angry.


Several ministers, scientists and CEOs came together to discuss how best to help the aviation industry. The question of how to deal with the hundreds of thousands of employees who fear for their jobs or have already lost them, and how to help them, was not even worth a separate agenda item for the Ministry of Transport. We also criticized this afterwards in a press release.


And we are not slackening on the political front in other respects either. Concerning our colleagues at TUI, we called on Lower Saxony's state politicians to get involved and look closely at what the company wants to do with the state aid. We hope for a second edition of the Minister of Economics' Round Table.


You can also find more current news on our new VC Info website vcinfo.vcockpit.de (German) and on our social media channels on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.


Enjoy the read!

Markus Wahl
President

Air traffic summit falls short of expectations

Being a crucial part in the air traffic system, we as pilots welcome the fact that the industry was called together for the air traffic summit by the Federal Minister of Transport, Andreas Scheuer, under the impression of the far-reaching crisis. In our view, however, the meeting fell well short of expectations. The agenda and the statements of the political representatives lack clearer commitments to the goal of comprehensively preserving jobs in the aviation industry.


Instead, the politicians have concentrated very strongly on the companies and have largely ignored the concerns of the hundreds of thousands of aviation employees and their families. We reject this one-sided focus on employer interests. Together with the many other often highly specialized professionals, we are urgently needed. Without us, the revival of aviation after the crisis cannot succeed. We therefore demand that initiatives to maintain qualifications and entitlements be launched now as a matter of urgency.


Markus Wahl attended the summit on behalf of the VC. "We expect politicians to involve the unions more strongly and more closely," he commented on the results of the virtual meeting. "For us as employees, it is absolutely clear that we will only get through this crisis as a whole. We need a close alliance between politics, companies and workforces. We must work together to get through the crisis and then focus on the future of air traffic. The current situation must not be exploited by any side for its own purposes".

Ongoing talks in the Bundestag

In addition to our discussions with representatives from the ministries, we also remain in contact with the relevant members of parliament. Due to the pandemic, this usually takes place virtually. Last week, the head of our Berlin Representation Office met the Deputy Chairperson of the Bundestag's Transport Committee, Daniela Kluckert (FDP), for a discussion.


Mrs. Kluckert informed herself about the situation of pilots and attached great importance to the information from the employees' point of view. Although the Transport Committee is mainly responsible for technical issues and infrastructure, the MP could confirm that in this context it was quite clear to the members of parliament that especially in air traffic the know-how of the specialised employees is seen as an essential part of this mode of transport which has to be maintained through the crisis.


"Qualified and trained pilots are not available overnight when they are needed in or after the crisis. As an export-oriented nation and world champion in travel, we must not lose this resource," said the MP after the discussion.

Daniela Kluckert MP and Bastian Roet

TUIfly ends negotiations - Group executive board and politicians must now join the talks

The crisis negotiations at TUIfly were halted unilaterally by the management, although we were willing to accept far-reaching and painful measures. In return for these cuts, we demanded the exclusion of dismissals for operational reasons, which the employer is unwilling to accept.


We are very critical of the fact that jobs are to be cut in Germany despite government aid amounting to billions. Since these plans of the employer alienate the granted tax money, they go far beyond the bargaining  table and we now demand political intervention in the process! We have called upon politics both in Lower Saxony and on federal level to press for the proper use of state money in our as well as in the taxpayers' interest. In addition to politicians, the executive level of parent company TUI must now join the talks, because the issues at stake are of far-reaching strategic importance for the entire Group.


One thing is certain for us: tax money must not be used the way TUI currently intends to! We will fight for every job!

Advisory Board

Dear colleagues,


The current situation demands a lot from all of us, both professionally and privately. We know that many of you are currently very uncertain about your future career. On the one hand, one feels very far away from what is happening, but on the other hand, one finds itself in the midst of ever new challenges. The members of the Advisory Board are from your ranks and are equally affected by this crisis. We are dealing with the same questions. We also know the waiting for news. But we are closer to the events and know that the many colleagues on the various committees are working tirelessly on solutions. All of us who are active in VC are grateful for your input and at the same time ask for your understanding if feedback or information comes late or not to the extent you had hoped for.


In spite of all the uncertainty, we would like to ask you to make sure, both individually and personally, that your individual burden can always guarantee safe flight operations during these extraordinary weeks. Are you fit-to-fly?
The VC Support Line can offer you support:


+49 69 695976 222


Stay safe and stay healthy.


Carolin Bach
On behalf of the Advisory Board of the VC

Markus Wahl and Simone Obel

Anniversary: Simone Obel with the VC for 35 years

Simone Obel celebrated her 35th company anniversary on 1 November 2020. It may be hard to believe, but when she came on board in 1985, telex and fax were the non plus ultra. Since then Simone has successfully contributed to the development of the "Finance Department" and the VC with much joy and great commitment and is still a supporting force in our team today.


Simone, we congratulate you on your anniversary and thank you very much for 35 years with the VC, your committed and successful contribution and your valuable work. We are pleased that you have been part of VC for such a long time and wish you continued success in your tasks.

Information on invitations to the general meeting

The invitations to the general meeting were sent out by email at the beginning of October. Some providers apparently classified the mail as spam and sorted it out or moved it to the junk folder. If you did not receive an invitation, please contact the member support.

© Dennis Seidel

Winter Operations

Safe winter operations normally require special procedures by airline maintenance, engineering, ground crew, flight crew, and de-icing personnel. IFALPA points out that FINAVIA and TRAFICOM publish an annual Safety Bulletin on winter conditions. It focuses on operations in northern Finland, but the content is relevant to other locations subject to similar weather. It provides excellent guidance for both flight crews and operators.

Prevention of Unstable Approaches

Unstabilized approaches are one of the most common contributing factors to incidents and accidents during landing, according to Airbus Safety First Magazine. The magazine addresses this issue in the current article "Prevention of Unstable Approaches". The article also provides tips to detect a potential unstable approach in advance so that it can be corrected long before the stabilization height.

© DFS

Virtual tour of virtual tower

"Frequentis DFS Aerosense" offers a virtual tour of the Remote Tower Center Leipzig on 17 November from 2 to 3 pm (registration required). Dresden, Erfurt and Saarbrücken airports with a total of around 15,000 aircraft movements per year are controlled from the Leipzig centre.


Please mind: The VC general meeting will take place on the same day.

Webinars on contaminated cabin air

The Global Cabin Air Quality Executive (GCAQE) offers numerous free webinars on the subject of contaminated cabin air in the coming months. An overview of dates and topics as well as registration can be found on the GCAQE website.

News from Associations, Organisations and Regulators


ECA

  • A new draft standard on aircraft cabin air quality is currently approaching its final stages in the European Committee for Standardisation CEN. The ECA is hoping for a major step forward in cabin air quality and related improvements for health and flight safety: Support for a new Standard on Cabin Air Quality


European Pilot Peer Support Initiative


World Meteorological Organisation

FAA: New Kid on the Block - An Introduction to Upper Class E Airspace

FAA has identified a growing demand for traffic in upper class E airspace (from FL600 upwards). This includes high altitude, long endurance (HALE) aircraft, unmanned balloons, airships, supersonic and hypersonic aircraft. The article "New Kid on the Block: An Introduction to Upper Class E Airspace" describes the technical innovations that are driving this development and the challenges for flight operations above our heads. Although the article refers to the US, the technical developments as well as the regulations could become globally relevant in the future.

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