Public strike on Thursday 22 Dec: what about BRU?

[tolipanebas]

Pilots live longer too, so they should work longer as well.

I don't think anybody has a problem with that in cockpits really, after all we're not at the NMBS/SNCB?

The dedicated pilot pension scheme -including its higher premiums- could perfectly be maintained and adapted to this new reality of higher life expectations by for instance increasing the duration of contribution, but simply scrapping it completely and unilaterally without respect of any of its accumulated premiums.... why pay the additional contribution then, all those years???

Now, regarding your 14,12 % (of what exactly?) additional pension contribution, it should obviously be taken into account and I bet (as I said earlier) that it eventually will.

Let's hope it will somehow, because currently it isn't, incredibly but true, which is just an illustration of how bric-a-brac this whole reform really is.

[epsilon]

TACT/CASA MESSAGE : XCD - ZERO RATE
REF : ZERO RATE FOR EBLG
DUE TO : ATC INDUSTRIAL ACTION
REG ID : EBLGA21
VALID : WEF: 2100 UNTIL: 0700 UTC ON 22/12/11
TFC : ALL

-----------------------------------------------------------

According the the latest info received from Belgocontrol no major disruptions are expected in EBBR, EBCI, EBOS,EBAW a/ds.

At this stage information for EBLG is not promising and disruption might be expected.

Pls consider that fire brigade/airport authorities' personnel might be on strike as well. In this case airports could be subject to tactical closures. Info available at this stage is optimistic.

CFMU OPS

[regi]

To EBBU,
The gov. needed to pass legislation before yearend, so no wonder it's a bit rough.

This came up suddenly in the media, as a knife on our throat.
And most of us believed it.
Sorry: not true.
PM Leterme could also have prepared the budget, so the fine of the EU would not have come on our heads.
It is just 1 example how politicians abused the media and frightened the public.

Other example was the downgrading. Look: the downgrading would have happened anyway, government installed before 2012 or not. This was stated by Moody's.

[convair]

To Tolipanebas,

Glad to see we fully agree now.

[EBAW_flyer]

On Facebook, Thomas Cook Belgium informs their passengers that due to the strike all flights thursday will leave from Maastricht (MST).

[WC_EEND]

According to Deredactie.be, JAF's flights that should leave from CRL will leave from LIL (Lille) and LGG flights will operate from MST. BRU flights will still leave from BRU though.

source: http://www.deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws/b ... luchtvaart

[fcw]

Now, regarding your 14,12 % (of what exactly?) additional pension contribution, it should obviously be taken into account and I bet (as I said earlier) that it eventually will.

Let's hope it will somehow, because currently it isn't, incredibly but true, which is just an illustration of how bric-a-brac this whole reform really is.

Once again gentlemen, these 14,12% don't go to the State but disappear in BruAirs pocket!! TUI and TC crew don't pay these 14%. Your pension is being used to keep your employer alive! It was predictable since the day these contributions are used as an illegal state aid that one day the crew would loose their pension rights.

[sean1982]

According to latest NOTAM, EBLG closed till 21.00z tomorrow!

[mijnmening]

I don\'t know about the pension contributions for air force pilots, but every commercial airliner pilot in Belgium is paying extra premiums for early retirement, including them at JAF en TC. These premiums paid by both employee and employer go integrally to the Belgian State.

[BrusselsAirlines]

Now, regarding your 14,12 % (of what exactly?) additional pension contribution, it should obviously be taken into account and I bet (as I said earlier) that it eventually will.

Let's hope it will somehow, because currently it isn't, incredibly but true, which is just an illustration of how bric-a-brac this whole reform really is.

Once again gentlemen, these 14,12% don't go to the State but disappear in BruAirs pocket!! TUI and TC crew don't pay these 14%. Your pension is being used to keep your employer alive! It was predictable since the day these contributions are used as an illegal state aid that one day the crew would loose their pension rights.

What the heck are you talking about???

[tolipanebas]

Whereas normally unions and employers are diametrically opposed on the issue of pension reforms, the Belgian airlines are supportive of the demand from their unions to keep the separate more favourable self-sponsored pension scheme for flight crew. Crews willing to take part in uniform in the manifestation later today have all been given permission to do so, as the Belgian airlines say to be just as shocked by the unilateral proposals as well as with the radical way in which Mr. Q. wipes away an important pillar of the total remuneration package of flight crews to which airlines too have contributed extra premiums for over 30 years, thus making it an even bigger challenge for any Belgian airline to remain offering competitive career deals to their crews in the face of unfair social competition at CRL. Who would have guessed: a group of employers supportive off the union manifestation!

[sean1982]

Whereas normally unions and employers are diametrically opposed on the issue of pension reforms, the Belgian airlines are supportive of the demand from their unions to keep the separate more favourable self-sponsored pension scheme for flight crew. Crews willing to take part in uniform in the manifestation later today have all been given permission to do so, as the Belgian airlines say to be just as shocked by the unilateral proposals as well as with the radical way in which Mr. Q. wipes away an important pillar of the total remuneration package of flight crews to which airlines too have contributed extra premiums for over 30 years, thus making it an even bigger challenge for any Belgian airline to remain offering competitive career deals to their crews in the face of unfair social competition at CRL. Who would have guessed: a group of employers supportive off the union manifestation!

hahaha, lfmao. Belgian airlines are the worst paying in western europe, all under the argument off: "social taxes are too high". Go over the border to the UK, France or Germany and see what a pilot earns there! Airline management reigns by fear:" If you don't do what I say, you'll lose your job" cause there are very little flying jobs available anyway here. And even if you do your job properly you're not garantueed to stay. Let's look at JAF for example who are sacking experienced pilot in order to keep their TRTO running, and giving new cadets a summer contract in exchange for 26.000 EUR!! They'll walk away in october with 500 hours B737, which basically means .... nothing. Oh yeah wait, maybe you can come back next year, when we sack a couple more of our experienced pilots, who are to costly anyway! And what does BeCa do about that? Absolutely nothing, cause the ego's walking around in belgian aviation are larger then life! Yeah, Let's blame it on unfair social competition in CRL. The world is coming to an end ... and it's all ryanair's fault

[EBBU]

Everything seems to be moving along rather normally in the air today...
Only EBLG is closed due to industrial action, probably because of the influence of the socialist union there...

[9vsmu]

Everything seems to be moving along rather normally in the air today...
Only EBLG is closed due to industrial action, probably because of the influence of the socialist union there...

Avient moved a flt to BRU (SMJ213-ZALT).

Due out to LGG 21h30lt

[Acid-drop]

Everything seems to be moving along rather normally in the air today...
Only EBLG is closed due to industrial action, probably because of the influence of the socialist union there...

indeed. Sad.

[Bracebrace]

From what i've heard from some of my colleague flight crew members, those on duty will perform their duties as planned, those who are not on duty will or will not attend the strike in brussels. so we DO care about our pax as this has nothing to do with the airline but with the government. I will also perform my planned duty tomorrow, while still supporting all the actions planned for tomorrow.

WTF ??? Or how to let your colleagues take care of your future & pension...I read posts like "I'm flying & I am in the sim but...I fully support the strike."

Yeah right. One word for this kind of behaviour but not mentionable on this forum.

Why? Aviation is a pure international business, pension items are national. No need to punish passengers for the problems we have with the government. Unless of course you want the whole world to really look at belgium as if it's a "Greece to be" (mentality of the people inclusive).

I found it a good reaction from certain unions to call "off-pilots" to go to Brussels and "on duty pilots" to to their job as supposed to.

On the subject of 65 year old pilots and what they can, or cannot do. The older you get the more difficult our job becomes to do. Many know how to cope with it and do fine, however there are cases where some people shouldv'e stopped but didn't. The pilots with a brilliant carreer on their resume, however flying with them you can't stop thinking "it's about time you stopped flying..." Difficult to explain and also, you cannot NOT have a lot of respect for these people. It's hard to see them go "backwards" so hard because a flightdeck environment can reveal a lot of things you don't see at a regular office desk. We will only see a lot more of these cases. Many people might not know there are a lot of pilots who also cannot stop flying... simply not willing to retire even though they perfectly could.

[Passenger]

In 2000, a Belgian man had an average life expentancy of 75,8 years
In 2010, a Belgian man had an average life expentancy of 78,6 years
In 2060, the Federal Plan Bureau expects this will be 86,2 years

In 2000, a Belgian woman had an average life expentancy of 81,6 years
In 2010, a Belgian woman had an average life expentancy of 83,2 years
In 2060, the Federal Plan Bureau expects this will be 88,8 years

The future governments thus will have to pay pension for a much longer period (most important factor for our longer lives: a better medical treatment, causing an increase of medical costs of 60% in Belgium between 2000 and 2009).

Those supporting the strike seem to expect that our future governments pay these longer periods of pension pay-out without increasing the basic provisions.