We met with management yesterday to discuss schedules and what their process was for forming them. The GDO's appear before the schedule is finalized, since they are placed first, regardless of the flights (only our bid). It's impossible for them to prevent us from seeing them while they're making the schedule. In fact, we're in the process of changing the way the timetable will be delivered to give you the opportunity to ask your questions, so that crewsched can correct the timetable if necessary before it's officially published..

Also, the “operational constraints” have been demonstrated to us and explained in more detail. If you ever receive this response to a question, you can ask for further explanation. As for the ever-changing maritime pairings, this is mainly due to late commercial decisions and changing customer demands. That said, we've been advised that there may still be changes there soon, but that we'll be given more advance notice.

We will be receiving a memo regarding VMO alerts. Schedule change alerts will be removed as they have caused more problems than solutions (mostly on the dispatch side). So, it's back to what's written in the collective agreement: when you fly, check the day before for any changes. You'll receive a call (or silent notification if you're in your legal reset) for any changes made in the 24 hours preceding your flight.

As a result, we've agreed to set up a Scheduling Committee to meet with the company whenever a new schedule is published or a new training session is held (as yet undetermined), and we'll need one of you to volunteer for this committee. If you're interested, let Eric or Matéo know.

On another note, negotiations are going well. Overall, the company has showed openness, but some points remain contentious. Negotiations will end this month, but we're not sure yet whether it will be with an agreement (which is most desirable) or by some other legal means. It's now 2 years since the agreement expired, and its high time for us to have a new CA.