Upfront The latest in aviation and industrial news from around the world Counter-drones strategy is welcome The Government has announced plans to introduce counter-drone technology at UK airports, nearly one year after the chaos caused at Gatwick and Heathrow last Christmas. BALPA welcomes the move, which we hope will deter those minded to do something similar, and help with the detection and arrest of those who go ahead with flying drones illegally. Looking ahead BALPA members at our Flight Crew Futures event in October had the chance to understand what the current job market looks like. Held at Gatwick airport, the event offered a timely opportunity for Thomas Cook pilots, who have recently found themselves out of work. There was representation from airlines including Emirates, Wizz Air and West Atlantic, all of which are recruiting now. There were also exhibits from training organisations including Simtech, FlightSafety International, FTE Jerez and Leading Edge. The BALPA team was on hand to offer support and guidance. If you missed out, why not join us at our next one? We run it twice a year, so look out for details in BALPA newsletters and The Log. NEC elections The new BALPA National Executive and leadership teams took over this month, following our annual conference. Congratulations to Captain Paul Naylor (easyJet) and Captain Tim Pottage (British Airways), who were elected as Executive President and Vice President, respectively. They will lead the newly elected NEC, to which we welcome First Officer James O’Brien (British Airways), First Officer Andrea Brezenakova (Norwegian/OSM) and First Officer Mark Keane (British Airways). We said goodbye to two long-standing NEC reps, who have worked tirelessly on your behalf for many years – Captain Rich Pullen and Captain Martin Drake. Thank you both – we wish you the very best. BALPA’s NEC is made up of pilots elected by members, and provides leadership to BALPA’s work throughout the year. Our National Executive Council members are: Paul Naylor, John Bell, Andrea Brezonakova, Conor Convey, Andrew Hammond, Dane Handley, Will Isherwood-Smith, Mark Keane, Leo Nugent, James O’Brien, Tim Pottage, Enda Ryan, Hugh Sheils and Simon Williams. ADC award winners Each year at our Annual Delegates Conference, we take the opportunity to acknowledge reps – individually and as part of a group – for the outstanding support they give to members. This year, we presented five awards to some very worthy winners. Our Company Council of the Year accolade went to our Virgin Atlantic reps, to mark the extraordinary turnaround they have achieved since a decline in membership some years ago. The reps have worked hard to recruit new members, and encourage back those who had left BALPA. Our Rep of the Year award went to easyJet’s James Burnell, who has been instrumental in some incredibly valuable fatigue and wellbeing work, which has filtered into many of our other Company Councils. We also presented two President’s Awards. The first went to British Airway’s Martin Drake, in recognition of his service to our NEC, his work in areas such as security, and his commitment to improving flight safety. The second award went to the Thomas Cook Company Council for the efforts it made in the aftermath of the airline’s collapse. While going through challenging times, they made a commitment to continue their rep duties to help their colleagues find new employment. Finally, our Lifetime Achievement award recognised the outstanding work, over many years, of Dave Smith. As a former Company Council and National Executive Council rep, outgoing Chair of the Custodian Trustees, and a BALPA media rep, Dave has contributed a significant amount of time, patience and consideration to supporting BALPA members throughout his flying career with British Airways and in retirement. We’d like to congratulate all the winners and thank them for their service to BALPA and our members. 150,000 Thomas Cook passengers needed to be repatriated £100m The estimated amount the repatriation cost taxpayers READ MORE Executive President’s welcome Industry snapshots 9,000 employees lost their jobs with the collapse of Thomas Cook The Log app – get each edition straight to your device As you may have spotted in the last edition, we have introduced the new Log app for members. Acting on member feedback that you’d like an electronic way to read The Log, we worked to fulfil this request. We’re really pleased with how the app looks – and we hope you are, too. Members can now choose how they view BALPA’s latest news and features. Available for mobile and tablet, the new app will allow us to include more images, video content and links. We’re also hoping it will lead to extra advertising revenue – which helps us keep costs down – if we can offer the option of video advertising. You can download The Log app by searching ‘BALPA Log’ in your device’s app store, and go to thelog.balpa.org to unsubscribe from the paper version. NEWS Your chance to win To say thank you for downloading The Log app, we’re awarding one lucky winner a £100 Amazon voucher. All you need to do is follow this link www.surveymonkey.co.uk/ r/3GTJKMD and enter your membership number. Good luck! Upfront Upfront The latest in aviation and industrial news from around the world READ MORE READ MORE Executive President’s welcome Looking back over the year, it’s hard to believe so much could happen in such a short space of time. This time last year we were dealing with the aftermath of the Gatwick and Heathrow drone incidents, which brought misery for thousands of travellers – but brought drone safety into the public sphere. Consequently, the Government listened to BALPA’s calls for tougher legislation and acted on them. This was a positive start to the year. What followed has been a tumultuous series of ups and downs for our industry – the grounding of the 737 Max on safety concerns, industrial action in British Airways and Ryanair and, of course, the collapse of Flybmi and Thomas Cook. Airline failures are always traumatic, but the sheer scale of the Thomas Cook collapse sent shockwaves across our membership, the travel industry and the country. Just hours after the news, BALPA launched into action to support our members. While the Government was focused on the largest peacetime repatriation effort since World War II, we ensured our members had the most up-to-date information possible, sought job opportunities in other airlines, and hosted numerous CV and interview workshops. Being a member of BALPA is not just about the collective bargaining advantages, or the legal support you receive should anything go wrong. It’s also the expertise and support our staff and reps offer in difficult times, and the feeling of community you can find across all our members. Whichever airline you belong to, be that fixed-wing or rotary, you have an army of fellow pilots behind you, ready to support you through challenging times. Safe flying, Paul Naylor, BALPA NEC Executive President and easyJet captain
