DHL CC: May 2026 newsletter

Company Council elections 

Its approaching that time of year again where various CC positions will be open for Election as terms expire and members of the team step down. We are always keen to hear from individuals who may be interested in supporting the DHL pilot community, meeting regularly with the management team to influence and shape policy and achieve the best negotiated outcome. In the coming months the new team will be responsible for negotiating the next pay agreement to follow on from the previous three year deal. We would be especially interested to speak to members who have undertaken these kinds of negotiations in the past. As a CC rep you’ll receive rostered office days to compensate for time spent undertaking CC duties and roster release to undertake various training courses. If you’d like to know more please contact us at [email protected]  

Is your colleague a member? 

While we understand that union membership is a personal choice and we’re immensely grateful for the support received from each and every one of you we recognise that some pilots choose not to be part of the collective. While they still get the pay rises and scheduling improvements negotiated by the CC they often leave themselves exposed and unprotected when things don’t go to plan. As the airline expands its global reach we find ourselves in more places where ‘Just Culture’ doesn’t exist and local authorities treat investigations more like criminal proceedings. In these circumstances we can call on the assistance and expertise of our IFALPA colleagues across the planet. Back at DHK we find ourselves called upon to support members at various levels of disciplinary or grievance and in all cases BALPA is here to support its members achieve the best possible outcome. Perhaps it's worth spreading the word and checking your colleague is afforded the same level of protection?  

Many individuals cite cost of membership as a limiting factor and remain unaware of the various tax efficiencies available that make membership excellent value for money. For more information on this please refer back to the ‘Money Matters’ update published on 02 April and feel free to share this with non-member colleagues. 

Scheduling working group  

Your company council were joined at this months SWG meeting by Line Pilot Representatives Paul Birri and Stuart Homa. If you have any scheduling related queries please contact [email protected] or as always your company council is available to you at [email protected] 

Planned into discretion 

It has been brought to the attention of the CC that specific flights were being planned into discretion. This is to say that when the flight plan was produced prevailing conditions on the day resulted in flight times exceeding scheduled block times to the extent that the operating crew would be in discretion. This has been noted on two crew North Atlantic sectors as well as EMA-TLV-HKG. It would be difficult to argue that these circumstances are unforeseen so should you note a non-compliant flight time we would advise liaising with operations to find a legal solution and filing an EFOS report.  

Auto rostering 

AIMS has been provided with example rosters to run through the auto rostering software with a view to identifying compatibility issues and moving the project forward. This is a positive step towards integrating the specific rule sets found in the DHK scheduling agreement.   

KSS 

It was reinforced during SWG that KSS reporting is anonymous and should be completed honestly to provide effective feedback. If you’re not in possession of a unique identifier or would prefer not to use it then please use XXXX instead. 

Please endeavour to report on all sectors to assist the Company Council and SWG in seeking positive changes and improvements. KSS scores have already resulted in positive schedule changes across all fleets. In addition please continue to utilise the BALPA realtime app to report KSS, fatigue and off duty times to influence the upcoming CAA FTL review.   

Landside ground transport 

There has been some negative feedback from crew concerning the quality of taxis utilised on company business. 

This includes certain vehicle types being inappropriate for longer journeys due to available space in the passenger compartment. 

This was raised with the company who request that any issues whatsoever are reported via EFOS so that they can evaluate the scale of the problem.    

HOTAC following stand down 

It was confirmed that crew members that have reported for a flying duty and are subsequently stood down (e.g. due technical issue/ FTLs), and are then rostered under 20 hours rest period to the next FDP, are due company provided HOTAC at home base. 

JNCC 

 B767  

Due to delayed CAA approval, LDS fleet retrofit has been paused until early 2027 with the additional maintenance time in BUD cancelled. Approval attempts will continue in the interim to enable works to commence in the New Year.   

B777  

A more concrete timeline has been given by the company with the first Mammoth aircraft anticipated to enter service in late June. From official hand over to DHL in May the aircraft will be painted in its new colour scheme and undergo longeron inspections prior to entry into service. 

The company is currently seeking CAA exemption to operate the Mammoth aircraft under the current FAA STC whilst the CAA approval process is conducted. While the aircraft are expected intially to operate at the lower 777-200LR weights it is hoped that this will be resolved at some point in the not too distant future.  

Recruitment

12 Second Officers and eight First Officers have been hired, with a further 30 First Officers being placed into a hold pool awaiting start dates. The first new pilots to join the company in over 12 months have start dates planned in June.  

Catering  

The current catering app in use at EAT is proving popular with crew and is presently being prepared for launch at DHK in July. Management are continuing to prepare a pilot survey that will be issued in conjunction with the catering app. We are optimistic that rollout of the app plus a review of catering options will result in enhanced personal choice, the availability of healthier options, and significant reductions in food waste. 

Bonus deductions  

We were disappointed to hear that individuals with live disciplinary sanctions on their file were contacted shortly before bonus payment and notified that bonus deductions would be made, even where this was not part of their disciplinary outcome. Having raised this with the company we are pleased to report that these individuals can anticipate their deductions being refunded in full.  

Commuting policy  

Following several months of discussion we are pleased to have agreed a significant improvement for commuting pilots. As this improvement affects our contractual responsibilities we will be required to formalise it as an addendum to the collective agreement at our next meetings. Once signed off we will share further information. 

GPTW survey

Recent emails have been issued on the Great Place To Work Survey. We would encourage you to complete this anonymous survey with your honest and constructive feedback.  

Maternity and paternity policy improvements  

Following your CC efforts over recent months, improved maternity and paternity policies have been agreed. The new maternity policy has been signed and published. The new paternity policy, increasing paid paternity leave from two to four weeks is awaiting final HR approval. We anticipate this being published in the next few weeks.

MRSP drug and alcohol support programme 

You will have seen recent comms from the company outlining the monitored recovery support programme (MRSP) to help pilots with alcohol dependency issues. The Company Council first introduced the company to this concept around 18 months ago and are grateful for the engagement and support that the company have provided in bringing this landmark programme to DHK. Though further work needs to take place prior to the official rollout we are optimistic that support will be available in late summer, around the time that the company commences random alcohol testing across the network.  

In the meantime we remain keen to recruit volunteer recovery monitors to help support colleagues through the programme. This would suit individuals willing to help as their twelfth step or those who have experience in supporting others through recovery.