22 December 2020 - The International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA) and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) welcome progress in the development of vaccines for COVID-19. As vaccines continue to be approved and distributed worldwide, aviation workers will play a key role in the integrity of their global supply chain. An effective global vaccine strategy will rely on the availability of healthy, rested and trained flight crews and other aviation workers.

15 December 2020 - IFALPA and IATA have worked together to prepare a joint statement calling on Operators to return to the use of existing flight and duty time limits (FTLs) or an approved Fatigue Risk Management System (FRMS), as international operations start to recover. ICAO introduced alleviations, or temporary exceptions to existing regulations, to support the continuation of urgent operations in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, extensions to FTLs were granted for rare and exceptional circumstances seen at the beginning of the pandemic. As the situation is now more predictable, Operators are encouraged to work within the existing FTLs, or approved FRMS, and make adaptive mitigations as necessary to avoid extensions.

08 December 2020. Currently, in many countries the use of face masks is recommended or compulsory especially if social distancing is not possible. In the recommendations of ICAO, CAPSCA, and IATA, the use of face masks in the cockpit while operating the aircraft has not been compulsory. When an operator makes a decision on mask use in the cockpit, it should involve a safety risk assessment. IFALPA's position is that flight crew should have the option to remove their mask in the cockpit when the door is closed in the interest of flight safety. This safety bulletin provides some factors that should be taken into consideration.

08 December 2020. Public health authorities may require in-room lockdown for crew members on layovers. This complete lockdown may have detrimental effects on mental health, especially if the layover is long, and if further quarantine is required at home base regardless of isolation during layover. It is not expected that operators or pilot associations would be able to remove these authority requirements, this safety bulletin suggests some mitigating measures that could be recommended.

8 décembre 2020 (mise à jour du document publié le 23 mars 2020) - At all times, crews should follow the advice of their health authorities and operators. This Safety Bulletin provides general advice about COVID-19 as understood at the date of publication. It provides recommendations for crews for before the flight, during the flight and at layovers (update 8 December 2020).

7 December 2020 - The impact of COVID-19 on the global air transport supply chain continues to be significant , with airlines struggling to cope with the unpredictable and ever-changing border restriction measures implemented by States. From the outset of the pandemic , these fluctuating border regulations impacted both the trave ling public and the transportation of crucial medical supplies . As a result, the International Civil Aviation Organization ( ICAO) Collaborative Arrangement for the Prevention and Management of Public Health Events in Civil Aviation (CAPSCA)made public their initial “Harmonized Guidance on Facilitating Cargo Flights and Protecting Crew during the COVID-19 Pandemic ”.

7 December 2020 - The International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA) jointly called on governments to follow the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Council Aviation Recovery Task Force (CART) guidelines to exempt crews from COVID-19 testing that is applied to air travelers. The CART guidelines specifically recommend that crew members should not be subject to screening or restrictions applicable to other travelers. Furthermore, according to CART health screening methods for crew members should be as “non-invasive as possible.”

2 décembre 2020 - The discussion of expanding Satellite Voice Communications (SATVOICE) into the realm of Direct Controller - Pilot Communications (DCPC) and as a sole source of Long Range Communications Systems (LRCS) is evolving. Many shortcomings have been identified and specifications for new system development needs to resolve these shortcomings before SATVOICE can be approved as a substitute means of communication. The limitations of current systems must be accounted for and the risks mitigated. The areas include Human Machine Interface (HMI), DCPC, ATC Vectoring, Call priorities, Satellite limitations, avionics limitations, flight plans, and Short Code implementation.

2 décembre 2020 - With the increasing equipage of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) in commercial air transports, and the growing constellation of GNSS, the future use of Geometric Altitude throughout the flight profile might be possible and will bring added benefits such as reduced vertical separation and complementing trajectory flight paths. Geometric Altitude might be introduced above 15,000 metres because all aircraft able to reach these levels are GNSS equipped, but biggest benefit is seen during approach and departure. IFALPA supports research into a possible future transition from Barometric Altitude to using Geometric Altitude for sub transition level en route, and approach operations.

2 décembre 2020 - The IFALPA Future Air Traffic Operations (IFATO) document is guidance material for representatives Member Associations to help bridge the current work program of the committees with projected future topics that will affect our technical work. It should reside between the current work in ICAO working groups and panels and the very high level 18POS03 - IFALPA Vision for the Future of Air Navigation and Weather Information document.