Implementation of Pilot Peer-to-Peer Support Program at Cargolux

Dear <<First Name>>,

Your ALPL Divisional Board and the ALPL Flight Safety Committee is fully supporting the implementation of Pilot Peer-to-Peer Support and Pilot Developments Programs at Cargolux. Both programs are to the benefit of our members and are the next pillars complementing ALPL’s emergency hotline and the support by our IFALPA accredited accident investigators.

While pilot development programs focus on the personal development of each pilot during his or her career, a Peer-to-Peer program provides support to pilots in various critical situations.

Most pilots are aware of the critical situations include incidents and accidents. It is undisputed within the airline industry and proven by psychological scientists, that it is essential to have a critical incident stress management system (CISM) in place. Essential part of any CISM is a peer-to-peer system. While incidents and especially accidents are a rare occurrence there are other situations in the daily life where psycho-social support, including peer-to-peer support, is required, such as substance abuse or other non-normal situations, which create stress and may affect the pilot’s ability to perform his or her tasks.

A peer is a trained person with the same professional background as the person in need of assistance and will therefore communicate on the same eyelevel. Which means that the peers are pilots, who receive special training to help their fellow colleagues to deal with their problems, including those outside of the direct work environment, such as family problems, training issues or even substance abuse.

The ALPL is convinced that it is essential for each operator to have a peer-to-peer system in place to support any crewmember to be able to cope with critical incident stress and to offer psycho-social support to all crewmembers in critical temporary conditions. The involvement of Stiftung Mayday as partner in the elaboration of a peer-to-peer program at Cargolux is in the opinion of the ALPL Board and the ALPL Flight Safety Committee is commendable, as Stiftung Mayday has for many years enjoyed an excellent reputation, not only within Germany but also in other countries, and it is not a surprise that most airlines in Germany participate in CISM via Stiftung Mayday. Stiftung Mayday assures that the support will be independent from the company and provides assistance through peers who are able to communicate with the pilot in need in his/her mother tongue. With the experience of Cargloux Human Factors Manager in the field of peer-to-peer support we are confident, that the envisaged peer-to-peer support program will be to the benefit of all Cargolux pilots.

Please have a look at the first edition of Flightdeck, which included some information about peer-to-peer support and critical incident stress management. More information will be published in the near future. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with us at cvboard@alpl.lu in case you have any questions or concerns.