CREW MEMBERS WITH AIGLE AZUR, XL AIRWAYS FRANCE, OR OTHER TROUBLED AIRLINES

CRPN is here to help and has set up a dedicated page (which we will update and add to on a regular basis) to deal with any questions you may have.

Under current rules:

XL Airways and Aigle Azur flight craw, your 2019 activity is validated (Posted on January 21, 2020, Update October 20,2021)

Please refer to CRPN’s informational guide here.

The funds to be paid by the liquidator and the wage guarantee schemes are still in the collection phase. Do I need to wait for collections to be completed before I claim my pension?

(Posted on February 7, 2020)

The effective date for your pension can be no earlier than the 1st day of the month following receipt of your application.

If your pension application is received late (i.e. after your desired payable date), your entitlements cannot be paid retroactively. If this happens, you can end up forfeiting one or more months of pension payments.

To ensure your entitlements are paid in full, CRPN recommends that you submit your application to claim your pension (you can apply online through your personal account) by the month prior to the start date you have chosen for your pension. p>

You then have a year from that date in which to put together your full application. If you miss that deadline, your pension will only become payable on the 1st day of the month following receipt of the last required documents for your application.

If a missing period of employment and/or back wages (dating to before your pension effective date) are added to your account after you have claimed your pension, your entitlements will be reassessed.

Can I register for unemployment benefits or sign a professional employability agreement (“contrat de sécurisation professionnelle”/ CSP) and claim my CRPN pension entitlements?–  (Posted on November 27, 2019)

Under current CRPN rules, in order to claim a CRPN pension, the member must have terminated their air crew employment, which is the case here as you are only eligible for unemployment benefits or a CSP (professional employability) agreement due to termination of your air crew employment contract.

As a result, you can draw your CRPN pension at the same time you are drawing unemployment benefits or an ASP (professional employability allowance). This does not affect your CRPN pension entitlement.

However, we recommend that you ask your local Pôle Emploi (French unemployment office) branch about their own rules for award while drawing additional benefits or pension.
To our knowledge, French unemployment benefits are paid after deduction of an age-based percentage of your lifetime old-age entitlement.

Ask us for a certificate of lifetime pension benefits which you can submit to the French unemployment authority Pôle Emploi.

However, periods for which you have drawn your pension cannot also be credited to your account as periods of unemployment: indeed, days (whether through contributions or free of charge) cannot be credited to your account on top of pension payments for the same period.

Will CRPN credit any periods of unemployment occurring prior to my full pension claim to my account?– (Posted on October 3, 2019 – Updated on October 9, 2019)

Any periods of unemployment on which UNEDIC has paid CRPN contributions:

  • Occurring prior to your pension effective date
  • And resulting from the termination of an air crew employment contract,
  • And on which CRPN contributions were paid,

will be credited, in full with regard to time and in part with regard to salary, to your CRPN career account. Your account will be credited during the second half of the following year.

You will later be able to carry out a contribution buyback to bring these credited periods of unemployment up to the full amount of the last salary that was credited to your account.

What happens if I accept the professional employability allowance (ASP) to which I am entitled under my professional employability agreement (CSP)? – (Posted on October 3, 2019 – Update on October 09, 2019 – Last update on January 22, 2024)

No CRPN contributions are paid on the Professional Employability Allowance (“Allocation de Sécurisation Professionnelle”/ ASP). However, like periods with unemployment or employment resumption benefits (“Allocations de Retour de l’Emploi”/ ARE), periods for which you draw an ASP allowance on which UNEDIC has paid CRPN contributions will be credited to your CRPN account. These periods will be will be credited in full with regard to time and in part with regard to salary. You will later be able to carry out a contribution buyback to bring these credited periods up to the full amount of the last salary that was credited to your account.

Regarding CRPN pension claims, an exception under the French transport code allows for air crew members who were laid off under article L.1233-3 of the French labor code to be awarded their pension with no rate reduction once they have exhausted their unemployment benefits, if they meet the age and length-of-career requirements. This provision does not differentiate between air crew members who were laid off and those who signed a professional employability agreement (CSP).

If I move to a non-air crew career, what are the rules for claiming my CRPN pension? Can I claim my pension entitlements once I have been laid off or will I have to wait until my 60th birthday?- (Posted on October 3, 2019 – Update on January 21)

Only air crew employment on which CRPN contributions were paid can be credited to your CRPN career. This means that non-air crew employment has no impact either on the rules for claiming your entitlements or on the amount of your CRPN pension. If you do not meet the length-of-career requirement that would allow you to claim your pension before age 60 (a minimum career of 20 years and 7,200 days is required for claims in 2020 or later), you will indeed need to wait until age 60 to claim your CRPN entitlements. Make sure to apply for it during the month you turn 60.

If you are at least 50 years old and have accrued at least 20 years of air crew employment (Since claims in 2020), you can apply to claim your pension entitlements on the date of your choice. However, depending on your circumstances, your pension may be paid with a rate reduction.

Whatever your circumstances, you can draw your CRPN pension on top of your non-air crew employment income.

If I continue air crew employment with another airline, will my standby period be credited to my account?- Posted on October 3, 2019

CRPN’s rules include a comprehensive list of all periods that can be credited to your pension account. Periods off work between 2 air crew employment contracts during which you did not draw unemployment benefits cannot be credited to your CRPN career.

How do I qualify for the exception that would let me claim my entitlements with no rate reduction once my unemployment benefits have been exhausted? – (Posted on October 8, 2019)

An exception under the French labor code allows members laid off (1) from air crew employment to claim their entitlements effective from the date their unemployment benefits (2) are exhausted, provided that both of the following requirements are met on the date their benefits end:

  • The member must be at least 50 years old,
  • And must have accrued at least 7,200 days to their career (for claims from 2020)

To allow us to determine whether you qualify for this exception, you will need to send us a copy of your certificate for the French unemployment authority Pôle emploi which you will have received from your employer when your employment was terminated.

(1) under article L.1233-3 of the French labor code, excluding terminations pursuant to articles L. 6521-4 (upper age limit for pilots in public transportation) and L. 6521-5 (upper age limit for commercial air crew members in public transportation) of the French Transport Code.

(2) listed under articles L5422-1 through 3 of the French labor code.

Will CRPN take account of my notice period?– (Posted on October 9, 2019)

CRPN contributions are withheld from any pay that you receive in lieu of notice.

As part of your career, a notice period not actually worked is still considered as employment and will be taken into account as long as you do not exceed 360 days of contributions for the year.

At the time of your pension claim, your air crew employment contract’s termination date is considered to be your last day of contributions, whether or not you actually worked your notice period.

My employer has begun insolvency proceedings (safeguard, receivership, or court-ordered liquidation): what is the last date they can pay CRPN contributions?- (Posted on October 8, 2019)

Once a court has ordered insolvency proceedings, your employer is forbidden from making any payments to CRPN (any employee and/or employer contributions that have not yet been paid) on the basis of periods prior to the date of the ruling.

CRPN must submit its claims to the court-appointed receiver.

If your employer begins safeguard proceedings or enters into receivership, they will need to pay contributions on periods occurring after the court ruling.

Are the employee contributions which my employer withholds from my wages covered by the wage guarantee scheme? Do I need to take any steps to ensure that the employee contributions that are withheld from my wages are paid to CRPN? – (Posted on October 8, 2019)

If an employer enters into receivership or court-ordered liquidation, the wage guarantee scheme covers CRPN for any unpaid employee contributions.

The court-appointed receiver is required to automatically apply to the wage guarantee scheme for coverage of any unpaid employee contributions and pay these contributions directly over to CRPN, not to AGIRC-ARRCO.

You do not have to take any steps to ensure that your employee contributions are paid to CRPN.

How will any periods of unpaid contributions be credited to my CRPN career?– (Posted on October 8, 2019)

As soon as CRPN submits its claims to the court-appointed receiver, a letter of notification will be sent to all affected air crew members to let them know which periods have not been paid in full and specify the rules under which these periods can be credited to their CRPN career.

To learn more, please refer to our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).

Do I need to send CRPN my pay slips?– (Posted on October 8, 2019)

Your employer sends us the information we need to credit your employment to your career through their monthly electronic payroll reports (DSN).

We do not need you to send us your pay slips.

We will contact you if we need to see any of your pay slips. Make sure to update your contact information that appears in your personal account. To learn more, please refer to our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).

Other troubled airlines : Gestair, Norwegian Air Resources Limited, Airways College, CityJet, Jet Entrepreneurs – Wijet, Sky Vision, ESMA HNA, XL Airways, Aigle Azur, Simulation Training Company, Germania, Avionix, Enhance Aero Group, Aero Vision, Ameridair, Aviation Conseil Service Hélicoptère, Atlantique Air Assistance, Ava Air, Aerozing, Pyren Envol, Air Méditerranée, Sud Aviation Training, Glass Cockpit Aviation.