Major opportunity to stop Pay-to-Fly!

Remember Pay-to-Fly (P2F) schemes where pilots pay the airline to operate on regular commercial flights with passengers onboard? These practices haven’t stopped. Instead, they have become the quasi-standard path for young pilots entering the profession. In addition to being highly abusive, P2F could also constitute a passenger safety risk.

The good news is that there is a major opportunity to ban P2F in Europe: the EU Directive on Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions. It clarifies essential elements of employment contracts and establishes baseline rights for employees irrespective of whether they are atypically or directly employed. It aims to ensure uniform application of EU legislation and to reduce somewhat the possibilities of unfair labour competition and social dumping.

The European Parliament (EP) introduced an important amendment that could ban P2F schemes. This amendment, which is in line with various EP Resolutions is currently being negotiated between the Council of Ministers, the Parliament and the Commission. It is a good opportunity for decision-makers to consider that the training required for the job in question and in order to carry out your job, should be provided to the worker cost-free.