ALPL

Back in the 90s the European aviation industry was liberalised, coming from a purely national to a “European” system within a relatively short period of time. The passengers were happy about new choices, cheaper air fares & more connections. The aircraft manufacturers sold more of their products than ever. And the airlines made intensive use of their new opportunities by building additional capacity & new business models. Also for us, the pilots, this new environment brought a lot of changes: new job opportunities, new forms of employment and different careers, built on many different employers, instead of just one as before.

Now, twenty-five years later, the European Commission (EC) wants to boost the growth of the aviation industry globally. How? By simply lighting up another rocket booster of liberalisation. The plan is simple: this will generate more choices, more connectivity, more aircraft, more jobs – as it has done before! Will it work? Well, for some stakeholders this is an easy question. Yes, of course – new opportunities will result in “more” of everything. But I have my doubts, and I am not alone!

In 2015, 1 out of 6 pilots was atypically employed – a worrying trend of airlines substituting directly employed pilots with contractors to reduce costs. This is why the European Commission appointed Ricardo Energy & Environment (ee.ricardo.com) to carry out a study to explore the employment and working conditions of aircrews in Europe’s aviation market.

The study aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the different forms of employment of aircrews (including atypical forms of employment) and their implications for their working conditions. It covers topics such as temporary agency work, self-employment and pay-to-fly schemes and impacts on gender equality and work-life balance.

Your participation in this survey is crucial for the success of the study! Your responses will help to assess the extent of (ab)use of atypical employment, their impact on working conditions, and if existing EU and national rules are sufficiently protective.

The survey takes about 20 minutes to complete. It will run for 6 weeks: Deadline 7 May.

If you have any questions about the survey or study, the Ricardo team can be reached at AviationEmploymentStudy@ricardo.com.

Today, March 16^th, 2018 the 73^rd annual conference of the International Federation of Airline Pilots Associations (IFALPA) commenced in Luxembourg. More than 500 delegates from the Federation’s worldwide member associations, representing more than 100.000 airline pilots globally will convene for this 4-day event. Also, attending, are other international organizations such as the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and various aviation Regulators, as well as airline industry representatives like Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, ATR and Embraer.

Over the last seven decades IFALPA’s annual conference has become a landmark event in international aviation. Delegates from IFALPA’s more than 100 member associations will meet with other industry professionals discussing the latest developments and future trends in the airline industry globally and recommend policies to promote the highest level of flight safety.

Captain Darrell Myers, ALPL Executive President:

“It is an honour for us to welcome our airline pilot colleagues and guests from around the world in Luxembourg, the place ALPL calls home. We extend thanks and our sincere appreciation to the Luxembourg Government and the City of Luxembourg for their support to host IFALPA’s 73rd conference in Luxembourg.” 

ALPL and IFALPA are honoured that François Bausch, Minister for infrastructure and sustainable development, opened the 73^rd IFALPA Conference, which takes place in the European Conference Centre. In his opening speech Minister Bausch addressed amongst other topics the impact of atypical employment models for pilots and possible negative safety implications of these models.

What was feared – and anticipated by many of you – has happened. Two pilots who invested significant efforts in organising and uniting the pilot community lost their jobs and income. After a thorough assessment, the ECA Board authorised the use of the #PIlotUnity fund to support your colleagues in these difficult times. Your financial contribution is fulfilling its purpose – making sure pilot leaders are empowered to fight for pilots’ rights!

The first pilot was nominated for support by the interim EERC and an ECA Member Association. The pilot lost his/her employment at the end of 2017 following some turbulent times at the airline where (s)he worked and his/her active involvement in union work. The good news is that the pilot has already secured a new flying job and the #PilotUnity fundwould bridge the time until starting the new position.

Modern management keeps instructing employees that efficiency and productivity are the most important factors of successful companies today. The number of employees needs to fit exactly the amount of work that must be covered. And these employees need to be always aware of a responsible and efficient use of resources. We as pilots know this – for instance from the decision on the amount of fuel that we take for a flight. And almost all big airlines have, by now, set up fuel efficiency programs to cope with the expensive fuel prices.

While this seems to be a very valid point for fuel and other resources, airline bosses seem not to be too ambitious when it comes to trust: they spare no resources for creating complex business structures and set-ups that would sow division and misinformation among the workforce. The usual setup of these transnational business models, be it one airline or airline groups, is primarily characterised by complexity, hard to oversee and split into many different production platforms.

These many different platforms give countless opportunities for crews to be played off against each other. The same aircraft, flown by different groups of pilots employed on different terms & conditions, results in a complex, but – from managements’ point of view –  efficient structure.

With the provisions of EASA ‘Rule Making Task.0700’(RMT.0700) about to find their way into EU legislation sometime this year, operators, regulators and other stakeholders will face a number of challenges, especially when it comes to proper implementation of the provisions related to Pilot Support, especially Peer Support.

The currently anticipated deadline for implementation of 24 months should in theory give ample time for both operators and regulators to prepare, especially considering that principles surrounding Peer Support Programmes have been known and actively promoted for the last 18 months.

Before we look closer at the challenges faced by the industry, however, we believe that we should congratulate the European Aviation safety Agency (EASA), the EU Member States and the EU for taking the bold step of mandating Pilot Peer Support and defining clear standards based on industry best practices.

It is an important point to note that medical and safety experts do not expect that the implementation of a Peer Support Programme – nor any of the other measures proposed in ‘RMT.0700’– can guarantee that a «black swan» event like the Germanwings tragedy will never happen again. However, they are convinced, as we are, that with a Pilot Peer Support Programme we have the tools at our disposal to collectively address safety hazards related to mental health issues, such as caused by life- and job stresses, fatigue, and/or substance dependency and abuse. Pilot Peer Support Programmes are considered to give the best possibility that pilot’s mental health problems will not reach a stage where psychiatric disorders or long-term unfitness occur, and the evidence from the few existing Peer Support Programmes supports this.

Nevertheless, a number of challenges need to be overcome before we will have effective Peer Support Programs running Europe-wide.

“Control the costs”- The Scandinavian airline SAS was quick to offer public justification already in January 2017 as to why it would be setting up a subsidiary in Ireland. Less than a year later, the first flights under the Irish registration are already a reality. With this the company follows in the footsteps of other prominent “Irish” airlines, like Norwegian & CityJet: Irish registered companies with no bases in Ireland and crews mostly hired through agencies. Following their example SAS becomes complicit in establishing this “new business model” in European aviation, a model, which SAS had once fought hard against.

In the not so distant past SAS had warned governments and authorities that the airline will not be able to compete with letterbox companies, which outsource and hire cheap crews through brokers. In official correspondence to the US Department of Transportation, SAS repeatedly criticized Norwegian for establishing an Irish subsidiary under the false pretext of making use of the full EU traffic rights. “Norwegian Air International (NAI, Norway’s Irish subsidiary, ed.) will use its Irish address to utilize the more lenient Irish labor legislation.” (source: Berlingske Business).

“SAS becomes complicit in establishing this “new business model” in European aviation, a model, which SAS had once fought hard against”

This has now become a model & trend among European airlines. And it is neither because of “Ireland’s long history with the industry”, as Bjorn Kjos (Norwegian’s  CEO) is trying to convince us, nor because of the “number of highly competent people who are in Ireland and who have also been part of establishing new, effective models before”, as SAS’s Chief Executive wants us to believe. Ireland has low taxes, a flexible regulatory environment, lenient legislation and business-friendly oversight authorities that have been attractive for many companies within and beyond aviation.

“The Irish AOC has now become officially a tool for cheap, flexible operations & social dumping – also called a ‘Flag of convenience’”

Trouble-makers, disruptive or drunk passengers should not be allowed boarding aircraft, as a precautionary measure. And if they are allowed – and cause any incidents –  crews need to be able to face them off knowing there are clear rules, procedures and legal framework to rely on. But currently, that’s not entirely the case, reminds a new ECA Position Paper. As governments are dragging feet over the ratification of the Montreal protocol (2014), the lack of legal certainty and sanctions continues to give wings to unruly passengers.

The numbers of IATA are telling:  there is 1 incident for every 1424 flights worldwide. While in most of cases it concerns verbal aggression that crews can successfully deal with, there are many cases of physical aggression to crew or passengers and even damage to the aircraft. One disruptive passenger onboard is sufficient to disturb the travel experience of all. But rowdy passengers are more than just nuisance – violent or rude behavior may interfere with the crew’s performance or require them to divert the aircraft. Diversions are, after all, unplanned landings, which inevitably involve additional safey and security risks for the flights. The price tag for a diversion can also go up to 200. 000 USD, estimates IATA. But it is highly doubtful that this bill will be paid by the disruptor.

“The lack of legal certainty and sanctions continues to give wings to unruly passengers”

The existing legal framework dealing with unruly passengers, contained in the Tokyo Convention on offences committed on aircraft (1963), proved ineffective so far as it grants solely jurisdiction over offences to the state of the registration of the aircraft. This leads to a situation where – upon landing – the Commander delivers an unruly passenger to authorities that simply have no jurisdiction. As a result, unruly passengers are mostly released and allowed to continue their journey without sanctions and free to recidivate.

What could bring much needed change to the situation is the Montreal Protocol (2014), which amends the Tokyo Convention. The Protocol spells out a clearer framework for dealing with such incidents, clarifies what counts as an ‘offence’ and allows airlines to seek compensation for costs incurred as a result of unruly passenger incidents. But ICAO Member States – including most Member States of the EU – are yet to ratify the Protocol. At least 10 more ratifications (out of the mandatory minimum of 22) are needed before it becomes applicable.

In the meantime, we can – and should – train crews to recognize and better deal with unruly passengers. But this is not enough. Police, airport authorities and judges on the ground can – and should – be made aware of all the tools they could use. Keeping trouble-makers on the ground and not allowing them to board a flight is the most effective way to prevent incidents during the flights . But the absence of a clear legal framework will always stand in the way of efficiently tackling the unruly passenger problem.

Download ECA’s Position Paper on Unruly Passengers