With regard to the current chaotic situation within the European aviation industry and in light of the possible deterioration of the situation with the upcoming high season in summer travel, the ECA Conference has adopted the following statement, urging EASA, lawmakers, airlines, and other stakeholders to take their responsibilities.
Years of cost-cutting, social dumping, and COVID crisis management are now wreaking havoc in Europe’s aviation. A summer of disruptions, flight cancellations, and aircrew fatigue has started and will likely worsen in the coming weeks.
This ECA Conference – representing 40.000 European airline pilots – mandates the ECA Executive Board to urge the EU Commission and EASA, national oversight authorities, airline managements and all relevant stakeholders to ensure that:
- Passenger safety is not endangered due to cost considerations;
- Airlines and airports provide adequate staffing levels and capacity planning at all times to guarantee safe and reliable air transport;
- Airlines provide aircrews’ flight rosters that contain sufficient buffers, prevent fatigue, and do not pressure pilots into extending their flight duty time limits (Commanders’ Discretion). This needs to be verified properly by the national oversight authorities;
- Full support be provided to staff to enable and encourage them to take safety-relevant and operationally sound decisions without undue pressures from management;
- Aviation staff representatives are consulted and involved in finding solutions for the problems European aviation is facing;
- Precarious atypical staffing practices and bogus self-employment are banned from Europe’s aviation