It has come to our attention that Brussels Airlines is hiring GermanWings MPL First Officers, both through our delegates, and through the media. As your representative, we deeply regret this situation. Dozens of Belgian pilots are jobless and would have liked to get the opportunity to apply for the Belgian national company, as Brussels Airlines tends to promote itself. They claimed that Belgian pilots did not have the required skills and competences, which is an unacceptable statement, especially considering that Belgian flight schools are among the most renowned in the world.

As a professional association, we believe that priority must be given to our Belgian jobseeker pilots when job opportunities arise within a Belgian operator. The choice of Brussels Airlines to hire foreign pilots is a serious hinder to the latter category. We therefore sent a letter yesterday to Brussels Airlines CEO, Bernard Gustin, to express our surprise and disappointment about this situation. The letter was copied to the Minister’s Cabinet.

We would like to point out that:

• the public justification of the “experience” requirement can be hard to maintain, when we consider that these pilots are here to complete their MPL flight training;
• the dormant social dispute about Belgian ab-initio self-sponsored training might change the perception significantly;
• though legally undisputed, the move raises an ethical question: can a company denounce unfair international competition on social charges – yet apply the same principles when it comes to hiring?

We urged M. Gustin to give job opportunities to Belgian pilots and we asked him to clarify why they consider that Belgian pilots are “less qualified”. You can be assured that we will closely follow up this issue and we will let you know about any new development.

Should you have any question or comment, please do not hesitate to contact us.