Below, a summary of the most relevant news from Europe since the first edition of 2016 of our Cockpit Flash:

Just Culture in practice

UK High Court denies disclosure of accident investigation data

Two High Court judgments have set a major milestone in the protection of aviation safety by refusing to order disclosure to the police of a range of UK Air Accident Investigation Branch investigation materials. With those decisions, the judges have unequivocally affirmed the long-standing conviction of the aviation community: the integrity of an air accident investigation – including the information collected in that context – must be preserved and protected, by guaranteeing that there is no interference from any parallel or subsequent criminal or civil proceedings. To read the full story, go to: http://bit.ly/2l3tJuM.

European Parliament positions itself against social dumping

In September 2016, the European Parliament spoke against social dumping and atypical forms of employment, urging the European Commission and Member States to support direct employment as a standard and to restrict the use of atypical employment in aviation (http://bit.ly/2cEMyiK). Although this report is a non-legislative act, it is a powerful message that the EP sent out! Now it’s up to the EU Commission to come up with concrete proposals on how to limit atypical employment in aviation and its potentially negative impact on safety (http://bit.ly/2jKge3f).

US Transportation Department grants flying rights to Norwegian

After temporarily rejecting those rights in July 2016, the US transportation department gave in and granted the rights to Norwegian Air UK (NAUK), despite US airlines and unions voicing their concerns about it. As a reminder, NAUK is a subsidiary of Norwegian Air Shuttle, which makes use of the so-called “flags of convenience” in order to undermine labour and social standards (more information here: http://bit.ly/2l3xlND).

First ever EU-wide rules for civil drones

On 1 December 2016, the European Council, as part of its revised EASA basic regulation, gave a new mandate for the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The draft regulation contains the first ever EU-wide rules for civil drones to fly safely in European airspace. Given the increasing number of drones in the sky and the potential threat they can pose to airliners, BeCA believes that balanced rules are necessary. Let’s share the sky, but wisely! For more information, go to: http://bit.ly/2kcp5co.

ECA 2016 Annual Report

If you want more insight about the main issues ECA dealt with in 2016, you can have a look at their Annual Report here: https://www.eurocockpit.be/sites/default/files/2016_annual_report.pdf