Warning of 'disaster' in airline's plan for pilots

The Aer Lingus plans to increase the working hours of its pilots have serious safety implications, an international aviation organisation has warned.

The Oneworld Cockpit Crew Coalition, which represents more than 30,000 pilots worldwide, accused the airline of failing to take into account the impact of its restructuring proposals on pilot fatigue.

A coalition board member, Capt John Darrah, said: "What Aer Lingus is trying to do is have pilots work more days pressed together with less rest. When you put those two things together it spells disaster in our eyes."

He said he agreed with claims by the Aer Lingus pilots' union IMPACT that the reduction in the rest-time between working days from 12 to 10 hours was a retrograde step. "We are pushing for an international base-line of 12 hours rest a day. So this move is going in the wrong direction."

He said recent studies showed pilot fatigue was a major factor in air accidents. In one recent crash in the US, a pilot was found to have fallen asleep on approach to landing at the end of a 23-hour working shift.

Capt Darrah, an American Airlines pilot based in Dallas, Texas, said: "What we have seen over here is that September 11th is being used as a vehicle to garner concessions from pilots who are already under extra stresses and additional workloads because of increased security measures and other developments."

"Safety should be the number one priority - period. Aer Lingus, like other airlines, has to recognise that there comes a point where you can't put economics over safety."

He noted that the coalition, which took out a half-page advertisement in The Irish Times yesterday to highlight the issue, had intervened in similar disputes in other countries, most recently in Chile where management in one company "had tried to bust the union". The Irish Airline Pilots Association is affiliated to the coalition.

Capt Darrah said he had spoken to Aer Lingus pilots a number of times in Dublin and was "amazed at how much they worked. They work a heck of a lot more hours compared to what airlines here can get away with."

He added that while the coalition's primary concern was safety, "my sense is that the Aer Lingus pilots want to be reasonable about these changes but they have not been given a chance".

Aer Lingus has rejected the claim that its restructuring proposals have safety implications.

The company's chief executive, Mr Willie Walsh, said yesterday the safety issue was never mentioned in previous negotiations with IMPACT. He added that the company complied fully with the regulations of the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA).

A spokeswoman for the IAA said it could not comment on whether the proposals had safety implications as it had yet to examine them. She noted there was no statutory legal minimum rest-time between duties for pilots but said "should the new proposals go ahead we will be checking them to make sure they comply with safety standards".

IMPACT has claimed the reduction in the minimum rest-time from 12 to 10 hours would be illegal in the UK. However, the British Civil Aviation Authority said the matter was not so black and white.

A spokesman for the UK authority said there was no statutory minimum rest-time for airlines but that guidelines had been set down on an airline by airline basis depending on their schedules.

The European Commission has been examining the issue in recent years with a view to standardising minimum rest-times and maximum duty-times under a working hours directive for the aviation industry. The promised directive has yet to be published, however, even in draft form.

Meanwhile, tourism and travel agent representatives expressed their concern yesterday over the impact the dispute will have on their industries.