European
aircrews plan a one-day strike in January to campaign for fewer hours and
longer breaks to end what they say are dangerous working conditions that lead
to tiredness and raise the risk of accidents.
Pilot fatigue has been blamed
for air accidents and near misses and in the United States, which have led to
the implementation of rigorous rules on rest periods.
Europe's Aviation Safety Agency EASA has
not done enough to improve scheduling rules, so workers will stage a one-day
walkout on January 22 next year, lobby group the European Cockpit Association
(ECA) and the European Transport Workers' Federation said in a statement on
Friday.
"For years now, aircrews have been
waiting for safe rules to counter the dangers of crew fatigue on flight
operations," ECA President Nico Voorbach said.
"Surveys show that pilots and cabin
crew are already struggling with high levels of fatigue, nodding off at the
controls of aircraft."
The campaigners say the European Union is
lagging behind the United States in implementing tougher standards.
Reforms implemented there after the crash
of a U.S. commuter flight near Buffalo in 2009 spurred a review of working time
rules.
Investigators said the crash of Colgan Air
3407, which killed 50 people, was not directly caused by fatigue, but said that
crew was probably over-tired.
This led the U.S. air agency, the Federal
Aviation Administration, to introduce a rule last year calling for pilots to
work fewer hours and have longer breaks between shifts, in a move airlinessaid would cost them millions
in labour.
European pilots are demanding similar
changes be made in the European Union, and say that a proposed change to the
rules by watchdog EASA made in October does not go far enough.
"If the Colgan Air accident showed us
something, it's that a tired pilot is a dangerous pilot. EASA's rules fail to
address this and this must change today," Voorbach said.
The new EU rules proposed so far are
expected to be adopted in summer 2013, but must be reviewed by the European
Commission, the EU's executive, and approved by member states.
The unions represent more than 38,000
pilots and 100,000 aircrews across Europe.
On Thursday, ground and cabin crews at
Spanish airline Iberia, part of International Airlines Group IAG.L, said they will stage a
series of strikes in December, disrupting the holiday travel season to protest
against massive job cuts. (Reporting By Ethan Bilby; Editing by Barbara Lewis
and Mike
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/30/uk-eu-aviation-idUSLNE8AT01T20121130
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