By Camilla Turner It is an illness caused by exposure to contaminated air in aircraft – known as a “fume event”. Commercial passenger jets have a system that compresses air from its engines and uses it to pressurise the cabin. However, this can malfunction, causing excess oil particles to enter the supply. The term “aerotoxic […]
The ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation) has once again thrown down the gauntlet to Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker, and challenged him to prove that the airline is reforming its practices. The ITF has repeatedly exposed Qatar Airways’ outdated and autocratic working conditions. Along with the ITUC (International Trade Union Confederation) it has also […]
After meeting with Ryanair in London Friday the 20th of February 2015,the Danish trade unions The Flight Personnel Union and The Federation of Employees in the Service Trade are still expecting to enter into a collective agreement. At the meeting, Ryanair was introduced to a proposal for a Danish collective agreement. The anticipation for entering […]
Airlines are increasingly using zero-hour contracts, pay-to-fly schemes, and temporary employment agencies based outside the EU to hire pilots and cut costs, practices which undermine passenger safety and social standards, a report by the University of Ghent has found. According to the report, which was financed by the European Commission, airlines have turned to “creative […]
The ITF air quality working group will hold its inaugural meeting at ITF House in London on 27 February to review proposals to address the problem of contaminated air on commercial aircraft and at airports. The ITF has long recognised the negative implications for flight safety and workers’ health of exposure to engine oil fumes […]
Cabin staff working for two major Gulf airlines face losing their jobs for falling pregnant and are even required to get permission before they marry, outraged campaigners claim. According to the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) carriers based in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are guilty of ‘flagrant abuses of aviation workers’ labour rights’. […]
Over the last 20 years, Qatar Airways has undergone a remarkable transformation. Backed by tiny Qatar’s government riches, the airline has added routes to every populated continent, soaring from the 90th-largest international carrier to the 10th. Its prices on flights to D.C., New York, Miami and Dallas are cheap enough to pose a major challenge […]
The ITF is urging unions to demonstrate their solidarity with persecuted air traffic controllers in the Dominican Republic after its regional secretary was arrested on 9 February just hours before he was due to give a joint press conference with the national trade union centre CNTD. Antonio Fritz was in the country on a fact-finding […]