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 […]
By John A. Logan The Department of Transportation (DOT) will soon decide whether or not to grant controversial low-cost airline Norwegian Air International (NAI) a foreign air carrier permit to fly to the U.S. NAI is seeking to establish a “flag of convenience” model in transatlantic aviation, just as has been done in merchant shipping […]
Our blog on the 27 November 2014 brought you news of the sacking of the leadership and 19 cabin crew members by Wizzair Bucharest (Romania) and our Labour Start Campaign to support them. To date a total of 9,100 have supported the dismissed workers by signing the petition! Join the campaign now and let Wizzair know […]
Wizz Air is a low-cost airline based in Central and Eastern Europe that proudly says on its website “we believe that people make all the difference”. They add that the company “believes in high ethical standards driven by an excellent team-player approach”. But that “ethical” approach doesn’t include trade unions. Earlier this year, a couple […]
The ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation) has called on the Colombian government to enforce national law and hold the Avianca airline to account over its continued use of fake ‘co-operatives’ as a way of ducking its responsibilities to employees. The practice of setting up fake ‘associated workco-operatives’ has become such a problem in Colombia that […]
A French court has ruled that Irish low cost airline Ryanair must pay €8.1m (£6.4m) in damages and €200,000 in fines for breaches of French labour laws. An appeal court in Aix-en-Provence found the company guilty of paying workers under Irish contracts to avoid making French social security payments. The case refers to Ryanair staff […]
The ITF has produced a new education module to help its affiliates organise around the growing trend of flags of convenience (FOCs) in aviation. The resource aims to create awareness among civil aviation unions of the immediate and long-term dangers stemming from an expansion of FOC practices in the global civil aviation industry. It sets […]
The ITF has applauded the decision on 2 September by the US Department of Transportation (DOT) to refuse Norwegian Air International (NAI) – a key offender in attempting to introduce flags of convenience (FOCs) in aviation – an exemption for a foreign air carrier permit. The exemption would have allowed the carrier to launch an […]
