Stop breaching regulations, says Turkish aviation union

May 8, 2011

An aviation union is demanding that management at Turkish Airlines end its alleged attack on working conditions and flouting of regulations.

The ITF-affiliated union Hava-Is launched a petition campaign this week to end the “adverse working environment that may undermine quality of service as well as flight safety”. The union claims that workers’ have had their rights violated because the airline has scheduled flight and duty periods at the upper legal limits, which has led to overruns in some instances. It also claims that flight crew members who are determined to comply with the regulations have been put under pressure, that flight duty-related tasks have been assigned on off-duty days and that workers’ right to absence leave has been blocked.

In addition, the union alleges that regulations have either not been implemented or interpreted in a way that violates the workers’ rights; workers are believed to be put under pressure to work when they are ill.

Hava-Is president Atilay Aycin commented: “The petition, which will be delivered to the company managers, demands that steps are taken to eliminate these poor working conditions. To carry out our flight duties in a working environment that seemingly disregards crew resource management, staff morale and a basic principle of flight safety – that flight crew members feel they are fit for flight-related tasks – is not beneficial for our corporation, for quality of service or for flight safety.”

Click here to view the petition.