British Airways passengers fled a burning plane with luggage. Here’s why you shouldn’t do that (washingtonpost.com)

Your plane is on fire. You can see smoke billowing outside the windows. Flight attendants are screaming to evacuate. So you unbuckle your seat belt, stand up, open the overhead compartment and make sure you grab that nice piece of luggage you brought with you. I mean, you can’t possibly let it burn! Wait, what? […]


September 11, 2015

Unions applaud crew and firefighter action over BA2276 evacuation

Three ITF affiliates have joined the federation in praising the actions of firefighters and the crew on board British Airways flight 2276 in evacuating 172 people when the plane caught fire before take-off this morning at Las Vegas airport. Many of the cabin crew are members of the ITF-affiliated Unite union based at Gatwick airport […]


September 10, 2015

Skin Cancer Risk Is Higher For Flight Attendants and Pilots (time.com)

Flying increases exposure to UV rays that could cause melanoma Pilots and flight attendants are twice as likely to suffer from the skin cancer melanoma when compared to the general population, according to a new Journal of the American Medical Association study. Looking at data compiled from more than 260,000 people in 19 previous studies, […]


September 5, 2014

Russia:Union leaders arrested at Aeroflot (LabourStartCampaigns.net)

While the trade union ShPLS, representing pilots of thee biggest Russian airline AEROFLOT, is in the midst of bitter fighting for a collective bargaining agreement (CBA), three of its leaders were arrested on 18 and 20 October 2013 as a result of a provocation. Alexei Shlyapnokov, Valeriy Pimoshenko and Sergei Knyshov now can be sentenced […]


January 23, 2014

ILO finds Harper Tories guilty of breaking international law (again)

The International Labour Organization (ILO) Committee on Freedom of Association has found the Canadian Conservative Government guilty of contravening ILO conventions on Freedom of Association, the Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining in its Bill C-33, the so-called “Protecting Air Services Act” of March, 2012. This Act took away the right to strike from both […]


November 4, 2013

Married to the job (economist.com)

The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), a grouping of trade unions representing 4.5m transport employees around the world, was never going to be Qatar’s biggest fan. Unions are banned in the ultra-rich Gulf state, where expatriates account for 94% of the total work force. Little wonder, then, that one disgruntled cabin-crew member at Qatar Airways […]


October 15, 2013

Vote on Flight Time Limitations by EU Parliament next week

Pilots and cabin crew ask for rejection After a firm rejection in the EU Parliament Transport Committee, the flawed EU Commission proposal for Flight Time rules for pilots and cabin crew will be put to a vote at the next EP Plenary meeting. On 9 October mid-day, a vote by all Parliament Members in Strasbourg […]


October 4, 2013

Ryanair fined 8m euros by French court (bbc.co.uk)

A French court has fined Ryanair more than 8m euros (£6.7m) after ruling that it had broken local labour laws. The court found Ryanair acted illegally when it employed more than 120 staff on Irish contracts at its former Marseille operating hub between 2007 and 2010. The low-cost airline said it would appeal against the […]


October 3, 2013