Air passengers react to alcohol crackdown: ‘Get as many in as you can’ (www.theguardian)

Josh Halliday and Gwyn Topham It’s 6pm and the Lion & Antelope is rammed. Every seat is taken, every table filled with booze, and every bartender serves a never-ending stream of punters eager for a teatime pint – or three. But this isn’t your everyday pub: this is Manchester airport’s Terminal 3 in August, the […]


August 25, 2017

The right numbers for safety (ICAO Journal)

NEW ICAO MANUAL ON MINIMUM CABIN CREW REQUIREMENTS By Martin Maurino Cabin crew members play a key role in passenger and operational safety. The number of cabin crew on board, and their performance, are significant factors in the successful evacuation of aircraft. ICAO’s new Manual on the Establishment of Minimum Cabin Crew Requirements (Doc 10072) provides guidance material […]


June 30, 2017

Low cost airlines like AirAsia mean a higher safety risk (thewest.com.au)

Geoffrey Thomas Comment: The latest incident involving AirAsia X in Australian skies is a severe blow to the AirAsia Group — the biggest low-cost airline conglomerate in Asia. Once again passengers will ask should we fly AirAsia to our favourite holiday destinations of Bali or Kuala Lumpur? Surveys show that while 60 per cent of […]


June 27, 2017

ITF calls for the cancellation of the ban on carrying electronic devices out of eight countries

The International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) calls on the US and the UK governments to cancel their decisions of putting restrictions on carrying electronic devices out of Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunis, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Qatar. The ITF considers such decisions as discriminatory actions against passengers and airlines from certain countries without clear reasons […]


April 18, 2017

Joint EI, PSI, EPSU, UNI, IUF & ITF press release: Time to stop the talks – TiSA negotiations must be brought to a halt

Newly released Wikileaks documents make it clear that the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) is no more than a corporate power grab and that negotiations must be stopped. The documents can be seen at https://wikileaks.org/tisa The wide scope of the deregulatory agenda and attack on democratic governance has been exposed. The EU is attempting to […]


October 14, 2016

Qantas reaps record profits: What about security and safety situation asks the TWU?

Australia’s main airline carrier group Qantas announced last week a record annual profit of A$1.42bn ($1.1bn, £820m), nearly doubling last year’s result. A portion of this huge profit increase was attributed to savings on jet fuel, due to plunging global oil prices. However, destruction of jobs and conditions played a critical role as was explained […]


September 1, 2016

Qatar Airways’ crew members praised in Istanbul emergency landing drama

On 18 August 2016, a Qatar Airways passenger plane has made an emergency landing at Istanbul’s Atatürk airport due to an engine fire believed to have been caused by a bird strike. Thanks to the professionalism of the cockpit and cabin crew as well as the firefighters and the airport’s airside workers, all 298 passengers […]


August 19, 2016

Airline pilots complain of dangerous fatigue in leaked documents (theguardian.com)

Airline pilots describe being pushed to the limit and warn about the impact on flight safety in a cache of leaked documents that give a unique and occasionally hair-raising insight into the aviation industry. Crews complain about fatigue and potentially dangerous schedules at a leading budget airline, which is already under pressure following a crash […]


August 1, 2016