Tiger grounding points to larger low-cost safety issues (Travel Mole)
July 5, 2011
The grounding of Singapore-based budget carrier Tiger Airways is an indication that safety regulation procedures have not kept pace with the fast expansion of the low-cost airline model.
This is the view of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), the global umbrella group for unions across 154 countries, including 275 unions from the aviation sector, which has issued a statement about the unprecedented grounding of an airline’s entire fleet.
ITF civil aviation secretary Gabriel Mocho said: “Tiger is a budget airline, operating in a low cost carrier sector that has boomed in recent years, especially in the Asia Pacific region. It’s a sector where there’s been so much expansion, so many startups and failures, that there are worries that the regulation that is needed, and which traditionally applies to airlines, hasn’t caught up. The regulatory authorities are going to have to look more widely than at just one airline.”
He added: “We believe that the reported decreases in safety and pilot training are a direct consequence of that low cost model and that there is a price to pay for such low fares and deregulation – and it is safety.”
Of the decision by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) to ground Tiger’s 10 jets for five days while safety checks are made, he added: “This is a very serious move, but we believe it is the right one. It will negatively affect both passengers and Tiger’s workforce, and we’re sorry about that, but safety always has to come first.”
Shares in Tiger Airways in Singapore plunged almost 20% on Monday. Australian domestic flights will be suspended until July 9.