International initiative for more safety and better working conditions in air traffic

The International Pilots Association IFALPA and the International Transport Workers Association ITF held an event a few days ago to discuss how numerous basic points can be recorded to improve working standards.

A key point made at the meeting at the ILO was the recognition of the need to reassess the exclusion of aviation workers from the protections of international labor standards, particularly on health and safety issues. Recommendations were also made calling on the ILO and governments to work with employers and unions to achieve gender equality and remove barriers to the hiring, advancement and retention of women across the industry. In addition, the social dialogue and the Just Culture principle were recorded as recommendations for the global aviation industry.

“Since the sharp increase in traffic last year, the topic of excessive workloads and a lack of rest periods has once again become a top priority for the Cockpit Association,” says VC spokesman Matthias Baier. "It is also a great success for the German pilots that the working conditions for aviation personnel have come into focus through the successful work of our umbrella organization IFALPA at the International Labor Organization. We cannot permanently work at the limit and at the same time maintain the high level of safety that characterizes air traffic. It is therefore right that the entire industry jointly recognizes the issue at the ILO and that we can now also push for improvements in this context.”

IFALPA President Amornvaj Mansumitchai said: “Our industry faces serious challenges. Hundreds of thousands of flights around the world have been canceled or delayed as the industry has sought to increase capacity without recognizing and addressing the causes and issues of aviation labor shortages, including pilots. Last year's chaos was not what our recovering industry needed. Aviation unions around the world have warned of the consequences of employers' decisions to lay off thousands of skilled workers and use the Covid crisis to further erode labor standards and aviation workers' rights."

ITF General Secretary Stephen Cotton says: “Decades of deregulation have led to a deterioration in working conditions and health and safety standards. The industry is far less attractive to workers today, as we saw during last year's Northern Hemisphere summer chaos in the industry. The reality of aviation jobs has finally received the recognition it deserves. Now the work begins to translate those commitments into actions that will raise the standards of our industry and achieve a new degree for aviation workers."