Second official meeting of EU’s new Member States Expert Group on Social Matters related to aircrew took place in December. The group was set up after the EU Commission’s own research into employment in aviation revealed major flaws, which require the involvement both of national labour & civil aviation authorities. Using its observer seat, ECA made use of the ‘generous’ 10-minute speaking slot to bring up our solutions for two pressing issues: (bogus) self-employment & non-enforcement of existing employment laws. 

Posting of workers is another ‘good’ example of how airlines & temporary work agencies fail to apply European rules. Many of them count on the ambiguity of the rules and the lack of legal clarity. To make things worse the EU Court of Justice published a ‘pre-Christmas’ gift: a Judgement on the application of posting to international workers (C-16/18 Dobersberger) which casts doubts about the application of the posting directive to aircrew and in general to transport workers. 

And the new year brought a new green wave to Europe. With the ambitious EU Green Deal committing Europe to be carbon neutral by 2050, pilots invited scientists to discuss the impact of flying on the environment. The participants brainstormed on possible operational and policy changes that could be taken to reduce the environmental footprint of aviation. We will be taking those suggestions to decision-makers & airlines soon. 

“After extensive research and surveys, it has been proven beyond doubt that pilots are, in fact, only human,” says Dr Ries Simons, European Society of Aerospace Medicine. We agree. To find out where this is coming from, check out the EPPSI Guide on Peer Support. The ECA Board formally endorsed the publication which aims at assisting airlines in setting up their Pilot Peer Support Programs according to a number of best practices. 

The European Commission launched in October an evaluation of the Occurrence Reporting Regulation (EU) 376/2014. It will assess to what extent the Regulation has achieved its objectives and identify possible issues, gaps and challenges affecting its implementation and enforcement. ECA’s input to the consultation has echoed our firm belief that this piece of legislation is extremely valuable. Occurrence reporting helps us understand why things go wrong and prevent them from happening again. Remember our campaign “Reporting Matters”?

Are 3 seconds enough? 🎙ECA President Jon Horne in The World of Aviation Special Edition 737 MAX : “If you take a simple runaway stabiliser situation and present it to a pilot in the simulator, you probably can assume a 3 second reaction time. But if you present it at the same time with an unreliable speed incident and the stick shaker going off, and the aircraft is falsely threatening a stall, and you’re trying to navigate away from terrain on departure, then the 3 second assumption is absurd,” says Jon Horne, ECA President. “If you do manage to react within 3 seconds, chances are you’re reacting to the wrong thing and that doesn’t put you in a better position.”