Airlines
Pilot Group Decries Social Neglect Among Europe’s Airlines
Cites "flags of convenience," and "atypical employment" among unfair practices in airline industry
Norwegian Air Shuttle has drawn criticism from the ECA for so-called "social dumping" techniques, including what the association called a unilateral decision to transfer striking workers to subsidiaries, massive recourse to strike-breaking, virtual crew bases outside Europe and social engineering. (Photo: Flickr: Creative Commons (BY-SA) by valentin hintikka)
Norwegian Air Shuttle has drawn criticism from the ECA for so-called "social dumping" techniques, including what the association called a unilateral decision to transfer striking workers to subsidiaries, massive recourse to strike-breaking, virtual crew bases outside Europe and social engineering. (Photo: Flickr: Creative Commons (BY-SA) by valentin hintikka)

A high-level European Commission conference that started on Thursday in Brussels titled “A Social Agenda for Transport” has elicited some damning commentary from the European Cockpit Association (ECA) over what it considers the failure of the airline industry to recognize its social responsibilities to its pilots. In a statement timed to coincide with the start of the conference, the ECA called on the commission to address poor working conditions for pilots, growing unemployment, so-called “social dumping,” a rapid increase of “atypical” employment, social and fiscal engineering and “questionable” company structures.