Money doesn’t buy trust

Boeing was recently charged to have conspired to defraud the Federal Aviation Administration in the case of the B737 MAX. $2.5 billion later, the charge has been resolved but the stain on the manufacturer remains – and rightly so. The legal settlement with the Department of Justice requires Boeing to pay a fine, a compensation to its airline customers and to establish a $500 million crash-victim beneficiaries fund to compensate relatives of the 346 victims. My question is if this legal settlement is enough to restore the confidence of the flying public and the aviation professionals in the air transport system? Keep reading + 

by Juan Carlos Lozano, ECA Vice-President

Pilots endorse EASA’s Airworthiness Directive on 737MAX

Re-certification introduces better training requirements for MAX pilots

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is clearing the Boeing 737 MAX to fly after nearly 2-year grounding. The Airworthiness Directive issued in January concludes a meaningful and thorough Boeing 737 MAX Return To Service (RTS) process. While trust and confidence were severely undermined at the start of the recertification, the involvement of other parties – such as EASA and pilots – as well as the increased scrutiny from EU decision-makers has resulted in a more transparent and reassuring process. Keep reading + 

News in brief

Steering recovery

Airlines preparing the strategy of their recovery plans are facing tough choices, with some getting easily tempted into undermining working conditions or exploiting legal loopholes. This is certainly what at least 9 EU Member States do not want to see. Spain is the latest country to join a coordinated EU Member States effort for a ‘socially responsible COVID-19 aviation recovery’. In a Joint Declaration signed in Dec 2020, Transport Ministers call for a COVID-19 recovery guided by safety, fair & undistorted competition and social rights for aviation employees, whilst warning against atypical aircrew employment and social dumping. The Declaration contains an open invitation for other EU Member States to join it.  

Tackling Runway excursions

Runway excursions, the most frequent accident type in aviation, are in the spotlight this month. Data shows that their incidence remains steady despite efforts to reduce them. This is why the industry and aviation organisations came together to hammer out the most important actions to reduce the runway excursion risk. The recently released Global Action Plan for the Prevention of Runway Excursions (GAPPRE) and the soon to be released – GAPPRE Volume II – are the result of these efforts.

European Pilots have contributed extensively to the plan and remain committed to promote its implementation. GAPPRE Volume II will include guidance material and best practices for the implementation of the already published recommendations, covering among others Standard Operation Procedures by the operators and training of operational staff.


18.000 and counting: pilots out of work
A new wave of redundancies among European airlines brings the total number of pilots out of work to over 18.000. More job cuts at KLM, Norwegian’s long-haul operations and easyJet are the latest pandemic blow to aviation workers. The number echoes a recent worldwide estimate by FlightGlobal, which shows approximately 30% of pilots being out of work and 17% being furloughed. Meanwhile, with the dismal flying job picture in their mind, many are looking into alternative job opportunities.  

Please do report fatigue!
Few pilots are flying, but the ones who are, are faced with an intense schedule. Airlines are stretching flight duty times to the limits, most of them relying on flight time limitation exemptions. On top of this, crews are often faced with burdensome quarantine & testing requirements, reducing or crippling their rest opportunities on the ground. This is why the UK CAA urged pilots to report fatigue. In the rest of Europe, pilots should be aware that the EASA FTL Temporary Exemptions are not a wildcard for airlines. In case of questions or doubts, alert your NAA and your pilot association. And: do submit a report when you encountered fatigue during operations!

Remote Towers 

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