The leadership of the ETF Civil Aviation Section and the Secretariat recently met with the Executive Director of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Florian Guillermet and his senior management team for the annual high-level meeting to discuss the key aviation safety challenges affecting transport workers across Europe.
Representing workers from every part of the aviation sector – including air traffic management, airlines, maintenance, ground handling and airports – ETF brought forward the practical experience of frontline aviation professionals and highlighted the essential contribution that workers make to improving aviation safety. Workers’ expertise at the heart of aviation safety Every day, aviation workers identify risks, report safety concerns and implement the rules that keep European aviation among the safest in the world. Their experience is therefore indispensable when developing European aviation legislation and technical rules.
ETF actively contributes to EASA’s work through its participation in the Agency’s governance and technical structures. The Federation holds two seats in the Stakeholder Advisory Body (SAB), EASA’s highest industry consultative body. ETF experts also participate in the Communities, Steering Groups, Activity Groups, Collaborative Analysis Groups as well as ad-hoc Rulemaking Groups covering areas such as commercial aviation, aerodromes, air navigation services, maintenance, human factors, aircrew, flight time limitations and ATM. Through this work, ETF ensures that the voice of aviation workers is reflected in European safety regulation and that safety rules remain driven by operational realities rather than purely commercial considerations.
The meeting discussed a wide variety of safety issues across aviation, including cross-cutting regulatory matters, aircrew, ATM and ground handling.
Horizontal priorities
ETF raised the proposed changes to the EASA Basic Regulation and the SES framework and warned against using the military mobility context as an excuse to undermine safety regulations, to fragment the way safety oversight is carried out and to bypass consultations. Safety, transparency and the expertise of the workers must be protected at the centre of the changes being proposed to the EU aviation safety framework.
The discussion further addressed the functioning of the Stakeholder Advisory Body, including its governance, decision-making procedures and the support provided by EASA. ETF underlined that meaningful stakeholder involvement is essential if EASA rules are to reflect operational realities and be properly implemented on the ground
Aircrew
For cabin crew and pilots, ETF raised the question of transnational oversight. With two trans-European airlines already under direct EASA oversight, and another expected to request this in due course, ETF stressed that centralised oversight must not lead to forum shopping or a lower level of scrutiny. Strong and consistent oversight is particularly important where airlines operate complex cross-border business models.
The recent EASA Study on the interdependencies between aviation safety and socio-economic factors affecting safety-critical personnel in Europe was welcomed by ETF. Fatigue, pressure not to report, poor communication and fear of consequences all affect workers’ ability to raise safety concerns. ETF therefore reiterated that working conditions are not separate from aviation safety: they are a core part of it. Our full position can be found here.
Occurrence reporting was another key point. Just Culture and non-punitive reporting are essential pillars of civil aviation safety, but underreporting remains a persistent problem. In some cases, workers may be discouraged from reporting by company culture, fear of retaliation or even the behaviour of certain authorities. ETF will continue to call for improvements to Regulation (EU) No 376/2014 on the reporting, analysis and follow-up of occurrences in civil aviation, with the aim of increasing reporting levels and making reporting safer and more accessible for workers.
Fatigue remains an area of great concern for all areas of aviation, and particularly for those workers operating 24/7. Commercial pressures combined with fatigue could impact directly on worker health and safety, and on public transport safety. For this reason, ETF reiterates its call for a revision of the existing Flight Time Limitations rules for aircrew, and for effective fatigue risk management across all relevant professions.
Air Traffic Management
The issue of fatigue was also raised specifically for ATM, not just for air traffic controllers but also ATSEPs and other safety critical personnel. ETF also raised the need to strengthen qualification, certification and licensing frameworks for non-ATCO professions, including ATSEPs. Finally, ETF warned that the implementation of the SES2+ package must keep safety as a central performance objective.
Ground Handling
ETF welcomed the recently extend scope of EASA’s regulation on ground handling nd expressed its support for the development and deployment of safety-related rules in this area. ETF intends to work through a series of regional seminars to increase affiliates and workers’ awareness on the rules, their application and the opportunities to improve on-ground safety standards.
Unruly passengers continued to be an area that gives increasing cause for concern, not just in ground handling but also beyond. It is vital that violence, harassment and abuse be recognised and treated as a safety issue, and that all regulators, operators and authorities tackle this with concerted action.
ETF will continue its dialogue with EASA to make sure that the experience and knowledge of the people working in aviation is fully reflected in European aviation safety regulations. Skilled, protected and respected workers are key to aviation safety. Their voice must remain at the core of the European safety system.