Redefining the future of aviation for our members’ needs is our primary goal for the autumn. On the 14th of September, we will gather in Brussels all aviation workers from across Europe to learn directly from them the best way for the sector to move forward after this summer and ensure that work in aviation pays.

The ETF supports the position of the SAS pilots and opposes SAS’s attempts to undercut the social dialogue process by declaring bankruptcy. These practices go against every principle of social dialogue and we will not stand for this.

Crippled by the huge cuts during the pandemic, the aviation industry is currently struggling to keep up as the air traffic operations increase from one day to another. While airline profits are skyrocketing again, the aviation workers are mostly struggling for survival. It looks more and more like full recovery for profit but exploitation of workers.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have been saying that a lack of available staff would be an issue in the aviation sector, and finally, it has arrived. “The industry is very much reaping what it has sown”, believes ETF Civil Aviation President Oliver Richardson.

An ongoing survey on pilots’ working conditions and safety aims to investigate the effects of new business models and work conditions on pilots’ health, fatigue and flight safety, linking socio-economic aspects, health and safety.