Air Mauritius and the Mauritius Airline Pilot Association (MALPA) are this week due back before an arbitration tribunal to settle a growing dispute over the carrier’s flight-time limitation scheme.
MALPA is backed by the International Federation of Airline Pilots Associations (IFALPA), which accuses the primarily long-haul carrier of pressuring pilots on duty hours, but the company insists it is operating in line with rules based on the UK CAA system.
The situation has been complicated by the suspension from flying duties of MALPA president Russlan Ramdowar – an Air Mauritius first officer – over safety allegations that he sent to IFALPA, apparently without raising them formally with the airline. The Mauritius Trade Union Congress considers that as “intimidation”.
Air Mauritius managing director Nirvan Veerasamy says the airline “strictly adheres to regulations” and asserts that its flight duty-time limitation scheme is approved by the Mauritian Department of Civil Aviation.
“The allegation of the union is baseless,” Veerasamy stresses. “The method of calculation has been submitted to, and approved by, the Department of Civil Aviation Mauritius, which is the regulator.”
But IFALPA, speaking on behalf of MALPA, asserts: “The scheme is modelled after the UK scheme but they are not living up to the provisions of it and are coercing and intimidating pilots to break flight-time limitations.”
IFALPA president Capt Dennis Dolan says a recent wave of resignations from the carrier is due to low morale linked to the dispute.
A pilot source in Mauritius says about 50 pilots, out of a workforce of 210, have quit in the last year. Veerasamy says the figure is 35, but adds: “While this is an unusually high attrition rate for Air Mauritius and is a serious concern to our management, as a small national airline we cannot compete with the current lure from major Middle East carriers such as Etihad Airways, Emirates and Qatar Airways.”
He notes also that MALPA president Ramdowar “was taken off flying duties in order to assist the airline in providing explanations on a number of alleged safety-related issues which he has formally raised in an email to IFALPA…[but] not formally raised with the company as required by well-defined [company] procedures”.
Source: Flight International
