Pilots at airlines such as Ryanair with bases all over Europe are being offered a system for liaising with their company centrally - no matter in which state or jurisdiction they are domiciled - the European Cockpit Association (ECA) announced at its General Assembly last week.
Known as the trans national airlines convention (TNAC), the tool allows the ECA to deal with individual pilots' employment issues by providing representation at the airline's headquarters and expert local assistance.
ECA secretary general Philip von Schoppenthau says the first such arrangement - for EasyJet pilots - that was set up in June is proving helpful to pilot members, and the TNAC structure can assist flightcrew, whether their airline recognises a representative association or not.
ECA president Martin Chalk says: "In the liberalised European aviation market, social laws are still lagging behind while airlines stretch out across borders and employ and base pilots in several countries. We will not stand by and do nothing where determined employers have the possibility to split the pilot voice and play pilot groups off against each other."
Crew Management Conference: http://crew06.hcuk.net/home.asp
Source: Flight International
