Pilots ready to strike over pay claim

Bad news for anyone booked to fly on Irish airline Aer Lingus over the next couple of weeks.

It seems Aer Lingus has not been employing enough pilots - and has been relying on them to do overtime to keep planes in the air.

Now, as part of proposed strike action, Aer Lingus pilots will start work-to-rule action from Wednesday, meaning they will decline overtime work or any out-of-hours duties.

As a result, the airline expects to cancel up to 20% of flights, news portal Travel Mole reports.

The work-to-rule action could potentially represent over 40 flights a day scrapped.

The airline operates an average of 220 flights a day during the summer season.

Donal Moriarty, chief corporate affairs officer for Aer Lingus, said: “Impacted passengers will be contacted and advised of cancellations and given their options in terms of refund, re-accommodation or voucher.”

Pilots are taking action over a requested pay increase of nearly 24%.

The airline has offered just over half of this.

The pilots’ union say their demand is the equivalent of real terms inflation since they last had a pay rise in 2019.

The airline’s short-haul Europe schedule is likely to be most at risk, Travel Mole reported.

Snoozefest: Both pilots fell asleep

It's nice to have a snooze during a flight.

But probably best not to if you are the pilot and co-pilot.

Both dozed off at the same time, causing their Batik Air flight to veer off course, an Indonesia National Transportation Safety Committee report says.

It happened during a flight in January, from Kendari, Sulawesi, to Jakarta, the Travel Mole news portal reported.

There were 157 passengers and cabin crew onboard the flight.

The report said the pilots were both asleep at the same time for around 28 minutes - but the flight landed safely.

The captain took a rest leaving the co-pilot in charge.

He then "inadvertently fell asleep" with air traffic control unable to get a response from the cockpit.

“Several attempts to contact the plane had been made. None of the calls were responded to by the pilots,” the report stated.

Some time later the captain woke up with his co-pilot still asleep and realised the plane was off course. This was immediately rectified.

The pilot initially told air traffic control there had been a "problem" with communications 

Image: Anda Sacracut, Scop.io

Sorry: Your pilots are not properly trained

Imagine flying with an airline whose pilots are not properly trained?

Sounds like a nightmare, right?

But this week India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) barred 90 SpiceJet pilots from operating Boeing 737 Max aircraft after finding they had not been adequately prepared for the job, the Press Trust of India reported.

DGCA has issued show-cause notices to both SpiceJet and training organisation CSTPL for not giving proper training to 90 pilots on the 737 Max simulator, officials said.

The officials said the stick shaker - a piece of equipment that vibrates when the aircraft is unable to lift itself - was not functioning in the Max simulator of CAE Simulation Training Pvt Ltd (CSTPL) when the pilots were being trained.

SpiceJet decided to continue training its pilots at the facility Delhi despite knowing that equipment at the said training centre was faulty, The Indian Express reported. 

A SpiceJet spokesperson said, "We have received a communication from the regulator on the matter and the airline shall submit its reply within the specified period."

How very encouraging.

"We would like to reiterate that safety and security of our operations and passengers are of utmost importance which is manifested in our outstanding track record. None of our operations are compromised and they are in line with the international safety standards," the spokesperson added.

The 90 pilots will now have to undergo training again in an approved manner.

The Boeing 737 Max planes were grounded in India by the DGCA on March 13, 2019, three days after the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max aircraft near Addis Ababa which killed 157 people.

The ban on the planes was lifted in August last year after the DGCA was satisfied with US-based aircraft manufacturer Boeing's necessary software modifications to the aircraft.

Proper pilot training on the simulator was also among the conditions set by the DGCA for removing the ban on the Max planes. The pilots continue to remain available for other Boeing 737 aircraft.

SpiceJet is an Indian low-cost airline based in Gurgaon, Haryana. It is the second largest airline in the country by number of domestic passengers.