The French pilots of the British low-cost company easyJet have written a letter to their management to warn of the risk of massive cancellations of flights this summer due to the lack of staff, while the company has already been put on difficulty during the long spring weekends.
The pilots are particularly concerned about the lack of staff, “
mainly among the hostesses and stewards and a little among the
captains”, indicates the president of the National Union of Line Pilots (SNPL) of the company Arnaud Wiplier.
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The letter, revealed by the British media Inews, was sent on Monday June 6 to warn the management which "
gives the impression of not having grasped the extent of the problem
", according to Arnaud Wiplier.
“
If we can't be resilient for a three-day weekend, can we be resilient during the summer?
“, he asks.
The company is "
less well prepared than in other years
" and is forced to cancel flights in proportions "
not seen for ten years
", worries Arnaud Wiplier.
According to him, dozens of flights are canceled in France every week.
Disruptions already seen at some European airports due to lack of staff “
will reach their peak this summer
and risk further complicating the task of easyJet teams, he assures us.
The company has planned to recruit a hundred hostesses and stewards in France, according to the SNPL, but "
it takes time to recruit and train these people
", says the union.
EasyJet wants to “
respond directly
” to this letter
Arnaud Wiplier also deplores the reduction due to Covid-19 of the teams responsible for planning and monitoring operations based at Luton airport in London.
"
If there is a sick person, there will only be one to check the legality of the next day's schedules throughout Europe, so we have cancellations that are made late because we realizes too late that there is no more crew
", describes the union representative.
The pilots suggest creating annexes to this operations center because “
in Luton we find that they cannot manage the network
”.
Finally, the pilots are concerned in their letter about the use of the subcontractor SmartLynx, a specialist in rental flights with crew very poorly rated by the ECA, the
organization that represents European pilots.
"
We are asking the company to ensure that the working conditions of the pilots allow them to fly in complete safety
”, underlines Arnaud Wiplier, who deplores the use of “
non-employee pilots of easyJet, self-entrepreneurs of the Uber type
” .
In a press release transmitted in
Figaro
, easyJet confirms the existence of this letter and affirms that the company will “
respond directly to it
”.
“The well-being and safety of our employees and our customers is our top priority,
” she says, adding that she “
absolutely disagrees with the statements that the situation is dangerous.
Data from our safety reporting system does not show any flaws in flight safety related to the current operational situation.
»
