Airline pilots, flight attendants and security experts have raised concerns about flight paths over the Middle East amid heightened political tensions, but many say they are being ignored, according to a report. claims.
Trade unions representing airline pilots and crew in Europe have written to major airlines and agencies including Wizz Air, Ryanair, Air Baltic, the European Commission and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). and criticized the dangerous flight conditions of some airlines, including Middle East Airlines. According to the eastern route, Reuters report.
A letter to EASA and the European Commission, dated 26 August, said: “No one should be forced to work in such hazardous conditions and any commercial interests should outweigh the safety and well-being of those on board. It is written as “Not.”
Other letters called for pilots to have the ability to refuse to fly dangerous routes and for airlines to be more transparent about routes to the Middle East.
But airlines argued that their flight routes met industry-wide safety standards and that if pilots refused to fly, chaos would ensue.
Some airlines, such as Lufthansa and KLM, no longer fly over Iran. However, a number of airlines, including Etihad Airways, flydubai, Aeroflot and Wizz Air, were operating flights across the country by December 2, according to Flightradar24 data.
Lufthansa and KLM also allow their crew members to opt out of routes they feel are unsafe, while airlines such as AirBaltic, Wizz Air and Ryanair do not allow their employees to opt out. Wiz and AirBaltic did not immediately respond to the newspaper's requests for comment.
“If we start a veto, where do we stop? [When] Would the next person feel nervous and uncomfortable flying over Iraq?'' AirBaltic CEO Martin Gauss told Reuters.
Gauss said the airline meets international safety standards and no new policies are needed.
“Our aircraft and crew only fly in airspace deemed safe and we do not assume any risks in this regard,” Wizz Air said in a statement.
Ryanair, which flew to Jordan and Israel until September, said it was making a safety alert based on EASA guidance.
Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary told Reuters: “If they say EASA is safe, I'd appreciate it, frankly, but I don't care what unions and some pilots think.'' I'm not interested,” he said.
Ryanair told the Post that its Middle East operations consist of 14 weekly flights to Amman, Jordan, and currently operate flights to other airlines including Lufthansa, Air France, Austrian Airlines, Swissair, Aegean Airlines and LOT. He said several European airlines are operating flights.
EASA said it had been talking to pilots and various airlines about flight safety in recent months.
The agency spoke out against airlines that disciplined employees for raising safety concerns.
For some pilots and crew members, the airline's reassurances were misplaced.
A letter from Romania's Air Crew Union to Wizz Chief Operating Officer Diarmuid O'Conkhair, dated August 12, said: “The fact that Wizz Air is sending out emails claiming to be safe… is not relevant to commercial employees.” “Flights to these conflict areas, even for rescue operations, should be carried out by military personnel and aircraft, not civilian crews.”
In late September, a longtime Wizz Air pilot told Reuters he had concerns about night flights over Iraq and reported them to his employer.
But Wiz said he had to fly that route without any explanation, the pilot said.
Days later, on October 1, Iraq closed its airspace and cut off flight paths over its territory after Iran fired at least 180 missiles at Israel.
Meanwhile, pilots and flight attendants told Reuters they received warnings from their employers after they complained of feeling unwell and refused to fly flights to the Middle East.
Pilots and aviation safety experts say the main concern is missile launches in the Middle East, such as the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014 and Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 over Tehran, which could destroy civilian aircraft. He said there was a possibility of accidentally shooting down the aircraft. Iran in 2020.
Both planes were hit by missiles and crashed.
Tensions are also rising in conflict zones in the Middle East, with 165 missiles fired in November compared to just 33 in the same month a year ago, according to data from Osprey Flight Solutions.
Airspace restrictions can only be enforced if a country chooses to close its airspace, but airlines can choose to allow flights to pass through the area, which is significantly more costly.
Flying a commercial plane from Singapore to London and rerouting it through Afghanistan and Central Asia instead of the Middle East would cost nearly $5,000 in overflight fees, according to flight plans seen by Reuters.
with post wire
