An Open Letter from the Master Air Pilot

Dear Sir

The welfare of pilots is vital to the aviation sector, and yet we have seen little to ensure their wellbeing.

The future of UK airports and airlines is in jeopardy, but instead of the support that is vital, there are forced redundancies and degraded terms of employment.   Described in Parliament as immoral, opportunistic, greedy and bullying, they seriously demoralise a skilled workforce on which the whole sector depends.

Pilots operate complex integrated systems in today’s airliners, and have to both efficiently manage those, and possess the manual flying skills needed to deal with any event.  Aviation has incredibly high safety standards and to maintain them, pilots must be supported in honing their skills regularly.

The United States and many European countries have allocated billions of pounds to their airlines.  So far the UK government has given vast amounts to surface travel but little beyond “job retention” schemes to our airlines.

When flying re-starts in earnest, it is essential that we have pilots who can react effectively to any flying situation.  To achieve this, the government must offer both financial aid to the aviation sector, and crucially ensure that the airlines support their employees and manage them fairly.

Captain J P Towell
Master