Brussels, 02/12/2011 (Agence Europe) -The European Commission is facing criticism from the air industry over its plans to introduce new EU air rules. Airlines and air hostesses and hosts are unenthusiastic about the planned changes unveiled by the Commission on Thursday 2 December in three regulations, one on air slots, one on flight attendance and one on noise pollution (see EUROPE 10507).
Conservatism from the air industry. The approach favoured by bodies representing the interests of the air industry is to keep things as they are and not change air slots. The Commission wants to make the administration of air slots more flexible by allowing airlines to auction off their allotted air slots. Tony Tyler, Director General of the International Air Traffic Association (IATA), says that the current rules work well for everyone and there is no need for new rules, particularly rules that would increase minimum use (to allow an air slot to be kept by an airline) from the current 80% to 85%. “Proposed changes to the use-it-or-lose-it slot rule will provide some perverse incentives that would not be in the interest of the environment, capacity or efficiency. Moreover, the current rules work well for all stakeholders. We look forward to continuing our dialogue to address the less helpful points included in the package so as to arrive at a solution that is aligned with the well-established global best practices of the IATA Worldwide Slot Guidelines,' said Tyler.
The International Air Carriers Association (IACA) is not happy, explaining that moving from five air slots per company each season to ten in the summer and fifteen in the winter is unreasonable. Recognising that the first option is unaffordable economically and environmentally, IACA says that over time, it would mean that popular tourist destinations in Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy would lose their airports at a time when they need to drum up extra income to cope with the debt crisis. Koen Vermeir, IACA's Director of Aeropolitical Affairs, said: “If the Commission is not careful, they could effectively be wiping out the most popular flights from the system.”
Controversial flight attendance rules. The Airports Council International (ACI Europe) is not happy with the draft regulation on assistance to passengers stopping over because airports want greater control over infrastructure and operators providing assistance during stopovers by imposing minimum quality standards. The European Transport Workers' Federation (ETF) is unhappy with suggested measures because they would not deal with staff working conditions and job security. Enrique Carmona, ETF Ground Staff Committee Chairman, said: “The current situation is not acceptable. The new proposal for a regulation does not address key issues faced by ground-handling workers, with a continuous reduction in terms and conditions and job stability. These workers deserve a social clause that includes transfer of staff and must adhere to existing representative collective agreements. This in the end is a missed opportunity to deliver a consistent piece of legislation that reaffirms the social Europe citizens demand.” At the moment, the Commission lets member states decide whether to force companies that win contracts to respect the agreements reached with the previous contract holder. (MD/transl.fl)