Aviation Strategy

Written evidence from the British Airline Pilots’ Association (AS 58)

Executive Summary

1. The British Airline Pilots’ Association (BALPA) believes a strong, vibrant and successful aviation industry is vital to the UK economy, but that it must be underpinned by strong safety standards and robust regulation.

2. British pilots are proud of their industry and their profession. They want to see it compete globally without having one hand tied behind its back.

3. We are primarily concerned that much of the debate around aviation policy and strategy revolves around infrastructure alone without considering the issue in the round. In particular we would like aviation safety to be placed at the forefront of the Government’s aviation framework and of aviation policy now and into the future.

4. Our comments in response to the Committee’s questions will centre around the importance of flight safety as well as the importance of aviation in terms of jobs and economic growth.

About BALPA

5. Over 80% of the UK’s commercial pilots are members of BALPA and we are recognised as the main partner in 26 airlines covering all major UK operations. In addition over 1,000 commercial pilots have joined us even though their airline has no partnership agreement with BALPA.

6. BALPA was formed in 1937 when an airline was forcing professional pilots to operate when it was not, in the professional judgement of those pilots, safe to do so. This led to the Cadman report. Those origins remain a key feature of our DNA today and which is why, 75 years later, our vision as an association is still "to make every flight a safe flight". It is also perhaps why a recent public poll by YouGov found that airline pilots belonged to one of the most trusted professions. It is a responsibility we take seriously.

What are the benefits of aviation to the UK economy?

7. The importance of aviation to the UK economy is not in question. According to Oxford Economics the sector supports 921,000 jobs and contributes 3.6% to GDP or a total of £49.6bn. [1]

8. Beyond these raw economic data, aviation is a social good which enables people to contact with friends and family across the UK and globally. It is also a driver of our economic connectivity to new emerging markets across the world.

9. The benefits of aviation are not seen just by business. The Trades Union Congress this year passed a motion proposed by BALPA to support the ‘great Great British aviation industry’.

What is the impact of Air Passenger Duty on the aviation industry?

10. Sadly, the Government’s policy on Air Passenger Duty is harming the UK economy as well as British aviation businesses.

11. APD is a regressive and counterproductive tax, especially at the levels at which it is now set. The UK aviation industry is taxed at a much higher level than anywhere else in Europe. French aviation taxation is around a tenth of that of the UK; in Ireland it is just €3 per ticket; and in the Netherlands the government completely abolished the tax after trialling it. This disparity clearly shows that the UK is at a competitive disadvantage to the rest of Europe.

12. There are impacts on UK airlines and UK jobs as a result. It is increasingly easy, for instance, to buy a cheap, low-cost ticket from the UK to Amsterdam in order to connect to a flight to Australia. In a poll for BALPA, 76% of people said that they would prefer to transfer via Amsterdam if it meant saving £85. [2] The saving, however, could be as much as £171 for passengers flying to Singapore or Australia in premium economy or higher, which would be an increased incentive to make this transfer despite the additional effort involved. This means that UK airlines that fly those routes, and British workers who are employed by those carriers, are put at a disadvantage.

13. As well as a counterproductive tax, APD is an unfair one. It is increasingly the case that moderately paid families are finding it harder to afford a traditional family holiday. Note, for instance, that there is no reduction in APD payable for children’s air tickets and that the short-haul economy rate of APD has increased by 260% since 2007.

14. This is a matter of concern to British airline pilots. We do not wish to see UK aviation at a disadvantage not only because of the impact on our own jobs, but because of the overall contribution a strong aviation sector makes to the UK economy

Do we need a step change in UK aviation capacity? Should there be a new hub airport? Where?

15. BALPA has polled its members about views on where additional airport capacity should be. Our members are split on that issue, but there is overwhelming agreement that we need additional capacity somewhere.

16. The UK’s international hub at Heathrow is over 99% full. The result is that UK businesses are losing out to their competition elsewhere in the world, especially in Europe. Amsterdam, Paris Charles de Gaulle and Frankfurt are major European hubs which have had the ability to expand in terms of the number of destinations served. Amsterdam Schiphol has five runways and serves 264 destinations. Paris Charles de Gaulle has four runways and serves 259 destinations. In contrast London Heathrow has just two runways and has seen the number of destinations served reduced to 183.

17. Aviation should be an industry that supports the growth of the UK economy. As the Chancellor said in his budget statement in March 2012, we need strong links to the emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China. In this respect we are already lagging behind many of our European competitors.

18. As well as a strong, competitive, international hub we recognise the importance of high quality regional and point-to-point airports. The vast majority of airlines our members fly for do not operate into Heathrow at all. We must not forget the contribution, both on a regional and national level, that regional connectivity provides.

19. Decisions about future airport capacity have been delayed for far too long. The industry needs a definite future, not years -- creeping into decades -- of uncertainty. An agreed political settlement would enable long-term planning and give the industry the confidence to invest in the future.

20. BALPA supports the Government’s decision to appoint an independent commission to make recommendations on future airport capacity to be chaired by Sir Howard Davies. [3] But we do note that such commissions, committees and studies have come and gone many times. We’ve been here before.

21. We hope the Commission is sensibly constituted with a voice for those who rely on a strong aviation sector for their livelihoods.

22. BALPA was disappointed by the Government’s decision to ask the Commission to report only after the planned 2015 UK General Election. We believe the Commission could and should report before then so as to bring forward the urgently needed final decision about this industry’s future.

23. One potential side-effect of a step-change in aviation capacity could be the increased ability of some of the UK’s competitors to take advantage of that capacity ahead of UK businesses. We would like assurances that there would be defence against other countries’ airlines having a distinct advantage over UK business by using their government subsidies or countries’ petrodollars to undercut British business.

Flight safety

24. BALPA noted with concern the fact that the Department for Transport’s Aviation Framework Scoping consultation made only fleeting mention of the importance of flight safety. We made a recommendation in our consultation response that safety should be woven far more deeply into the framework. We were disappointed that the Government did not take up that suggestion in the subsequent framework document (currently out to consultation).

25. Aviation debates over the past few years (with the notable exception of the important debate around European flight time limitation proposals) have centred entirely around infrastructure and capacity.

26. The UK has a good flight safety record. But with predictions of considerable increases in the number of flights, and with safety having reached a plateau, unless safety continues to increase, we could see the number of incidents rise. This is apposite to discussion around increasing capacity.

27. We believe that an increase in capacity may lead to a disproportionate increase in the number of incidents. We are in a fast-changing industry and past performance is, as the financial small print goes, no indicator of future performance. British pilots fly in some of the most congested skies in the world; skies which are due to become more congested still. We must never allow our attitude towards flight safety to become complacent.

Inadequate Regulation

28. BALPA has identified inadequate regulation as a key threat to aviation safety. Like in so many other policy areas, deregulation is the order of the day. However, in safety critical industries, and ones in which there is so much commercial pressure, we do not believe this is the appropriate paradigm in which to be operating. On the contrary, strong regulation enforced by an independent and scientifically-driven regulator, is key to ensuring safe operation. Given an organisation’s first duty is to survive, if the choice is between staying in business for one more day or spending money on safety, without regulation, we are not confident the right decision would be made.

29. We are aware that this shift towards ‘operator responsibility’ has already begun. The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has advocated for this approach in its latest version of pilot fatigue proposals and the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) endorsed this approach. We remain sceptical.

Security

30. Pilots find the security screening situation they have to face bizarre and extremely frustrating. Passengers often get frustrated at the long queues and invasive searches they have to endure, but pilots often have to go through the same processes every time they go to work. This is not conducive to flight safety, nor does it recognise the important link in the security chain which pilots form.

31. Pilots’ frustrations are compounded when they have items such as water bottles, glasses cases and nail clippers confiscated by security when they are about to board an aircraft and take responsibility for the safety of hundreds of passengers. Not to put too fine a point on it, but if a pilot ever wished to cause an incident, water and nail clippers would not be required. We background check and then trust pilots to operate safely, yet we do not trust them to walk into a departures lounge to get some lunch in the middle of their duty day.

32. The cost implications of needlessly security checking pilots is worth noting too. The Guardian reported that security costs £4.6bn a year [4] . A significant saving could be made by following the example set by the Known Crewmember programme in the United States which allows much freer access to trusted professionals following a thorough background and identity check. [5]

People

33. Again, the ‘people’ side of the aviation industry has been largely ignored by policymakers over recent years. Air transport needs properly qualified, professional flight crew. Currently we see a situation emerging whereby pilots are either in feast or famine. Life for a newly qualified pilot, on a temporary, agency contract is insecure, financially unrewarding and fatiguing.

34. BALPA has grave concerns over the growing use of contract pilots in certain UK airlines. These pilots are not employees of the airlines they fly for. Rather, they are newly qualified pilots, desperate for experience, deep in debt from paying for their own training, and vulnerable to being furloughed or transferred at the whim of either their contract employer or the airline. This situation occurred very recently as easyJet announced that 46 of their ‘Flexicrew’ pilots would be laid off for the winter period.

35. Allied with this and such recent developments as the sad closure of Bmi Baby we are seeing a gradual drift of pilots abroad. A recent event sponsored by BALPA to inform members of the reality of working abroad was heavily over-subscribed. Our question is will the UK have the supply of trained pilots needed to operate in any expanded capacity industry. We would encourage the Committee to consider, if not in this inquiry then in another, issues around training and apprenticeships of pilots.

19 October 2012