BALPA (British Airlines Pilots” Association), a trade union, last Friday took space in The Times, Telegraph and the Daily Mail to state that, in its view, the European Council of Ministers has adopted flying time rules that are unsafe, unscientific and a political fudge, rules that have been backed by the British government. The union says, using the strongest possible language, that if pilots are asked to fly hours which they believe are unsafe then ”they will not take off”. BALPA also says that its views are common with other European unions representing aircrew. It seems that the EU has drawn up a set of rules for pilots without asking flight deck people for any views! The legislation is such that the current CAA rules will remain in place until when/or if the government of the day wishes to harmonize with Europe. In practice this means that ”they will not take off” is just a headline written with no real meaning, but it does show how the European civil servants are trying to make rules to suit themselves. One would expect medical matters to be discussed with doctors and likewise flying with pilots.
http://www.balpa.org.uk