On Friday, September 21, 2012, the SkyTeam Pilots Association (SPA) concluded its semi-annual meeting in Prague, Czech Republic. The pilots of the SPA continue their unprecedented cooperation, mutual support and information sharing from their member airlines in areas concerning safety, security, industrial matters, industry consolidation and other related issues of concern in today’s fast paced global aviation environment.

The SPA welcomed two new members at this meeting. The pilots of Air Europa, as represented by the Sindicato Español de Pilotos de Lineas Aereas (SEPLA), and the pilots of Middle East Airlines (MEA), as represented by the Lebanese Pilots Association, were unanimously approved for membership in the SPA.

The pilot representatives of the SPA reaffirmed the SPA Safety Committee at this meeting and believe that all SkyTeam airlines must strive for the highest levels of safety. These levels of safety can only be accomplished within a just and fair culture that includes a non-punitive safety reporting environment, common flight time and duty time limits, and a renewed emphasis on real line operations safety audits.

The SPA called on the management of Aeroflot to abide by the recent court decision in the Russian Federation and reinstate the president of the Sheremetyevo Cockpit Personnel Association (SCPA/ShPLS) to his rightful position as a Captain for Aeroflot.

The SPA called on the managements of MEA and Aeroflot to return to the negotiating table and work collaboratively with their respective pilot unions to reach a mutually acceptable labor agreement. The most successful airlines in the world recognize that a professional pilot union provides great value to the success of their companies.

SPA is further concerned with the lack of adherence to existing flight time and duty time regulations in Russia and Lebanon. Respect for flight time and duty time regulations should be the cornerstone of safety in all the SkyTeam airlines.

The SPA noted a disturbing practice among some of the SkyTeam airlines. Pilots at MEA are being intimidated and pressured to reduce fuel loads without regard to Captain’s authority. Pilots at Alitalia, conversely, are being rewarded for saving fuel. Both approaches are not in the best interest of safe operations. Pilots are professionals who base their decisions, including the required fuel load and usage procedures, on their knowledge and experience in an effort to provide the safe transport of their passengers. Both of these practices are not in the interest of the highest levels of safety, to which the SPA is committed.

The SPA is following with cautious concern the developments where Gulf area carriers are entering into partnerships with carriers from other regions. These kinds of partnerships should be based on mutual benefits for all the companies involved and should not be based on imposing unfair competition with government-backed carriers.

At this meeting, the SPA elected new leadership. Capt. Heriberto Salazar from ASPA de Mexico was unanimously elected as the SPA Chairman. Capt. Giovanni Galiotto from the Italian Pilots Association was elected Vice-Chairman and Capt. Frank Nauta from the VNV (Dutch ALPA) was elected Secretary/Treasurer.

The pilot representatives of the SPA continue to work on behalf of the pilot groups we represent. In today’s global economic environment, cooperation between the member organizations of the SPA is paramount to protecting the interests of all SkyTeam pilots.

The SkyTeam Pilots Association will next meet in March of 2013 in Rome, Italy.

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The SkyTeam Pilots Association consists of representatives of pilots from eleven airlines around the world who maintain international codeshare agreements with each other. The SPA represents over 25000 professional pilots. Members include pilots from Aeroflot, AeroMexico, Air Europa, Air France, Alaska Airlines, Alitalia, CSA Czech Airlines, Delta Air Lines, KLM, MEA and Korean Air. Together, the pilots of the 18 SkyTeam airlines safely fly almost 537 million passengers per year (one of every four airline passengers in the world) to nearly 993 destinations in 186 countries.

SNPL(Air France ALPA) who represent 72 per cent of Air France’s pilots, has announced the outcome of a referendum it held on the airline’s proposed efficiency programme, ‘Transform 2015’.

83 per cent of those eligible participated in the vote, with 67 per cent approving the plan.

In a statement SNPL said that the level of participation proved the importance of the issue and the willingness of the pilots to help Air France return to profitability.

Transform 2015 aims “to increase economic efficiency by 20 per cent” by the end of 2014.