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Updated at 9.24pm
The French Government has asked for clarification from Ryanair over treatment of its pilots after a representative group voiced concern over the carrier’s safety procedures.
Transport Minister Frederic Cuvillier said today he was “determined to obtain the necessary clarifications on the veracity of the allegations that pilots are discouraged from reporting incidents”.
It follows Monday night’s broadcast by Channel 4 of a Dispatches documentary that focused on a survey carried out by the Ryanair Pilot Group, a body not recognised by the no-frills carrier, but which claims to represent over half of all captains and first officers.
1,000 pilots were contacted as part of the survey. Of those who responded, more than eight out of ten said they believe the airline does not have an “open and transparent safety culture”.
In addition, just over two thirds of those surveyed said they didn’t feel comfortable raising safety-related issues through the company’s own internal systems.
Ryanair has threatened to sue the makers of Dispatches, and has insisted that the documentary-makers failed to produce any “shred of evidence” to support the pilots’ claims.
A series of letters between Ryanair and the production company reveals the airline’s frustration at the producers’ decision not to include the Irish Aviation Authority’s recent confirmation that “Ryanair’s safety is on a par with the safest airlines in Europe”.
The IAA also released a statement yesterday saying it was disappointed at the Channel 4 programme’s “misguided attack” which it said was based on “false and misleading” information.
While last night, the Ryanair Pilots Group defended its findings, saying the safety opinions of 1,000 professional pilots could not be ignored by safety regulators and that they were “unambiguous”.
The survey was conducted in response to a memo sent by Ryanair to pilots which threatened disciplinary action if pilots did not submit their safety reports exclusively to Ryanair and/or the safety regulator.
“Such practices, if they are confirmed, are concerning and would be a violation of applicable rules,” Cuvillier said in the statement. The minister added:
Ryanair, like other companies, is subject to strict controls, which to this day have not revealed any particular breaches of regulations by this company.
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Is Charlie Flanagan still TD Ah here I give up
This government has managed to get the lifetime of their own government out of the Commission on the Defence Forces. It was lauded in the beginning as a template for change. That was in 2019. The public and others were invited to make submissions in 2020, With the report due for release that December. December came and went, and the report was finally released in february, the Govt sat on it until making the obvious decision to accept the recommendations of LOA2 in July, but with an implementation group who would report back in 6 months. We’ll not go to LOA2 right away though, we’ll do it in phases, increasing defence spending in increments equal to the cost of One military aircraft per year.Here we are now almost June 2023, with nothing substantial achieved apart from a few more high paid civil service posts filled.
Tanagan would have us fighting under the Union Flag if he could. Does anybody really care what he says in this day and age?
Ireland should be a respected neutral country with an army capable of defending the country. Personally I would like weapons that could kill lots of people, this would deter even the worlds biggest countries from invading us.
@Brian Boru:
Nukes…
@Gerry Dornan: whoopee cushions. Can you imagine Putin sitting on one?
Maybe he should get the black and Tans to help out
I’m surprised at Cathal Berry. He should know the one person that will slow this process down to a crawl on that committee. Waiting to appoint a Head of Transformation (there must be a civil servant due retirement)someone who will then appoint someone and hey presto it will be election time. The Sec of the Department was put there for a reason. To make sure Defence is treated at a snails pace. Give nothing to the Military at all costs. I have never seen a Secretary of the Department do or introduce anything constructive EVER. Thats why they are kept.
So the chairperson in charge of a committee for implementing modernisation after meeting 6 times says that a head of transformation is due to be appointed but that other measures are delayed because of the IRG group publication which delayed the development of an implement implementation plan, and that the establishment of an (enquiry) and development of the terms of reference for it and potential interface on both of those and ensuring that the implementation plan is comprehensive also delayed. Please read that back and realise why so much goes at the snails pace mentioned in the article
We should arm and uniform our new Irish brothers, that would be great for everyone.
So the notoriously thin-skinned Flanagan, who was rightly demoted after the last general election, is mouthing off again…
Yawn!
I have a copy of the Epstein Flight log…
go to http://www.realchiefpolice.com or
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/truther
@Real Chieflice Trump MAGA 2024:
Tosspot
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