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Al-Ahram Weekly 28 Jan. - 3 Feb. 1999 Issue No. 414 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 28 Jan. - 3 Feb. 1999 Issue No. 414
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Focus Economy Opinion Culture Features Living Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Pilots stand their ground
By Amira IbrahimEgyptAir pilots are continuing to boycott non-scheduled extra flights, in an attempt to force management to agree to a series of demands.
The decision, which was taken a few weeks ago just as the holiday season peaked for Christmas, Omra (small pilgrimage) and the mid-year holiday, caused chaos when extra flights that had been laid on by the national carrier had to be delayed or cancelled.
Hundreds of pilgrims, Egyptian expatriates returning home to spend the mid-year break with their families, and holiday-makers bound for Sharm Al-Sheikh and Hurghada had to wait at airports for hours.
The pilots are demanding a retirement bonus, as well as an increase in the value of their insurance policies. According to the company's insurance scheme, pilots are paid a maximum of LE25,000 if they lose their licence and a maximum of LE50,000 if they have an accident. Pilots want the value of the latter to be increased to LE270,000, the amount for which passengers are currently insured.
"It appears the company doesn't value its pilots as much as its passengers," said Captain Hamdi Radwan. "Sometimes pilots make their return trip as passengers, but in such cases they are insured neither as a pilot nor a passenger."
The company operates a retirement fund for employees, excluding pilots, to which both EgyptAir and its employees contribute. The company's 570 pilots are excluded from the 16,500-member fund on the grounds that, because of their high salaries, they would be entitled to hefty retirement bonuses which would drain the fund. The pilots are, however, paid a lump sum equivalent to one month's salary for each year of service since 1984, on retirement.
A retired pilot, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Al-Ahram Weekly that he had received only LE14,000 for 34 years of service. "I used to earn LE15,000 a month. Now, I get a monthly pension of LE700 and I have to manage on my own savings," he said.
Another pilot complained that pilots get a maximum bonus of LE800 for each extra flight, regardless of how long the flight takes. "Pilots with other airlines get a bonus for each extra hour they fly. The bonus ranges from $100 to $200 per trip. Furthermore, our salaries are not fixed and go up or down according to how many hours we fly. Pilots with other airlines get their full salary even if they are off work because of illness. If we are ill, we lose 60 per cent of our income."
Officials at the airline declined to comment on how much money EgyptAir has lost because of the pilots' work to rule.
"Not a single flight has been cancelled due to the deliberate absence of its pilot," said Tawfik Asi, deputy chief of the operations sector. "Pilots are committed to the flight schedule. There are many factors to blame for the current crisis."
According to Asi, bad weather which hit Europe and parts of the Middle East, and the sheer volume of passengers at this time of the year, caused confusion throughout the industry.
"The pilots are asking for what they believe are their rights and the company is working to solve the problem," Asi said.
Abdel-Azim Sidki, director of the EgyptAir information office, accused the opposition newspaper Al-Ahrar of inflaming the situation. "The company filed a lawsuit against the newspaper a year ago for publishing false information about the airline's budget," Sidki said. "Ever since then, EgyptAir has been attacked in their pages."
Sidki blamed the pilots for taking advantage of the peak holiday season in an attempt to pressure the management into agreeing to their demands.
A settlement appeared to be in the offing two days ago, when, according to Asi, Fahim Rayan, the board chairman of EgyptAir, asked for a fully-financed pilots' retirement fund to be set up. He also asked for a committee to be formed to re-evaluate the reward system for all of the company's employees, including pilots.
According to Captain Walid Murad, deputy head of the Pilots Union, the company is negotiating a new insurance scheme for the pilots with Misr Insurance Company. "The company has responded to 75 per cent of our demands. I am optimistic the administration will not let the pilots down," he said.
