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Al-Ahram Weekly 4 -10 February 1999 Issue No. 415 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 4 -10 February 1999 Issue No. 415
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Book Fair Economy Opinion Culture Features Living Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Pilots warned
By Amira Ibrahim
As a settlement in the dispute between EgyptAir's management and pilots appeared to be in the offing, new threats were made by a handful of pilots to revive a slow-down strike in two months, coinciding with the pilgrimage season and Easter.
As a precaution, the national carrier has sounded out Arab and European airlines about the possibility of hiring pilots on a stand-by basis.
Last month, EgyptAir pilots refused to fly extra flights in an attempt to force management to agree to a series of demands, including a retirement bonus and higher insurance policies.
In an exclusive interview with Al-Ahram Weekly, Fahim Rayyan, the company's board chairman, said that the action was the work of a minority of pilots with most carrying out their duties fully.
"I can positively say that 99 per cent of my pilots are loyal to their company and have been performing their jobs without problems," stated Rayyan. "What has been said about deliberately delaying flights is nonsense. Not a single pilot refused to fly."
But he added, "Those pilots who turned down the extra flights can be counted on the fingers of one hand. It is unfair to the majority to say that EgyptAir pilots are involved in such an action."
According to Rayyan, bad weather and the peak holiday season caused some limited disruption. "Due to the bad weather, many flights were delayed for hours while others had to be cancelled," he said. "The same happened with an American airline that cancelled 101 flights during the same period for the same reason. It is true that a few pilots refused to fly extra flights laid on for the Christmas holiday season and the return of the Umra [lesser pilgrimage] passengers and Egyptian expatriates. This minority attempted to use the delays caused by bad weather as an excuse, but they were too few to cause the confusion."
Rayyan pointed out that the national carrier has been operating between 50 and 60 flights a day. "We would not have managed to operate such a number of flights if there was a real strike," he said.
Rayyan denied that dozens of pilots had resigned due to bad working conditions. "Maybe five or six received offers from private companies and this is their choice. But I would like to point out that each pilot costs the company $5-6 million in training. This places an obligation on pilots towards their company."
photos: Abdel-Aziz El-Nimr
Rayyan disclosed that he had received favourable responses from Arab and European airlines contacted about the hiring of pilots in case of a resumption of the industrial action.
"The company does not categorise employees as high or low," he said. "Every employee, from the board chairman to the cleaner, is just a cog in a wheel. These cogs must rotate if the wheel is to move. If a cog does not rotate, it will have to be replaced."
Rayyan vowed that he "would not hesitate to do whatever is needed to protect the interests of my company and our employees. I have a regular staff of some 18,000 employees, technicians and workers. Any act against the company would threaten the livelihood of 18,000 families and I would not allow this to happen. No one would."
He said that the company has to honour all its commitments including the payment of operation expenses, salaries and debts. "I have to achieve sales of LE5 million every day. Any threat to cut the number of flights means that sales will drop and the company will not be able to pay expenses and wages. In other words, it means that the company will shut down. Let me assure you that when employees recognise that their livelihood is threatened because of the pilots, they will fiercely defend their interests," he said.
Pilots are demanding an increase in their salaries and insurance policies as well as the introduction of a retirement bonus. Rayyan has said that salaries are not negotiable but that the other demands are being considered.
"When I first took over in 1980, the pilots' working conditions became the subject of study and their monthly salaries jumped from LE300 to LE1,500 in addition to flying bonuses," he said. "Five years ago, the company introduced new salary regulations after the pilots complained of financial instability. The salary is now made up of two parts: one is fixed and the other changes according to flying hours. Now pilots' salaries range from LE5,000 to LE22,000 a month."
He pointed out that pilots also receive perks when abroad. "The company provides free accommodation at a five-star hotel abroad in addition to a considerable bonus for every night they spend outside Egypt," he said. "When the pilots complained that the bonus was not adequate, I offered to give more than the increase they demanded, provided that they paid for their own accommodation. They then dropped their complaint."
Rayyan argues that comparisons between the salaries of EgyptAir pilots and their European counterparts are irrelevant. "What Egyptian pilots earn is high enough as they live in Egypt, not Europe where the living standard is so high and so costly," he said. "If I increased pilots' salaries, I would have to increase the salaries of all other employees."
According to Rayyan, the company is negotiating a new insurance scheme for the pilots to meet their demands. "The company is more keen about the safety of pilots than are the pilots themselves," he said. "I would not object to such a request. The company provides millions of its passengers with insurance policies of LE270,000 per passenger against accidents. It would not increase the company's burdens if I added one thousand to the millions."
He pointed out that disasters caused by pilot error "cost their company a huge amount of money in compensation to passengers."
Rayyan said that pilots disqualified from flying receive 65 per cent of their income and that a committee has been formed to study ways of setting up a pilots' retirement fund.
"This is not something new. Pilots established their own retirement fund which they financed but to which the company contributed LE1.5 million," he said. "When other employees asked to join, the pilots refused. The company then established a fund for other employees, making an equal contribution to it. As this fund covers 16,500 employees, its budget increased over the years, and now provides a considerable retirement reward."
Rayyan said that the company was ready to finance the pilots' fund in the same way.
"The company is confident of the loyalty of its staff, including pilots... But the company is prepared to cut off a corrupt organ to save the body," he said.
