Qantas denies using prisoners to clean
Claims that Qantas is using prisoners from Singapore's Changi Prison to clean aircraft before maintenance are outrageous accusations, the airline says.
An engineers union said day release prisoners from the jail were used to clean the flight deck of Qantas jets ahead of maintenance.
Executive general manager of Qantas engineering David Cox has denied the claims. "This is an outrageous accusation which we categorically deny," a spokesman for Mr Cox said. "No prisoner in Singapore has access to any Qantas aircraft undergoing heavy maintenance."
Earlier on Tuesday, the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association federal secretary Steve Purvinas told a parliamentary inquiry that prisoners also were used to wash down wheel bays.
He told the inquiry into the impact of the potential sale of Qantas on its budget subsidiary Jetstar that prisoners were released under supervision and taken to the Qantas aircraft.
"The prisoners are used to wash down the wheel well bays before inspections, they're used to go upstairs into the flight deck of the aircraft and to clean the area out so it's ready for inspection by the local engineers," Mr Purvinas said.
Changi Prison houses Singapore's most serious criminal offenders, including those sentenced to death.
Melbourne drug trafficker Nguyen Tuong Van was hanged at Changi in December 2005 after being convicted of trying to smuggle almost 400 grams of heroin through Singapore to Australia.
Initiated by the Senate, the inquiry is looking at a bill proposed by Family First senator Stephen Fielding, which aims to offer the same protections to Jetstar that are offered to Qantas under the Qantas Sale Act.
İAAP 2007