Fed up pilot leaves without passengers

[James T. Kirk]

I have operated several charters into Tel Aviv and have had the same thought more than once.....

Monday May 12, 06:06 PM

Fed up pilot leaves without passengers

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A Czech pilot, exasperated by a deliberate go-slow by protesting workers at an Israeli airport, has flown back to Prague without passengers and carrying inbound baggage, an airline spokesman says.


The pilot for CSA Czech Airlines, who landed at Israel's international airport on the outskirts of Tel Aviv at 5:15 a.m. was scheduled to make a return flight 45 minutes later.


But after waiting 2-1/2 hours for airport workers to unload and reload his plane, he gave up and took off.


"They allowed the 82 arriving passengers to disembark, but no workers would take the luggage off the plane. So we flew back and will transport the luggage to Tel Aviv later today," CSA spokesman Vaclav Kral in Prague told Reuters on Monday.


He added that around 30 or so passengers scheduled to leave for Prague were stranded.


Israel Airports Authority spokesman Pini Schiff said: "He (the pilot) waited for as long as he did, then got approval from the Czech authorities to leave without passengers to Prague."


The work slowdown at the airport was called by Israel's Histadrut labour federation in protest at government plans to cut public spending by 11 billion shekels (1.5 billion pounds) through job and salary cuts.


CSA is a member of the Sky Team alliance led by Air France and Delta.

[JW411]

So were the unions in Israel taught by the French or were the unions in France taught by the Israelis?

[Hilico]

Or were the people doing the work being taken the p1ss out of by the people who are supposed to "lead", just like Israel, France, the UK, the US....

[yggorf]

And maybe some Czech pilots should be reminded that the right to strike is a fundamental right of democratic societies.

[redfield]

I know some places where they can't unload the bags in less time than this when they're NOT on strike.:O

[Basil]

<<the right to strike is a fundamental right of democratic societies>>

:hmm: - - as is the right of the captain/his employer to recover their aircraft for other commitments that day.

[FlightDetent]

yggorf:

It may be of interest to you, that pilots for CSA CZALPA have launched work-to-rule / loss of loyalty industrial action as of a week ago. If, under these circumstances, it still seems to you, that being 105 minutes overdue on a turnaround denies some of their rights to strike, I suggest you do the math about duty time between Prague and Tel Aviv, go out for some fresh air and think about customer service. You'll get into better mood than this.

Also, CAA personnel on strike - no services available style NOTAM wouldn't quite prepare you for the fact there'll be no one to unload your plane, will it?

Back to the topic:
Local media, perhaps thanks to being latewith the coverage, provided little more detail. It feels that it was more the case of: what point is it there in being a sitting duck stuck?

And, of course, no "Authority" was involved, just like we tought.

[411A]

Quite true, right to strike is reasonable.
Likewise, the right of the employer to TERMINATE those who do not want to work and replace 'em with those who do....is also reasonable.

Or, do some here consider this only to be a one way street...for the employee?:rolleyes: :confused:

[squeaker]

TLV workers go-slow? When did they ever go quickly?

[Flip Flop Flyer]

No, an employers response to a strike is a lock-out, not termination of contracts. Then again, what would an American know about labour laws? I mean, this is the place where you can get fired after 25 years of service if the boss has a bad hair day, or get fired during pregnancy, women only get 14 days of maternity leave, fathers far less, and everybody gets 2 weeks of holiday (to start with), unions are regarded as communist insurgency etc etc etc. Great for the employer, not so great for the employees.

McCarthy didn't live in vain did he?

[Notso Fantastic]

Basil has hit it in one line! What is the discussion about? The pilot didn't just think 'I've had enough, I'm outta here!'- the airline wanted its plane back. The airline recovered their aeroplane- the passengers were disrupted because the system would not put them through to the aeroplane. That aeroplane was then available for further revenue. What is the point here?

[West Coast]

FFF
I hope your not holding out the UK as a model. Or your European colleagues for that matter. Read within the past few days that a union on your side of the ever increasing divide wanted and recieved the right to drink beer on the job. I like beer as much as the next guy, but damn....

[Desk-pilot]

West Coast,

I think there are many of us who feel that American workers are exploited and would rather see the European model predominate. The trade unions over here grew up in response to appalling abuse of workers during the industrial revolution by factory owners.

It strikes me that anybody who only gets two weeks annual leave is seriously missing out on the important things in life like spending time with family or travelling. Nobody ever lay on their death bed wishing they'd spent more time in the office after all!!

What use is the money if you've no time to spend it?

Desk-pilot

[Flip Flop Flyer]

No, not the UK. Maggie T. did what she could to erode the power of the UK unions in the 70s and 80s, and largely succeeded.

With regards to having a beer on the job; depends on the circumstances. If we're talking about beer any time, any place then no, that's not on. However, a beer or two for lunch (if you're not a pilot, ATCO, train driver, fireman etc) never killed or harmed nobody. Going out for lunch and enjoying a glass or two of wine is, in my opinion, the only civilised way to do it. I visited the USA not long ago, as an instructor, and enjoyed a glass of wine for lunch every day. The locals were initially in a state of shock :hmm: but soon came to realise that it actually didn't degrade my performance. No, I'm not a pilot; I teach ground stuff like Weight & Balance.

Now if you want to talk about sick unions virtually running the shop, look no further than Germany. Their "Betriebsrat", or workers council, can and will impose restrictions on the employer and gain benefits for the employees that boggles the mind. Over on the other side of the divide, you have the USA. I belive that somewhere in the middle, like in Scandinavia for instance, you have the right balance.

[BOAC]

As 'Notso' says, 'Basil' is right 'on the money'. IGNORE the media. I VERY much doubt that the pilot got 'fed up' and left. Ops will most probably have decided on this.

Now, if he'd had some baggage handlers stuck in the hold.............:O

[West Coast]

Desk top flier
The industrial revolution that transformed England from a largely agricultural society existed from the mid 1700's to the mid 1800's. I grant you the protection afforded by unions might have been needed then. Of great concern was workplace injury, pay and work hours. Those and other concerns are now heavily regulated(at least here) by the government That level of power held by labor (labour if you can't read American) now is a deterent to good business. I don't hold the US out as the gold standard, but I do think the pendulam has swung in Europe to the far side of some medium.

I do not feel exploited, I have ample time off. I have all the accouterments of an upper middle income. I do not want for anything I don't already have. If I was to die today, my after action report would find a happy balance of work, play and most important family. All that from the US model.

[Flip Flop Flyer]

I'm pleased to hear you are doing fine. So am I. Can we agree to disagree, horse for courses and all that? Thanks.