CARRY ON – TIRED PILOTS TOLD
Safety fears as airline boss says weary staff must ‘go extra mile’
A LEADING airline boss has sparked a safety row after urging pilots to keep working even if they are ‘fatigued’.
Joszef Varadi, the chief executive of Wizz Air, has come under fire after calling on staff to lower the company’s ‘fatigue rate’.
In an internal video seen by the Daily Mail, the budget airline boss said: ‘We are all fatigued but sometimes it is required to take the extra mile. We cannot run this business when every fifth person of a base reports sickness because the person is fatigued.
‘The damage is huge when we are cancelling the flight. It is the reputational damage of the brand. And it is other financial damage because we have to pay compensation for that.’
Wizz Air has been forced to axe dozens of flights in recent weeks amid staff shortages and wider travel disruption across the UK.
Last night Martin Chalk, general secretary of the British Airline Pilots’
Association, condemned Mr Varadi’s comments, saying: ‘I am shocked that an airline CEO would advise actions so contrary to even a basic safety culture.
‘I would urge Mr Varadi to swiftly clarify that Wizz Air would fully support any pilot who does the right thing for the safety of their passengers, crew and aircraft by not flying if they are fatigued.’
The controversy comes after the Hungarian-based carrier announced it had racked up losses of £550million for the 12 months to the end of March – although revenue more than doubled to £1.4billion.
More than 27 million passengers flew with Wizz Air last year – up from 17 million the year before.
In an optimistic address, Mr Varadi said he expects the airline to deliver its ‘largest ever summer flying programme and the fastest growth in the industry’.
However Wizz Air is expecting to post further losses between April and June due to higher fuel costs and ongoing airport chaos.
Other major airlines, such as British Airways and easyJet, have also faced disruption since Covid travel curbs were loosened in March.
Earlier this week, the boss of Heathrow Airport warned of 18 more months of disruption as the sector tries to ‘fully recover capacity’.
Yesterday Sajid Javid blasted the industry, saying it was ‘about time [it] took more responsibility for sorting its own challenges out.’
The Health Secretary added: ‘We haven’t seen similar problems in France, Germany or Italy. They also have very low unemployment rates like we do so they face labour market challenges like we do.
‘The industry should have done better. The industry got caught out. I know when something goes wrong there are some people out there who love to blame Government ministers. I’m used to that – but it doesn’t mean to say it’s always the Government’s fault.’ Wizz Air was contacted for comment.
‘Not flying if they are fatigued’