Call for global blacklist of unsafe airlines

[Greg McDonald]

This would be a great idea. It would be good for countries like Aus who are not game to ban carriers like Garuda for obvious reasons. At least banned airlines would not have a comeback on a particular country as it would be a worldwide body that makes the decisions.

EU Transport Commissioner Antonio Tajani has called for a worldwide blacklist of unsafe airlines after a Yemeni airliner crashed off the coast of the Indian Ocean archipelago of Comoros.

”My idea is to propose a worldwide blacklist similar to the one we have in the European Union,” Tajani said in Brussels.

”If we want to achieve better safety I'm convinced that we need to have a worldwide blacklist, the European blacklist works pretty well in Europe,” he said.

”It would be a safety guarantee for all.”

”Otherwise it's going to be difficult to have an adequate level of safety.”

France's transport minister said that French inspectors had noted numerous faults on the Yemeni jet that crashed yesterday with 153 people on board and the company was already being closely monitored by EU authorities.

Tajani also held talks with the head of the European Aviation Safety Agency and had asked the Yemenia airline to appear before the agency to give an account of the crash.

The agency will now try to speed up the application of air safety rules for operators coming from non-EU countries, a statement from Tajani's office said.

It said that a European air safety conference would be organised “as quickly as possible” to determine the training needs of people such as pilots and air traffic controllers.

Yemenia is not on the EU blacklist, which was to be updated this week.

The Yemenia flight started in a Paris airport on Monday when an Airbus A330-200 aircraft took off for Marseille and then on to the Yemeni capital Sanaa. There passengers changed to an Airbus A310 and departed for the Comoros via Djibouti.

”It's a shame that they changed aircraft, because the controls in Europe are very, very severe and we have a blacklist, but this blacklist is only valid in Europe,” Tajani said.

The EU's blacklist, which is regularly updated, contains the names of more than 200 airlines or firms of concern which are either banned from operating in Europe or only allowed under strict restrictions.

Most of the airlines targeted operate out of Africa, mainly in Angola, Benin, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Swaziland.

Some of them do not operate in Europe, but their inclusion would undoubtedly be bad for business.

[Montague S]

how does banning an airline that caters to nearly 300 million people solve the safety issues?

[Owen H]

If you have a global blacklist, then none of these carriers would operate anywhere... doesn't make sense.

You cannot have the same level of safety in some of the darker parts of Africa as you expect in Europe... it just isn't going it happen.

It is better for individual countries/alliances to ban airlines from their skies. It isn't a "one size fits all" solution.

[Gareth Forwood]

It could work if it was a list of unsafe airlines, rather than a blacklist of banned airlines. That way, if it is well publicised, people won't want to travel on the airline. The market would then effectively force the airline to become safer or force it out of business. Whether or not the people in these regions would take heed is of course another issue...

[Matt_L]

Yeah,

I agree with what most have said here and especially Gareth. Rather than a legal document which would be extremely hard to produce let alone standardize for banned carriers, a recommendation report as such available to download on say DOTARS, Smart Traveller website etc with airlines that are considered unsafe would be brilliant. Therefore people have the choice whether they choose to fly an unsafe carrier or not.

Recently got an email with restaurants across Sydney by the Food Authority who had violated codes and practice and had been fined and I think this type of thing with airlines could potentially work/be effective.

[Montague S]

Originally Posted by Gareth Forwood

It could work if it was a list of unsafe airlines, rather than a blacklist of banned airlines. That way, if it is well publicised, people won't want to travel on the airline. The market would then effectively force the airline to become safer or force it out of business. Whether or not the people in these regions would take heed is of course another issue...

do you mean Australian's or people in general?

[Gareth Forwood]

I mean people in general, but that assumes that the list is well publicised. There would also be variations in responses around the world, based on a whole host of factors, that would make the global response fairly difficult to predict.

[Owen H]

That is why it is upto individual countries to promulgate such a list.

I agree that it is a good idea, and should be on the Smart Traveller website.

I'd rather know the airlines that were considered unsafe by our government, than some generic list that would offend half the nations in Africa and South America.