BALPA welcomes airspace reopening
20-Apr-2010 The British Airline Pilots' Association (BALPA) has welcomed the reopening of UK airspace, but warned that there is some way to go until there is any semblance of normality.
Jim McAuslan, BALPA General Secretary, said: 'This is good news but now we must ask passengers to be patient. Aircraft are in the wrong place all over the world. Pilots with UK airlines, many of whom have themselves been stranded away from home, will do everything they can to bring the situation back to normal as quickly as possible whilst maintaining the highest standards of flight safety.'
This event has had a huge financial impact on an industry already struggling with the economic downturn. Lessons need to be learned quickly to ensure we minimise disruption caused by fresh eruptions and to develop better systems for monitoring effects. We call on the Government to convene a summit of key stakeholders (which must include pilot representatives) to review the whole exercise.'