Brussels - Airline pilots Monday demonstrated in Brussels and in 22 European airports against potentially dangerous long working shifts. The protests were organized by national associations and by the Brussels-based European Cockpit Association (ECA), which represents about 38,000 pilots across the continent.
Nearly 50 flight-deck crew took part in one such protest in Frankfurt, but Germany's Cockpit Association said there had been no disruption to air traffic.
The pilots contend that lives are at risk because of fatigue on the flight deck and claim that current European Union rules on how long they may spend flying are dangerous.
An ECA leaflet distributed in Brussels says EU rules allow air crew to fly for up to 15 hours in a row.
However, "science says that over 13 hours, the risk of accidents is 5.5 (times) higher," the leaflet said.
ECA officials pointed to a study suggesting that up to 20 per cent of accidents may be blamed on fatigue and cited a recent air crash in Buffalo, United States, where fatigue was in part blamed for the death of 50 people.
"We shouldn't have to wait until the same happens in Europe," Captain Martin Chalk, the ECA's chief, told reporters in Brussels.
US regulators have already taken action to change the country's rules on working hours, but the European Aviation Safety Agency is still studying the issue.
The ECA complains that the EU is "still stuck in preliminary discussions on possible options that could be envisage."
