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Airline staff rage at restrictions
Airline staff have attacked the government after being prevented from taking on to flights equipment and medicine which they claim is vital for them to do their jobs.
Since the terror alerts of August 10, British pilots have been barred from taking contact lens solution, weather and navigation charts on their flights from domestic airports.
Meanwhile a cabin stewardess, who preferred not to be named, said she has been unable to fly because she has been stopped from taking into the cabin dialysis fluid, needed for her kidney illness.
The government has recently relaxed the restrictions on hand luggage for travellers but, according to the British Airline Pilots Association (Balpa), its members are facing tighter restrictions.
Mervyn Granshaw, a pilot and chairman of the Balpa, has written to Transport secretary Douglas Alexander demanding a change in the rules. “We find ourselves being seen as part of the problem and not part of the cure,” he said.
A spokesman for Balpa added its 9,000 members were extremely frustrated following fruitless meetings with TranSec, a division of the Department for Transport.
“If we are going to trust pilots to fly planes, we must also trust them to take on board anything they feel is necessary. If they wanted to cause a crash, they wouldn’t need contact lens solution or hair gel,” said the spokesman.
A DfT spokesman said the minister had received the letter from Granshaw and would respond in due course.
Meanwhile, one stewardess has been effectively grounded since August 10 because she has been unable to take the three two-litre bags of dialysis fluid on board that she needs for an overnight stay.
“It’s not about me, because there won’t be many air stewardesses in my situation, but there may be plenty of passengers who have kidney problems and are unable to fly,” she said.
“There is no commonsense applied in the new laws.”
Report by Jeremy Skidmore (www.jeremyskidmore.com)
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