{"id":1733,"date":"2026-06-12T06:07:47","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T06:07:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1733"},"modified":"2026-06-12T06:07:47","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T06:07:47","slug":"pilot-union-plans-to-call-on-european-regulators-to-close-labor-loophole","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1733","title":{"rendered":"Pilot union plans to call on European regulators to close labor loophole"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><div><div><ul><li>Summary<\/li><li>Companies<\/li><\/ul><\/div><div><\/div><\/div><div>June 12 (Reuters) &#8211; The European Cockpit Association plans to publicly \u200ccall on European regulators on Friday to close a loophole that it says airlines use to avoid labor laws &#8211; hiring pilots and cabin crew through outsourcing agencies, rather than as direct employees.<\/div><div>That practice is common among airlines that hire out \u200bairplanes with crew, maintenance and insurance, known as ACMI, or &#8220;wet&#8221; leasing.<\/div><div>&#8220;Crew are disposable, a number in \u200bthe system. You can get rid of them with a day&#8217;s notice,&#8221; ECA Secretary \u2060General Ignacio Plaza said in a statement to Reuters.<\/div><div>Latvia-based ACMI operator SmartLynx Airlines&#8217; sudden collapse last October \u200bleft hundreds of pilots and cabin crew hired through outsourcing agencies without jobs and many without final paychecks.<\/div><div>Former \u200bSmartLynx workers told Reuters that the airline directed them to apply through third-party staffing agencies rather than hiring them directly.<\/div><div>SmartLynx was one of Europe&#8217;s largest wet-lease providers, hired by airlines including Scandinavia&#8217;s SAS, India&#8217;s IndiGo and European leisure carrier TUI Airways \u200bto bolster capacity at times of need. It had 68 planes in its fleet in 2024, according \u200bto a company announcement from March 2025.<\/div><div>SmartLynx&#8217;s parent, Lithuania-based Avia Solutions Group, sold the airline last October for \u20ac1 million ($1.16 million) \u200cto a \u2060Netherlands-based investment fund formed a month earlier and two SmartLynx executives as minority owners. The airline had \u20ac238 million in debt, 73% of it owed to other Avia Solutions companies.<\/div><div>It folded in November, along with subsidiaries in Malta and Estonia.<\/div><div>The former CEO did not respond to a request for comment, and contact details for \u200bthe Netherlands-based fund were not \u200bpublicly available.<\/div><div>Contracts reviewed by \u2060Reuters allowed salary reductions, instant termination and limited employer obligations. A contract from Dubai-based Aerviva said any disputes would be settled in English courts.<\/div><div>An Aerviva spokesperson told \u200bReuters that it never received the necessary documents from SmartLynx to issue final \u200bpaychecks.<\/div><div>A 2025 \u2060University of Ghent study found nearly 14% of more than 4,000 pilots surveyed were not direct airline employees. Of those, 65% worked for ACMI operators. They reported worse mental health, greater reluctance to report fatigue and higher \u2060job insecurity.<\/div><div>&#8220;This \u200bis not only about one airline,&#8221; Plaza said. &#8220;It is about whether \u200bEurope allows airlines to operate with workers who are essential in practice but invisible when responsibility is assigned.&#8221;<\/div><div>($1 = 0.8633 euros)<\/div><div><address><div><div><noscript>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"120\" height=\"120\" alt=\"Joanna Plucinska\" class=\"wp-image-707\" src=\"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1266d9aabe8a27b50c113173fa1b6e67.avif\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/noscript><\/div><div>Joanna Plucinska<\/div><\/div><div><ul><li><span><div><svg><title>Email<\/title><\/svg><\/div><\/span><\/li><li><span><div><svg><title>X<\/title><\/svg><\/div><\/span><\/li><li><span><div><svg><title>Instagram<\/title><\/svg><\/div><\/span><\/li><li><span><div><svg><title>Linkedin<\/title><\/svg><\/div><\/span><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/address><address><div><div><noscript>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"120\" height=\"120\" alt=\"Alessandro Parodi\" class=\"wp-image-214\" src=\"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/c42c6b3e676456b86dc6a3b9fc0d096a.avif\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/noscript><\/div><div>Alessandro Parodi<\/div><\/div><div><ul><li><span><div><svg><title>Email<\/title><\/svg><\/div><\/span><\/li><li><span><div><svg><title>X<\/title><\/svg><\/div><\/span><\/li><li><span><div><svg><title>Instagram<\/title><\/svg><\/div><\/span><\/li><li><span><div><svg><title>Linkedin<\/title><\/svg><\/div><\/span><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/address><\/div><\/div><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1731\">Trump says Iran war deal close as Strait of Hormuz tensions linger<\/a><\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1725\">South Korea court sentences ex-President Yoon to 30-year jail term over drone incursion<\/a><\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1723\">South Korea fight back to beat Czech Republic in World Cup opener<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The European Cockpit Association plans to publicly \u200ccall on European regulators on Friday to close a loophole that it says airlines use to avoid labor laws &#8211; hiring pilots and cabin crew through outsourcing agencies, rather than as direct employees.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1732,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[56,101],"class_list":["post-1733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-worker-rights","tag-world-at-work"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Pilot union plans to call on European regulators to close labor loophole - Reliable Moving Crews<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1733\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pilot union plans to call on European regulators to close labor loophole - Reliable Moving Crews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The European Cockpit Association plans to publicly \u200ccall on European regulators on Friday to close a loophole that it says airlines use to avoid labor laws - hiring pilots and cabin crew through outsourcing agencies, rather than as direct employees.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1733\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Reliable Moving Crews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-12T06:07:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?p=1733#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?p=1733\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/34f02a869ba60b78ae3d994f205e0d24\"},\"headline\":\"Pilot union plans to call on European regulators to close labor loophole\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-12T06:07:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?p=1733\"},\"wordCount\":449,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?p=1733#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/bc4751f7a5ee8427cf38a911f8fb9b84.avif\",\"keywords\":[\"Worker Rights\",\"World at Work\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?p=1733#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?p=1733\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?p=1733\",\"name\":\"Pilot union plans to call on European regulators to close labor loophole - Reliable Moving Crews\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?p=1733#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?p=1733#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/bc4751f7a5ee8427cf38a911f8fb9b84.avif\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-12T06:07:47+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/34f02a869ba60b78ae3d994f205e0d24\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?p=1733#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?p=1733\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?p=1733#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/bc4751f7a5ee8427cf38a911f8fb9b84.avif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/bc4751f7a5ee8427cf38a911f8fb9b84.avif\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1005},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?p=1733#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Pilot union plans to call on European regulators to close labor loophole\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Reliable Moving Crews\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/34f02a869ba60b78ae3d994f205e0d24\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Pilot union plans to call on European regulators to close labor loophole - Reliable Moving Crews","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1733","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Pilot union plans to call on European regulators to close labor loophole - Reliable Moving Crews","og_description":"The European Cockpit Association plans to publicly \u200ccall on European regulators on Friday to close a loophole that it says airlines use to avoid labor laws - hiring pilots and cabin crew through outsourcing agencies, rather than as direct employees.","og_url":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1733","og_site_name":"Reliable Moving Crews","article_published_time":"2026-06-12T06:07:47+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1733#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1733"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/34f02a869ba60b78ae3d994f205e0d24"},"headline":"Pilot union plans to call on European regulators to close labor loophole","datePublished":"2026-06-12T06:07:47+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1733"},"wordCount":449,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1733#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/bc4751f7a5ee8427cf38a911f8fb9b84.avif","keywords":["Worker Rights","World at Work"],"articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1733#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1733","url":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1733","name":"Pilot union plans to call on European regulators to close labor loophole - Reliable Moving Crews","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1733#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1733#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/bc4751f7a5ee8427cf38a911f8fb9b84.avif","datePublished":"2026-06-12T06:07:47+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/34f02a869ba60b78ae3d994f205e0d24"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1733#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1733"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1733#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/bc4751f7a5ee8427cf38a911f8fb9b84.avif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/bc4751f7a5ee8427cf38a911f8fb9b84.avif","width":1920,"height":1005},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1733#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Pilot union plans to call on European regulators to close labor loophole"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/","name":"Reliable Moving Crews","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/34f02a869ba60b78ae3d994f205e0d24","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com"],"url":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1733"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1733\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}