The Swiss Helicopter Association (SHA) welcomes the decision of the Council of States to create a national Swiss professional pilot license. Both houses of Parliament are thus reaffirming their will to put an end to the professional ban imposed by EASA on pilots aged 60 and over. The SHA demands that the new license be issued in 2021.
Following the National Council, the Council of States also referred a motion to create a national professional pilot license to the Federal Council on Tuesday. The same motions in both councils had become necessary because an outdated regulation by the European Aviation Safety Agency EASA prohibits pilots from operating commercial passenger flights from the age of 60. In fact, this amounts to an occupational ban, which must be lifted as quickly as possible. Even EASA itself acknowledges that the provision is outdated and should be deleted.
However, due to pressure from pilot unions in large EU states, it is putting off the deletion on the back burner. In Switzerland, since 2016/2017, the Federal Council and the responsible Federal Office of Civil Aviation have ignored two parliamentary decisions calling for deletion. The Federal Council had also recommended that the new motions now accepted be rejected.
“The second decision of both chambers is an urgent wake-up call to DETEC and the Federal Office of Civil Aviation. The pilots concerned and Swiss helicopter companies depend on the national professional pilot license to be introduced immediately,” explains National Councillor Martin Candinas, President of Swiss Helicopter Association (SHA). “SHA expects the license to be issued in 2021. All aspects of this question have been discussed for years. The competent authorities had enough time to prepare.”
The industry association of helicopter companies, together with other associations, has been working for years to solve the problem. “It is unacceptable for the federal government to put harmony with the EU ahead of Parliament's clearly expressed will, especially since even the EU authority itself acknowledges that this nonsensical, outdated provision should be deleted,” says Martin Candinas.
The Swiss Helicopter Association welcomes the decisions of both councils. It calls on the federal government to issue the national license before the end of 2021 and thus prevent further experienced pilots from being forced out of their jobs into unemployment and Swiss helicopter companies from losing their most experienced pilots far too early.
More information
Martin Candinas, President SHA, telephone +41 78 841 66 86
Philip Kristensen, managing director of SHA, tel +41 58 796 99 60 /info@sha-swiss.ch
Christian Gartmann, SHA Communications, tel +41 79 355 78 78 /media@sha-swiss.ch
About the Swiss Helicopter Association (SHA)
The Swiss Helicopter Association brings together the 20 most important helicopter companies in Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein. The association represents its members vis-à-vis authorities and other organizations in Germany and abroad. It aims to protect, support and promote the common interests of Swiss and Liechtenstein helicopter companies.
Christian Gartmann has been Communications and Media Officer of the Swiss Helicopter Association (SHA) since 2018.