Pilots refuse to be used to as guinea pigs for ID card trials
Pilots refuse to be used to as guinea pigs for ID card trials
A dispute over identity cards could lead to thousands of flights being cancelled. The British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) says its members will not cooperate with a government plan to make pilots guinea pigs for the controversial cards.
BALPA represents 84 per cent of Britain's commercial pilots and the dispute could potentially cause much travel disruption, fears The Times. Although
Manchester and
London City airports have agreed to take part in an 18 month evaluation of the benefits of
identity cards, on its website BALPA makes clear that its pilots will refuse to take part.
The association's general secretary, Jim McAuslan, said in a submission to the government that the cards have "absolutely no value as far as security is concerned" and that the government's "attempts to force pilots to have ID cards...is nothing short of coercion". Furthermore, BALPA claims that promises that the cards would be voluntary have been broken.
In his submission, McAuslan continued: "Forcing pilots to have
ID cards is an affront to the people who for years have been, and continue to be, at the forefront in the battle against terrorist outrages." BALPA is also concerned that the draft regulations indicate that individuals who refuse to register for a card will be made redundant. "This could be an individual who has served his or her country as a service pilot being told that they are not now trusted. This is both unacceptable and demeaning and we will resist," BALPA insists.
The Identity and Passport Service (IPS) defended the scheme: "Identity cards will benefit workers - not just by
improving security, but also by speeding up pre-employment checks and increasing the efficiency of pass issuing arrangements," it told the paper. Meanwhile, a spokesman for the IPS told The Daily Mail that it remained committed to working closely with the aviation industry and that discussions with individual airports would continue to establish which employees would initially be required to have the cards.
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