Air France pilots want right to opt out of flying to ebola-hit countries

Pilots with Air France are demanding the right to refuse to fly to west African countries hit by the deadly ebola virus. Earlier cabin crew demanded the same right.

Health workers help a patient in a hospital in Monrovia Reuters TV/Files

Unions have filed a claim of “serious and imminent danger” for employees flying to Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria with the company’s health and safety committee and say that management has promised that no action will be taken against any employee not wishing to man flights to the ebola-hit countries.

Air France said that “very few” pilots have refused to fly to the affected places and stressed that no passenger or employee has yet been found to have been infected by ebola.

Crews who fly to the countries are impressed by safety measures taken at airports, a company spokesperson said on Wednesday, adding that passengers who do not have a fever are “100 per cent certain” to be free of the virus.