While discussions have been interrupted since Tuesday between Royal Air Maroc (RAM) and its pilots, the crisis that has been shaking the sector for fifteen days and threatening the current summer season. Discussions between pilots and Royal Air Maroc were interrupted Tuesday night, leaving a room for the current crisis that occurs at the height of the holiday season. «Discussions covered many topics, including requests related to training pilots», a source within the Moroccan Pilots Association (AMPL) told Yabiladi, on Thursday. «The National School of Pilots (ENPL) is at the heart of this project. It can make this job fair again», added the same source. In 2014, Royal Air Maroc was planning to close its training center before sending its student pilots to the National School of Civil Aviation (ENAC) in Toulouse (France). At the end of May 2018, the Moroccan national Carrier announced that it is reopening the institute. «Six months ago, RAM was convinced that it had a Program-Contract with the government to open ENPL and we were positive about it», recalls the same source. Three major challenges to overcome the crisis In order to overcome the crisis, the AMPL highlights three files that the national company must study : «Trainings, direct recruitments of foreign first officers (co-pilots) under fixed-term contracts and chartering». The pilots also demand «a national school affiliated to the RAM». Our source recalls having been trained, as a pilot, «for 450 000 to 500 000 dirhams», supported by RAM. «Today, a pilot trained in ENAC (National School of Civil Aviation of Toulouse, ed), pays 1.4 million dirhams for an equivalent training», the source argued. This is a solution to ease the pressure on the pilots and palliate understaffing. The same source sought the opportunity to clarify again that pilots are not on a strike. «We put aside our flexibility so that RAM listens to our grievances. We did 30% more work, because of the lack of staff, but nothing changed and when we decided to stop working more than we should, the director told media that we are going on a strike, which is not true». A source from the Moroccan pilots association RAM was accustomed to «systematically charter during the summer», since the recommendation made by the Court of Auditors in its 2011. «Structuring your fleet during the low season, had suggested the report. Unfortunately, today RAM does not find planes», regrets the source. Pilots denounce «fake news» The latter states that pilots had «raised worries two years ago on all these issues but it is a pity that RAM puts the blame on pilots now to justify the recent delays». Moreover, flights have been cancelled since July 20th. According to the same source that «the cancellation rate barely reaches 0.8%», noting that pilots do not understand several «false information circulating at the moment». «When, for example, a Nice-Casablanca flight is canceled, RAM indicates on its page the cancellation of two flights, Nice-outward and Nice-return, while it is only a single flight» our source wonders. For the latter, «it scares passengers out and even compromises the next season, since it is from now that people begin to book their winter trips». «RMA needs to respond to the real issues, and do everything it can to fill the gap, and to put in place long-term actions to address this problem», concludes our source. Customers, including Moroccan ones around the world and others wishing to travel to Saudi Arabia for the pilgrimage, will have to wait patiently until the two sides reach a common ground.
