Air France Union Urges Crews Not to Fly Airbus

A French airline-workers union has urged Air France crews to boycott long-haul Airbus jets until new speed sensors are installed, the Times of London reports. “To prevent a repeat” of the Flight 447 disaster, the Alter union said, “we call on flight deck and cabin crew to refuse all flights aboard the A330 and A340 series which have not been modified.” Alter represents 10% of Air France crews.

Air France has already sped up the replacement of the sensor and says the overhaul of its fleet will be complete within days. Alter says the airline was trying to cover up a crucial oversight and had known about false speed readings since November. One pilot faulted the extremely automated plane for the crash: “The automatics make life easier on the Airbus but the failure states are far more complicated and less intuitive than on a Boeing.” (More Air France Flight 447 stories.)