The fatal tragedy of the Germanwings flight this month was an accident and will not blight budget airline carriers, the boss of EasyJet said yesterday.
EasyJet’s chief executive Carolyn McCall said: ‘This is absolutely not a low cost issue. It is not a low cost legacy issue. It was a Lufthansa plane. It was a random, violent act by a person that was very ill. It could have happened on a train, a bus or at a shopping centre.’
She said EasyJet spends more on safety than many other aircrafts and has a strong management structure.
McCall on Germanwings: ‘It was a random, violent act by a person that was very ill. It could have happened on a train, a bus or at a shopping centre’
Like many other airlines, EasyJet last week changed its rules to ensure two crew members are in the cockpit at all times after it emerged Andreas Lubitz appeared to deliberately crash a Germanwings plane into the French Alps.
McCall said the airline already does psychometric testing and its own assessments in consultation with the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority.
McCall added: ‘We have our own systems in place. A knee jerk reaction about pilots is not a good idea. Every airline will look at what they can do. But remember pilots are highly trained and checked – getting a pilots licence is very hard to do. You are checked all the time unlike any other profession.’
Speaking at the launch of its EasyJet’s latest base opening in Amsterdam, McCall also took a swipe at the Conservative Party’s decision to call a referendum in 2017 on the UK’s membership of the EU.
She called for Britain to stay in Europe, joining a long list of business heavyweights who have spoken out against the policy – including WPP chief executive Martin Sorrell and billionaire Virgin owner Richard Branson.
McCall said: ‘Britain is better in Europe. Being isolated would be detrimental to Britain.’
However McCall refused to say who she was backing at the next election, stating that EasyJet was not political.
Disaster: Last week Germanwings Airbus A320 crashed in Seyne-les-Alpes in the French Alps killing 150 people
Yesterday Labour leader Ed Miliband warned that an EU referendum would trigger a bitter two-year campaign in which a re-elected Tory party would tear itself apart over whether the UK should remain in Europe.
He said: ‘There could be nothing worse for our country or for our great exporting businesses than playing political games with our membership in Europe.
‘David Cameron used to understand that. Perhaps he still does. But in the past five years our place in the European Union has become less and less secure.’
Yesterday EasyJet launch its twenty-sixth operational base, at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. EasyJet, which is already the second-biggest airline at Schiphol, has added nine new destinations, including to Hamburg and Ibiza, taking the total number from Amsterdam to 29.
McCall said: ‘Opening a base at Schiphol is an important strategic move for easyJet. We are already the second largest airline at Amsterdam.’
The Schiphol launch will see EasyJet base three A320 aircraft at the airport with a fourth to arrive by the winter.
McCall denied that the Schiphol expansion was linked to the lack of capacity at Heathrow, where easyJet currently does not operate, but was instead an opportunity to capitalise on its already strong position at Amsterdam.
Despite being Gatwick’s biggest customer, easyJet in January came out in favour of building a third runway at Heathrow. The Davies Commission will make its recommendation on how to expand capacity after May’s general election.
The expansion comes as EasyJet announced its first profitable winter last week. It is on track to report a half year profit and this week said it will increase its number of winter flights later this year with plans for another 78,878 flights taking seats to 13 million.
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