Croatia Airlines crew accused of silent protest

Croatia Airlines crew declares itself unfit to fly and cancels flight

Cabin crew members rostered on to Croatia Airlines’ flight from Berlin to Dubrovnik last Sunday night, have been accused of staging a silent protest after they declared themselves unfit to fly, denied passengers the right to board the aircraft and returned home with an empty jet. Flight OU434 from Dubrovnik to Berlin was operated normally, with the Airbus A319 aircraft experiencing mild turbulence due to severe whether prior to landing. Following a safe touchdown, the four members of the cabin crew team declared themselves unfit to fly, cancelling the return service as a result. The actions of the crew has drawn criticism from the press and has cost the airline considerably as the aircraft returned to Dubrovnik empty that same evening, while passengers were rerouted onto a Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt the following day and then onwards to Dubrovnik with Croatia Airlines.

Croatia Airlines’ spokeswoman, Ksenija Žlof, explained in more detail the events which took place that night. “After landing in Berlin, the captain talked to the cabin crew who declared themselves unfit to fly. The “fit to fly” category is completely subjective and depends on a range of elements such as the amount of accumulated fatigue and stress of the crew, both work-related and private”, Ms Žlof said. She noted that the crew’s decision not to perform the return leg is in line with European Union regulations. “That is what the four cabin crew members decided, while the cockpit crew declared itself fit to fly. Following talks between the pilot and crew, and in coordination with Croatia Airlines’ Operations Centre, it was decided for the aircraft to return to Dubrovnik empty, in order to put it back into service as soon as possible”. The crew rested in Dubrovnik overnight and flew on to Zagreb the following day.

At the time, severe weather was reported in and around Berlin, which forced the airport to shut down, however, Croatia Airlines’ aircraft landed in the German capital after it was reopened. Due to the crew’s actions, the Croatian carrier will have to cough up 250 euros per passenger in denied boarding compensation (DBC). Furthermore, the airline had to reroute all of its passengers onto a Lufthansa flight the next morning, first to Frankfurt and then onwards to Dubrovnik, with travellers arriving at their final destination some eighteen hours behind schedule. The crew’s actions have led the media to speculate that they were staging a silent protest against the management.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:04

    In a normal company heads would roll for something like this. How can the crew be unfit but the pilots are? I can only imagine how happy the management was now that they have to pay compensation to 100+ passengers and returned back empty.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:37

      They wouldn't roll anywhere (civilized) because the crew would have a good case to sue the airline management. Imagine if a judge would be presented with a case where the crew said they were unfit to fly and the management ignoring it and putting the lives of people at risk.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:43

      He didn't say it would be the cabin crew heads...

      Of course the management cannot force them to fly if they said they were unfit. What the management can do is conduct an investigation that would reveal WHY they ended up unfit. Is it because of the turbulence during the inbound flight? In that case they are generally not fit for cabin crew and should be grounded. Is it some chronic stress or fatigue? That may indicate a system problem in OU - and it still requires this crew to be grounded. One way or another, they should not fly for quite some time until they are fit again. Meanwhile they can do some administrative work for 60% of their normal salary. Any responsible management would wait at least 6 months before allowing an unfit crew to fly again. So if this was the goal of those four geniuses then they are on a good path.

      Delete
    3. Although I disagree with the actions that these crew members allegedly committed, I think punishing them in any way would set a very bad precedent.

      In modern crew resource management, it is absolutely necessary for any member to be able to freely voice their concerns without any thoughts of punishment.

      There are plenty of legal and professional ways to try to bring a change in a company's culture. Acting in such a way as they allegedly did not only makes the passengers as collateral damage, it also abuses these regulations which are there to protect everyone's safety.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous09:05

    250 EUR per passenger, rerouting, flying the aircraft empty..... crazy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:14

      hotel, transfer to hotel, food and drinks

      so that is around 120.000 EUR.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous09:20

      I wonder why they did it. This obviously wasn't stress related otherwise the pilots would have joined in as well...

      Delete
    3. Anonymous21:38

      Well, few thousand Euros difference monthly can very much contribute in consuming the stress more successfully, not to mention other stuff, direct contact with people/guests/passengers for example, which can be rather stresfull too

      Delete
  3. Anonymous09:26

    Žalosna situacija. Ako im je loše u firmi, trebale su pronaći drukčiji način kako će iskazati svoje nezadovoljstvo i bijes. To se nikako ne radi preko leđa putnika koji su ovdje najviše izgubili (CA će pronaći način da namiri ove troškove, ionako parazitiraju na naš račun). Ovako su ispale neodgojene glupa*e. Ako nisu u stanju izdržati turbulencije, neka budu konobarice u kafiću. Da su organizirale normalan štrajk, odlično, stalo bi se iza njih. Ovako su ponizile svoju struku i same sebe i nabili gnjev više od 100 ljudi. Je li im to bila potreba?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:27

      +1

      Delete
    2. Anonymous14:53

      Nope. They are valued crew members as any other. I'm a pilot but I have great respect for CAs. Try to be on your feet for 10hrs and days in row, then come back and comment.

      This situation is rare, but I fly with captains which accept this decision in a heartbeat. Also there are some other which will pressure them in flying.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous17:32

      Bravo za komentar. Ima li neke šanse da ove buudu kažnjene, npr da im se makar deo štete odbije od zarade?

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:32

    Drama queens.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Why is it that it's only OU that has chronic issues with its crew? What makes them different from other airlines in the region, Jat/Air Serbia, Montenegro, Adria...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous09:49

      +1 I still remember when pilots sent out a letter to the press that they used butter to close the door of the aircraft o.O

      Delete
    2. Anonymous21:30

      Only OU has issues with the crew? Already forgot ASL employees and their Letter to Directorate, only about a month ago? Oh, yes, sorry, it doesn't count, it's in Allmighty, Heavenly, Chosen, God-Given Airline

      Delete
    3. I think you meant the letter that the pilots wrote to the directorate? I was referring to the OU crew in particular because it seems to me that there are many, many disputes between them and the management. They had quite a few strikes over the last couple of years.

      Also, what's the point of commenting if you are going to write such nonsense?

      Delete
  6. Anonymous09:49

    Although I don't agree with the action taken by these flight attendants, it does seem to point to a much more serious level of staff dissatisfaction in OU.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous10:27

    Haha just found this

    "Energy Clinic proudly announces partnership with Croatian Airlines! All Croatia Airlines employees get to enjoy 30% discount on all spa services at all EC locations."

    ironic

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous11:26

    With such crew and managment it can just go down the drain when the the sugarddady state pulls the subventions

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous11:28

    I quess none of the people adding stupid remarks here has any clue about EU Ops FTL.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous12:02

    Ey72 sutra sa a330

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:09

      Sto trolujes?

      Abu Dhabi 12:55 (10.07.) 12:55 (10.07.) Airbus A319

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:59

      http://www.beg.aero/strana/7701/odlasci?brojLeta=&destinacija=&datum=2015%2F07%2F10&vreme=&timeZone=2&type=ID&flightSearch=true

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:03

      Greska... Imaju dva leta sutra za AUH i oba su u 12:55 zbog toga je zabuna... Drugi let je EY 9939

      Delete
    4. Anonymous13:29

      That's the second freighter in two days. Also there's some 747F from Togo landing right now. Any idea what is it transporting (the Etihad one)?

      Delete
    5. Anonymous13:43

      Fantasticne vesti za LYBE ove nedelje 1x 74Y i 2x 33X .
      I LYBE ima ubedljivo najvise wide body letova u EX YU.
      INN-NS

      Delete
    6. Beogad na Vodi14:11

      "Moj tata je jaci od tvog!"

      Delete
    7. Anonymous15:05

      Stalno nesto mjeri, usporedjuje, tvoj veci, moj manji, u krvi mu je. ;-)

      Delete
    8. Anonymous21:14

      ... and DBV and ZAG have the most wide bodied pax aircraft in ex YU this season;
      I'm very sorry for that inn-ns

      Delete
    9. Anonymous21:26

      BEG has NO PASSENGER wide body flights AT ALL.
      DBV has SCHEDULED wide body passanger flights.
      ZAG has both scheduled and charter wide body passenger flights.
      ZAG has wide body CARGO flights like BEG as well, but people from ZAG don't make a show every time wide body lands there, like some people here, especially INN-NS do.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous21:54

      Yeah, numbers speak for themselves, last Anonymous.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous21:59

      Zato ZAG ima duplo manje pax od VEG i cargo robe.
      INN-NS

      Delete
    12. Anonymous22:06

      I fully agree. Numbers speak for themselves. HR : 7,5 mil. SRB : 4,5 mil. Cheers !

      Delete
    13. Anonymous22:07

      Od "VEG" i "cargo roba" Hahahahahahahha, pa ovo je da presvisnes od smeha !!!!

      Delete
    14. Anonymous22:15

      Mi uporedjujemo 7 aerodroma sa jednim koji sam ima skoro pola .
      Ne znate da racunate uporedite samo ZAG i BEG pa da vidimo.
      INN-NS

      Delete
    15. Anonymous23:36

      Zasto da uporedjujem samo ZAG i BEG, zato jer se to tebi svidja, jer to tebi tako odgovara? E vidis bas necu. Uporedjivacu broj avioputnika u Hrvatskoj i u Srbiji. A u Hrvatskoj ih je DUPLO VISE. Pa ti crkni od muke, slobodno :)

      Delete
    16. Anonymous04:34

      5 je duplo vise od 7?! Hmm...

      Delete
  11. Anonymous12:39

    What's going on at BEG? Five planes are circling over Serbia while YU-APB is attempting to land for the nth time now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:56

      Кружио је изнад веома густо насељеног дела града, што је прилично неуобичајено.

      Интересантно је да је синоћ и ЈУ-АЛО из Подгорице кружио пре него је слетео, док су у међувремену сасвим нормално слетали и полетали авиони

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:58

      6-7 a/c actually, what's going-on?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:15

      Mess due to arrival (yesterday) and departure (today) of the German chancellor.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous13:18

      Yeah but if it was because of Merkel then YU-APB wouln't be attempting to land a few times.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous13:27

      Nije u opste neubicajno zato sto je pre nekoliko meseci Eurofighter vojske Austrije je leteo preko Innsbrucka pa mu je eksplodirao motor 1 pa prilikom prinudnog sletanja iznad grada takodje i 2 tako da nije nista cudno.
      INN-NS

      Delete
    6. Anonymous15:24

      A YU-APB je Eurofighter? Nisam znao da ih Srbija ima.

      Cicko, kakve veze ima vojni avion sa civilnim koji je pun putnika i čudno se ponaša? To je kao da opravdaš saobračajnu nesreću autobusa sa time da je na nekom tenku u švicarskoj pukla gusjenica.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous16:21

      Pa to nije bilo do tehnicke greske nego nesto drugo . Pa valjda je gore da preko gradapreketi sa eksplodiranim motorima i pun naoruzanja svaka cast .
      INN-NS

      Delete
    8. Anonymous16:23

      Војни авион је био наоружан? Хммм... како да не.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous19:42

      Aerodrom je bio zatvoren pola sata zbog inspekcije piste

      Delete
  12. Anonymous13:24

    Sto se moze zakljuciti da sve i jedna EX YU Aviokompanija ima jako ljubazne Pilote ali zato jako bezobrazno i nekulturne STW naravno ima i onih sto rade taj posao iz ljubavi Ali jako su retki .
    Evo jedan primer iz ASL kad ih stave na ATR 72 kazu kanta krs .
    INN-NS

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous13:31

      Па зато што то и јесте, са тачке гледишта комфора.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:46

      Da ali jako su bezobrazni usvim ex yu aviokompanijama i toi je sramota da toliko sabotiraju kompanije svoje i pljuju ih .
      INN-NS

      Delete
    3. Anonymous13:53

      Значи по теби је саботирање компаније то што говоре оно што је очигледно?
      Чисто сумњам да би ти другачије радио да си на њиховом месту.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous14:51

      Ja bi radfio drugacije sto bi rekao moj prijatelj sto leti za OS oni mi daju svaki mesec hleb:
      INN-NS

      Delete
    5. Anonymous14:53

      Они му дају хлеб зато што га је он заслужио тако да...

      Delete
  13. Anonymous13:47

    http://www.aerotelegraph.com/airbus-traeumt-vom-regional-a380
    Airbus od skoro ima patent za A380 regional =D.
    INN-NS

    ReplyDelete
  14. JU520 BEGLAX16:27

    Same website u find info on cabinlay out of LX B773 which are arriving as of Jan2016
    first destinations are bkk, hkg, lax fully. Partly sfo, gru and tlv

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JU520 BEGLAX19:47

      As per OAG, as of 21feb 4 weekly ZRHJFK flts until 25mar. As of 26mar daily Montreal. As of Apr 3 flts to HKG. June daily LAX
      Jul daily BKK, Aug daily GRU. Effective SEP daily SFO
      they will hve Kiosk for food and and drins un Y class
      Config is 8F, 62C and 270Y

      Delete
  15. Anonymous17:14

    http://www.istinomer.rs/izjava/nismo-leteli-za-sad-25-godina/

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous18:21

    To je bio code share let.. A ne Jat-ov let.. pobogu...

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous18:37

    People, check out on JU's website the winter timetable, it's even worse than what was written on here a few days ago... fyi SVO is down to a daily flight and the aircraft sits there for like 10 hours.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous18:45

      I wonder how much longer before Dane realises that he is not the man to run JU. Any reasonable person would have quit by now especially with STR, ARN, CPH, FCO, SKG, WAW, MXP... all having less than daily flights!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous18:49

      najverovatnije je greska u sistemu nisu ludi da smanjuju linije na kojima imaju preko 80% Lf.
      INN-NS

      Delete
    3. Anonymous19:32

      No, it's not a glitch, it's what people have been saying on here for the longest time now.

      Delete
    4. JU520 BEGLAX19:53

      LX will also reduce LJU ZAG in Winter Tlmetable. I think the right strategy. Winter Timetable loads are often below 50% on flts, so why daily loose cash
      Whats wrong with Dane? I think any decision is always in accordance with EY anyway

      Delete
    5. Anonymous20:09

      "PIA will place its code and sale on Etihad-operated flights for international routes beyond Abu Dhabi as permitted under Air Services Agreement to Frankfurt, Rome, Madrid, Athens, Amsterdam in Europe; Washington, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco in North America; Nairobi in Eastern Africa; and Amman in the Middle East."

      Athens but not Belgrade?

      I would not be surprised if at the end Etihad replaces Air Serbia with Aegean as their partner of choice in SE Europe.

      Interesting article by the way:

      http://www.dawn.com/news/1191365

      Delete
    6. Anonymous20:18

      I guess you don't work for the airline if you are asking such a question. Also, these reductions are catastrophic, STR, CPH and ARN 4 weekly, for you that's ok? How on earth are they supposed to build a hug with those frequencies.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous20:20

      "fyi SVO is down to a daily flight and the aircraft sits there for like 10 hours."

      I guess if it is a daily flight it'll be operated by the A320. I however find it hard to believe there aren't days which warrant two departures.

      Delete
    8. ATR 72-50020:20

      "I would not be surprised if at the end Etihad replaces Air Serbia with Aegean as their partner of choice in SE Europe."
      What did you smoke today man, serious question? Just because of a code share with Belgrade out of game?

      They did not chose Belgrade since there is less than 500 Pakistanis in Serbia permanently. Actually there is probably a few thousand illegals who are just transiting through Serbia. There is a large Pakistani community in Greece (around 100k), especially Athens and the area and that is why they chose Athens instead of Belgrade. There are no stats for Serbian in Pakistan, but I would guess its less than 100.

      tbh I feel like you are trolling here, but anyway here is the reply

      Delete
    9. Anonymous20:27

      To mora da je sistemska greska sve te linije imaju preko 75 % i niko od normalnih zaposlenih nista ne prica o tome a iz vrha nisam jos nista tako cuo.
      INN-:NS

      Delete
    10. Anonymous20:31

      "They did not chose Belgrade since there is less than 500 Pakistanis in Serbia permanently. "

      It would have cost them anything to add Belgrade? I bet you that more Pakistanis live in all the areas served by JU than in Greece combined.

      Delete
    11. @ATRoll 72-50020:35

      I mean, after all, they could have served it via Belgrade. It's as if Air Serbia was serving Teheran or Bangkok via Istanbul. I just don't get Etihad's constantly stabbing in the back through Aegean the business of Air Serbia and that's on many lines.

      Can you post a single proof that i'm trolling? Or you're such a JU cheerleader that everything that makes some sense is trolling for you, troll.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous20:37

      It is interesting here to read all these comments ...

      Air Serbia gets criticized for price dumping due to excessive capacity and then when they reduce capacity over the winter, when demands naturally contracts, it is then deemed 'catastrophic' ....

      When they fly with 30-40 pax on a flight, they are heavily criticized, with conclusions of gloom and doom. When they respond and adjust their capacity accordingly, it is deem and gloom all over ...

      Arm chair critics never cease to amaze me with their comments ....

      Delete
    13. Anonymous20:39

      Do you get it that by reducing frequencies they're gonna fly even more empty planes on other lines?

      Delete
    14. ATR 72-50020:39

      Well without looking at stats I can freely say that there are more Pakistanis in Greece alone than whole ex Yu, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary combined. Now I hope you do not expect pax to travel from CDG or LHR via BEG via AUH to Karachi when they go with EY, EK, QR, TK, etc or of course directly with PIA

      Delete
    15. Anonymous20:40

      najverovatnije je greska u sistemu nisu ludi da smanjuju linije na kojima imaju preko 80% Lf.
      INN-NS
      Prvo navede preko 80% LF, zatim preko 75%, sta ce biti u sledecem postu: 70, 65, ili 60%? Dezinformacije "iz vrha"

      Delete
    16. The timetable is not uploaded in full. Codeshare flights with Aeroflot are not there yet and there are no signs that the codeshare agreement JU/SU is cancelled.

      Delete
    17. ATR 72-50020:54

      Well that was creative but the only reason I said that is since out of nowhere you said EY will possibly leave ASL for A3 . Also if you read my previous comments I am far from ASL cheerleader, but you are free to think that. If EY is in alliance and partnership with ASL it does not mean they are not allowed to work with any other company in the region. Anyhow in regards to PIA talk, I do not see any potential in that code share ( my opinion), but I would like to see your side of the story on how there would be benefit of the codeshare.

      Delete
    18. Anonymous20:54

      Sledece ce biti da je greska u sistemu sto nema nigde A330 i long haula. A onda ce biti greska u sistemu kada ne bude novih aviona za kratke linije. A onda ce biti greska u sistemu kada EY pocne lagano da se povlaci. Onda ce biti greska u sistemu kada se otkrije koliko je para gradjana Srbije pojeo ovaj "grandiozni projekat", a onda ce, ako Bog, Alah, Buda i svi ostali Gore uslisaju nase molitve, nestati sa ovog bloga

      Delete
    19. Meni je okej da vidim da se prilagođavaju broju putnika, tj da se aktivno time bave. Ako nema putnika, nema... jbg. Mada, ozbiljno, rano je za prognoze kada nije još sve precizirano. Ček prvo da vidimo šta će biti pa da dajemo komentare.

      Gledao sam nešto prvu i drugu nedelju februara za Rim. Sistem mi izbacuje da jednog vikenda nema Alitalijinih letova za Rim a već sedam dana kasnije su opet tu. Ili je Alitalija ozbiljno skresala liniju za Beograd tokom zime ili još nije sve ubačeno u sistem.

      Delete
    20. Anonymous22:00

      JU winter timetable is uploaded and official. Btw, JU stats for June : around 255.000 passengers (+10% yoy), operations +6.0%, CLF 72% (including charters). Best routes in terms of CLF : CDG 87.5%, AMS 87%%, SVO 86%. Worst routes : VAR and WAW below 50%, BUD 50%, AUH 53%

      Delete
    21. Anonymous22:04

      Thank you last Anonymous. How are the Eastern destinations performing, namely Beirut, Istanbul and Tel Aviv in terms of LF%?

      Delete
    22. Anonymous22:06

      Jeste greska a A330 dolazi nije greska pa STR je imao 75 % i jos neke a neke 80 % zato se smanjilo.
      INN-NS

      Delete
    23. Anonymous22:13

      STR, BEY,IST 65-66%, TLV 58%, exclusively June.

      Delete
    24. Anonymous22:25

      Хвала! :)

      Delete
    25. Anonymous22:34

      anon 10:00 PM, how is BRU, SOF, SJJ, SKP and OTP doing?

      Delete
    26. Anonymous22:55

      Otkrivaju se stvari koje su delimicno istinite i koje su totalne nebuloze tako da molim da se obriso ovo posto ce samo da vodi do svadja i rasprave u nastavku .
      INN-NS

      Delete
    27. If I am not mistaken Serbia and Pakistan do not have an ASA so the code-share could not be introduced.

      As far as Aegean goes, their cooperation with Etihad was inherited from Olympic and from what I understood they are not too interested in working with EY. I think they even discontinued their AUH flights.

      Delete
    28. Anonymous23:36

      Any information on how has the ultra-expensive codeshare with Air China been selling?

      Delete
    29. Hahah the saddest part of that whole deal is that you end up paying €1.000+ to fly on Air China.

      Delete
    30. Anonymous23:48

      @Nemjee

      Weren't there talks of Air Serbia codesharing on Etihad's flight to KHI?

      Delete
    31. Anonymous23:54

      That codeshare is nothing short of a rip-off.

      Delete
    32. @Anon 11.48

      Yes but I think it was postponed until a new ASA is signed. That's one of the reasons why there is no codeshare to Iran or Ethiopia despite there being a market.

      Delete
    33. There are two kinds of states, those which consider the Yugoslav ASA as being applicable to Serbia and those which require the creation of a new one. I think Pakistan was one of those that asked for a new one, which is actually not a bad idea.

      Delete
  18. Anonymous20:26

    Da li neko ima pregled svih do sada poznatih redukcija u zimskom redu letenja JU?

    ReplyDelete
  19. JU520 BEGLAX20:35

    Tried to check C class fares ZRHBEGZRH in November. Does not work on JU website. Also can not book C. I only get Y 3 dif tariffs
    Anyone knows the trick? Tx

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous23:38

    OT - Why Emirates never ordered the A333?

    ReplyDelete
  21. INN-NS , koliko godina ti imas?

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous02:28

    The 747-400 landing in Belgrade bound for Togo,
    which airline is it ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous04:18

      Air Cargo Global 747-400F, just took off to ISU.

      http://www.planepictures.net/a/136/68/1432284478.jpg

      Delete
  23. Anonymous16:19

    ^ thank you very much !

    ReplyDelete

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