They are dissatisfied with the company’s decision to dismiss one of their colleagues.
Twelve captains of Croatia Airlines resigned with regards to their pilot instructor duties in protest against the dismissal of one of their colleagues. Management of the Croatian national airline dismissed Captain Andro Šarinić a few weeks ago. The instructors informed Croatia Airlines about their resignations two days ago, and in a letter, they stated that Šarinić’s dismissal had not been explained by the company at all, reports Večernji List on May 29, 2017.
“Training captains, type instructors and examiners are the foundations of the stability and safety of our flight operations,” say the instructors. They add that, given their daily activities, high professional and personal integrity and dedication to work are rightly expected of them. They say that their colleague Šarinić is a true representative of such values.
“The atmosphere in which we cannot openly say what we really think, the atmosphere of fear in which we do not know whether our decision or opinion will be enough to get us fired, the atmosphere in which the majority of written messages from high-ranking executives ends with warnings about the possibility of termination of employment contracts, these are not the conditions in which we can or want to do our jobs,” states the letter written by the instructors. Some of them will now lose part of their incomes, and some will have to repay the costs of their training.
The CEO of Croatia Airlines Krešimir Kučko said he had exercised his right to choose his closest associates, and therefore he decided to cancel Šarinić’s instructor contract. He explained his decision with the fact that Šarinić was a long-time instructor and he wanted to have younger people in the instructor team.
“The instructors’ letter is just a pamphlet and part of the pressure regarding the collective agreement”, said Kučko. He categorically dismissed allegations about the atmosphere of fear and stated that they were a pure lie. Kučko added that he was sorry that the instructors had made such claims in the letter, especially since they had an agreed meeting in the next few days where they could solve all their problems.
Croatia Airlines, concluded Kučko, has six more instructors for Airbus and two for Dash aircraft, and resignations will not affect the company’s business operations. He also said that the company would train new instructors.
