Rex slams ‘cowardly’ leaks over allegations of unsafe planes
Regional Express has hit out angrily against what it calls ‘wild accusations’ calling into question its safety standards.
It comes after a 17-page report by maintenance crew and engineers was leaked detailing allegations of intimidation against engineers who spoke out about safety issues.
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) is investigating claims made in the report but the Australian regional carrier accuses CASA itself of leaking the report.
It called the leak a ‘cowardly and malicious’ attack’ against its credibility by unnamed persons within CASA.
"Realising that these baseless accusations are not getting any traction, some are now taking the despicable and cowardly approach of launching anonymous malicious attacks on Rex in the press," said Rex’s chief operating officer Neville Howell.
Employees claim to have been pressured into not reporting safety defects, and at least one was disciplined for doing so.
"The apparent discouragement of reporting of maintenance defects has created a circumstance where an unknown number of serious defects may have not been reported, and aircraft have operated with a serious and imminent risk to air safety," the report said.
Engineers are calling for Rex’s entire fleet to be grounded
"We have information from the union and Rex. We are now working through that carefully and thoroughly. There is no time frame at this stage. We will take appropriate action if required," a CASA spokesman said.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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