08/07/2026
Today, we participated in the launch event "Enforcing EU Labour Mobility Rules in the Aviation Sector" in Cologne, together with the European Labour Authority (ELA), the German Customs' Financial Control of Undeclared Work (Finanzkontrolle Schwarzarbeit – FKS), enforcement authorities and social partners from across Europe.
For us as trade unions, this is much more than the presentation of another report. It is an important milestone in ensuring that European labour and social security rules are effectively enforced across borders—not only on paper, but in everyday working life.
For aircrew in particular, stronger enforcement is long overdue. Complex cross-border employment structures, letterbox companies and, especially, abusive wet-lease arrangements continue to be used to undermine workers' rights, social security obligations and fair competition. We have been raising these issues for years, and today's initiative is another important step towards tackling them.
As trade unions, we will continue to push for a true level playing field in European aviation—where airlines compete through quality, innovation and service, not through social dumping or the erosion of labour standards.
We welcome the stronger cooperation between European and national enforcement authorities and will continue to work with them to ensure that workers' rights are protected across borders.
📄 Read the full ELA report here:
( https://www.ela.europa.eu/en/publications/enforcement-labour-mobility-and-social-security-coordination-rules-aircrew-members