The Supreme Court has issued a sentence in which Iberia is imposed on the adoption of special measures for cabin crews that operate the Airbus A350 that the company incorporated in 2018.
According to The published by Five dayscabin trunk have a swinging system that rises over the heads of passengers at a height greater than 1.80 meters. That makes lower stature cabin staff not always closing them correctly. The high court has made it clear: they need help.
A height problem on board. The origin of the problem is the compartment closure system in which passengers keep their cabin luggage. For this model, Airbus designed a swinging system in which, instead of closing with a gate as usual, it forces cabin staff to lift each section of the trunk anchoring on the ceiling of the aircraft.
As stated in the sentence, the problem is that these compartments are anchored at a height of between 1.81 and 2.20 meters and support a load of about 45 kilos, which “harms the health of the workers” by having to raise their weight above their shoulders.
This peculiarity of the A350 adds to the fact of having to make the cabin crew that measure less than 1.63 meters do not close them from the hall “with the body inclined on the passenger seats to be able to close them.”
Shared effort. The sentence of the High Court amparo to this case by imposing on Iberia “to establish organizational measures of mandatory compliance for workers with surcharge function when distributing the work in the aircraft that guarantee that the closure of the trunk with the highest ergonomic risk evaluated is carried out by two workers or subsidiarily well by two workers either by a worker with adequate stature.”
For those employees who measure less than 1.63 meters, the Court contemplates “that they are helped by another worker for the louder trunk or those who carry a greater weight indicating that they must have the help of a higher -height partner to close these trunk before each flight.”
In addition, to establish a work exception for the cabin crew that operates in these aircraft, the sentence forces the airline to provide uniforms made with more flexible tissues that allow the crew greater ergonomics in their movements given the difficulty when manipulating the holders.
The problem is not new. The design problem of the A350s and the labor risk regulations of the cabin staff is not new. In 2022, the Iberia Company Committee presented A demand that put the focus on the control of the weight of the hand luggage that was later housed in those compartments that should be pulse elevated by the cabin crew.
In that sentence, the Social Court of the National Court has already recognized that it was necessary to re -evaluate the ergonomic risk for the workers that the new work equipment (the aircraft) supposed. In that litigation, the Spanish airline recognized a “moderate” postural risk. Now, the Supreme Court confirms that sentence and forces Iberia to “adopt a technical solution to the design defect.”
The touch of attention of justice. From the Supreme Court, they warn the air operator about the obligation of compliance with the sentence, since Iberia’s appeal was “inadmissibly ambiguous” arguing that “it has already complied with it”, while the plaintiffs deny that some measure has been taken to solve the problem of the trunk.
The Supreme Court rejects that Iberia’s response is limited “to be replaced by a simple documentary reference to the responsibility of billing and shipment personnel” to control the weight of the luggage, and points out that this is “only a first step in preventive activity, but not its definitive conclusion” claiming “the total compliance with the ordered in the sentence.”
Image | Iberia
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