Posted on 08/24/2014 4:28:33 PM PDT by DeaconBenjamin
Pressure mounted on Air France to suspend flights to West Africa on Friday when a trade union called on cabin crew to refuse to board planes to Ebola hit countries. It comes after panic spread through a Paris flight earlier this week.
A trade union representing Air France cabin crew has told its members to refuse to board planes bound for West African countries hit by Ebola.
The UGICT –CGT union said crew were not sufficiently protected against contamination from Ebola and they should boycott flights bound to Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.
It comes after a petition was launched earlier this week calling on France’s flagship liner to suspend flights to the region until the deadly virus, which has so far claimed over 1,350 lives is under control.
Earlier this week there was panic aboard a flight to Paris when several people fell ill.
As AFP reported the Air France flight from Freetown to Paris seemed to encapsulate the global panic in the face of the Ebola outbreak.
Anecdotes swirled around the cabin: apparently the same flight a few days ago carried three ill children, one with fever, two with diarrhoea. Passengers reportedly asked to move seats.
And it's not just the passengers who are fearful. The crew is short-staffed because employees are not exactly beating down the door of the Airbus A330 to fly to or from Ebola-hit West Africa.
Air France is one of the few airlines still flying to affected countries,as nations close their borders for fear of the outbreak and it insists it is doing everything possible to prevent anty contagion.
No one wore masks on the 20-minute hop between Freetown and Conakry (180kilometres, 110 miles), nor the long-haul flight to Paris that landed early Thursday morning. But the nervousness was palpable, even if the atmosphere was calm.
Authorities are grateful to companies like Air France who have kept flying to Ebola-hit countries, even though they are struggling to find staff willing to operate the flights.
"I would like to encourage Air France and Brussels Airlines to continue their operations in Sierra Leone," said Alimany Bangura, a top official at the economy ministry in Freetown.
"They give confidence back and prove that the situation (of the epidemic)is under control.
"They are our last hope."
I wouldn’t want to fly there, either.
The WORLD had better stop fooling around with the Ebola bug. It is far too dangerous to be taking even the smallest risks. It is time to protect the world against its spread regardless of cost.
“They give confidence back and prove that the situation (of the epidemic)is under control.
“They are our last hope.”
THAT does not give ME confidence...
Obama
ZZZzzzZZZzzz
HA HA HA HA - He said "is under control" HA HA HA
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
That's NOT funny....
Me, too.
Even a stopped clock.
The airlines are run by idiots who are helping spread the disease.
It’s only going to be a matter of time if travel by ANY means is not curtailed.
“I wouldn’t want to fly there, either.”
What about the contamination of the airline’s fleet of planes?
Bring Out Your Dead
Post to me or FReep mail to be on/off the Bring Out Your Dead ping list.
The purpose of the “Bring Out Your Dead” ping list (formerly the “Ebola” ping list) is very early warning of emerging pandemics, as such it has a high false positive rate.
So far the false positive rate is 100%.
At some point we may well have a high mortality pandemic, and likely as not the “Bring Out Your Dead” threads will miss the beginning entirely.
*sigh* Such is life, and death...
The worst part is those that get infected are no longer reasonable and you have to resort to extreme measures to get them off the aircraft...
Better to NOT fly there in the first place.
IMO, they should be burned but what do I know.
A link to this thread has been posted on the Ebola Surveillance Thread
Thanks for the ping!
Was just thinking the same thing. Who gets the job of disinfecting these aircraft? Or, does that even happen?
You’re Welcome, Alamo-Girl!
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