Pilot claims ‘casual racism' at BA
26.04.08
A senior British Airways pilot has said that there are 'startling levels of casual racism' at the airline, which once famously claimed to be ‘the world's favourite airline’, the Independent reports
Captain Doug Maughan, who has 28 years' flying experience, including 15 years with BA, told the newspaper that derogatory remarks about race by his colleagues are so common they are treated as normal. The serving pilot who captains BA aircraft to all parts of the world, decided to go public with his complaints after struggling to persuade BA's management to take racism among its senior staff seriously. He even complained by email to BA's chief executive, Willie Walsh, but says no action was taken.
Mr Maughan alleges that racism is a ‘generational’ problem – common among middle-aged pilots, but rare among younger pilots. He lodged his first complaint after hearing a senior training captain use the word ‘coon’ during a training session on a flight simulator – but says that no action was taken.
He told the newspaper: ‘There was a time when we set off for Los Angeles with a large party of Saudis on board, who had joined us at Heathrow direct from the VIP lounge. In the cruise, my captain suddenly embarked on an extraordinary rant about 'rag-heads'. He got the word out twice before I stopped him by explaining he was going to be short of a first officer for the return sector if he carried on.’
Mr Maughan, who lives in Dunblane, Perthshire, was on another flight when a fellow flight officer complained that there were too many Asians in Britain. ‘The captain turned to me and said: 'I don't suppose there are many of them up your way.' I replied: 'Well, there's my wife.' After that, they had the decency to fall silent.'
Mr Maughan, 53, is so exasperated by what he sees as BA management's refusal to tackle the problem that he is planning a protest at this year's annual shareholders' meeting. He said: ‘It's what I'd call a canteen culture. It seems to be accepted that people are going to make racist remarks and get away with it. The phrase 'institutional racism' has been so over-used as to be almost worthless, but I have to say that racism is as prevalent now in BA as it was in the RAF 25 years ago.'
‘What is common among white flying crew in BA is the use of mildly derogatory, sometimes jokey, language about other races, mainly aimed at black and Asian groups. Because it's so common, it's hard to tackle: it's ... the norm and rarely even noticed.’
A BA spokesman told the newspaper: ‘All British Airways employees must adhere to our policies concerning dignity at work. Under these policies we encourage employees to report incidences of racism, sexism or any other behaviour that they deem offensive or inappropriate. Any reports of such behaviour are taken extremely seriously and investigated as a matter of priority. Captain Maughan has a duty as an employee to provide details of any alleged inappropriate behaviour direct to the airline.’
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