Airline Charges ‘Illegal’ €60 Fee for Cabin Crew and Pilot Job Applications

One Spanish airline wants you to pay to get hired.

Spanish airline subsidiary Air Europa may have illegally charged job applicants 60 euros to apply for pilot and cabin crew positions, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported Jan. 13.

On Jan. 12, Air Europa held final interviews for 100 pilots and 150 cabin crew positions at its new low-cost airline Air Europa Express in Valencia, Spain, Isaac Valero, a representative of Spanish trade union, Union Sindical Obrera at Air Europa, told the AFP.

“If this time they asked for 60 euros, we have no idea what they may charge the next time,” said Valero.

The airline sent an e-mail to prospective job candidates demanding the fee at the beginning of January. Valero’s union received a copy.

Air Europa Express relaunched last week after a decade and a half absence. The airline formerly operated from 1996 to 2001 from Palma de Mallorca, Spain. Both Air Europa and Air Europa Express are owned by Spanish tourism group Globalia Corporacion Empresarial.

The AFP reports that the Spanish Guild of Commercial Aviation Pilots (COPAC) filed a complaint with the labor and social security agencies “because any selection process should be based on professional criteria,” COPAC spokesman Miguel Angel San Emeterio told the AFP.

“Any type of charge is immoral,” he said.

Charging to apply for a job is “illegal” because it violates the principle of non-discrimination in access to employment, he added.

[Photo: Getty Images]