6. TIlE STRUGGLE BY TtR WORLD>S FLIGET CREW

The crew complement issue in the United States actually came to a close with the findings of the Presidential Task Force.
When US ALPA, which had fought the hardest, abandoned its policy of the three man crew complement, activities by IFALPA and FEIA were restricted.
Even after the PTF's findings were made public, Air France manned its newly introduced A-310 with three crew members. This was the result of the hard struggle fought and won by the night engineers'union, SNOMAC.
An agreement between labor and management, stating that Air France aircraft (A-300, A-310, SST, B-747) would be manned with a three man crew complement up until 1992, was won by a hard fought struggle by SNOMAC during the introduction of the B-737. Under this agreement, the A-310 of Air France won the three man crew complement though regrettably the B-737 did not.
Talks between labor and management were held in Ansett Airlines of Australia concerning the introduction of the B-767. The B-767 had become a two-man aircraft due to the PTF findings but Ansett management decided to implement the three man crew complement because they judged it to be better.
There was no need to strike due to the relationship of trust between labor and management, with both sides recognizing the existence of the Bight engineer as an important factor contributing to the safety of the aircraft. A year after the B767 crew complement decision, Ansett signed an agreement requiring a flight engineer on board all aircraft designed to carry more than 120 passengers.
The Japan Air Lines Flight Crew Union has studied the present state of the crew complement issue through visits to France, Italy and Australia, and has confirmed that the struggle for the three man crew continues, not just in Japan, but still in other organizations throughout the world. The valuable knowledge gained through the activities of our members have and will be reflected in the crew complement struggle in Japan.