Union condemns INEM’s direct regulation of helicopters at the Court of Auditors

The Union of Civil Aviation Pilots (SPAC) filed a complaint with the Court of Accounts against the direct contract between INEM and Avincis for the operation of helicopters in the first half of 2024.

In a statement sent to newsrooms on Tuesday, the SPAC alleged that “an illegal contract may be at stake” between the National Institute of Emergency Medicine (INEM) and Avincis, saying recent situations heighten doubts about an outright agreement.

In accordance with the contract, since the beginning of the year, two of the four emergency medical helicopters serving INEM, stationed in Viseu and Évora, have stopped operating at night.

In January, the union had already reported problems following the cuts related to delays in transporting patients or non-stop pilots to helicopters (model Aw109) with 12-hour shifts, and now reports a situation that it says raises even more doubts .

According to SPAC, on Sunday a helicopter (model Aw139) from the Macedo de Cavaleiros base was unable to operate a 24-hour shift due to a shortage of pilots, and INEM acknowledged that the Viseu helicopter could operate at night as an alternative.

“At the end of the day, Aw109 can and does operate 24 hours and provide service, contrary to what Avincis claimed and accepted by INEM in December,” the union said in a statement.

“If the direct agreement between them already raised a lot of doubts, then from the moment it began, now with the leniency of INEM, in March, accepting everything and canceling what was prepared, it demonstrates once again that everything did not happen in one direction, so that Avincis punished and persecuted the pilots of the Aw109 fleet,” he adds.

In January, the union said some pilots were not assigned to those helicopters at bases in Viseu and Évora, for which 20 pilots were scheduled, claiming they would only work for six days.

He also states that the reconfiguration was, on the one hand, justified by the lack of pilots, but since there are pilots without stopping, he claims that the company is punishing the Aw109 pilots for demanding that Avincis comply with the law. over the past year.

The halving of helicopters in service at night, according to INEM, was due to the fact that the institute received only two responses during the market consultation.

INEM President Luis Meira explained then that the amount available for this service increased from 7.5 to 12 million euros per year. For the two proposals received, one company submitted values ​​exceeding the limit, and the other, Avincis, indicated that it could only operate two helicopters 24 hours a day.

Luis Meira said he expects this situation to last a maximum of six months and that after the international competition the four helicopters available 24 hours a day will be returned.