Pilots raise alarm at Qatar Airways for doctored hours, hidden fatigue

Pilots at Qatar Airways say the state-owned airline is under-counting their work hours and ignoring complaints of fatigue - a safety breach that hurts staff health and risks passenger lives. The testimony demonstrates how worker abuse extends even to the Gulf nation’s high-skill industries, as Qatar Airways tries to minimise crew downtime. “This is obviously a huge health and safety issue for the pilots themselves - and the people they’re flying,” said Isobel Archer of the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre. The revelations come months before Qatar hosts its first World Cup with QA - as lead sponsor - hoping to be football’s carrier of choice. But pilots worry about the risks fans could run, saying ultra-long flights are now operated by short-staffed and exhausted crews, a pressure only made worse by the pandemic. “I fell asleep during the descent with 400 passengers on board,” recalled Erik of one such 20-hour flight that he landed safely at the carrier’s Doha base. “You can’t do anything. Your body is just screaming for rest. You feel the pain inside of your chest, and you’re unable to keep your eyes open,” the first officer told the Thomson Reuters Foundation, using a pseudonym so he could speak more freely. Erik and six other flight crew members said the airline’s work hours were driving them into exhaustion and that managers were refusing to give them enough rest. Many did not even file fatigue reports, fearing additional scrutiny from an airline that made thousands of staff redundant in the pandemic. Others said their reports were ignored or didn’t get rest to match the shift worked. “We’re overworked and fatigued – but I never filled out a fatigue report because I don’t want to be in the spotlight,” said Erik.<br/>