If nothing is done for their remuneration and the budgets allocated to helicopter companies by hospitals, Pilots and crew members of Samu helicopters Could strike this summer, according to a union statement published this Tuesday, April 29.
“As of this summer, the SAMU helicopter pilots as well as crew members (…) will cease their activity in France,” threatened the SAMU helicopter branch of the National Syndicate of Navigating Staff of Civil Aeronautics (SNPNAC).
3,100 euros at the end of his career
The SNPNAC denounces too low wages: 2,300 euros net for a pilot of the beginner SAMU for a 35 -hour equivalent, around the minimum wage for co -pilots and members of technical crews. “We are the least well-paid in Europe, we are 35 % less than Romanian crews for example,” said Alexandre Hinaux, helicopter pilot in Saint-Brieuc (Côtes-d’Armor) and secretary general of the Samu helicopter branch of SNPNAC.
At the end of their careers, pilots can hope to receive 3,100 euros, according to the union. The SAMU uses helicopters mainly to urgently transport patients to a hospital when ambulance help take too much time, and to a lesser extent for transport between hospitals.
They are private helicopter companies which ensure these missions on behalf of hospitals. There are three main ones: the French SAF and HBG and the British Babcock. Hospitals receive the budget for these regional health agencies (ARS).
Align wages with the European low average
But, according to the SNPNAC, the “unpaid” are “colossal”: “some hospitals still owe subcontractors for several million euros”, around forty, according to Alexandre Hinaux, “jeopardizing their viability,” the union wrote in a press release.
“Faced with this untenable situation, professionals dedicated to their mission to safely transport medical teams to guarantee patient access to hospitals in less than 30 minutes are forced to stop their activity, death in the soul “Threatened the SNPNAC.
The union requests an investment “of 50 million euros, or less than 4 % of the total budget of all French health transport” which “would align wages on the European low average and to perpetuate this vital service”.
