Germanwings Cancels Flight on Crashed Aircraft's Route
"Some crews are not ready to work today due to sorrow and emotional distress. The company is sympathetic to this as in some cases the employees have lost good friends among the crew involved in the accident. Although they would not actually have been on duty, other crew members have reported voluntarily for work in order to support us," the company's March 25 announcement states.
Germanwings, the Lufthansa-owned low-cost airline that operated the A320 jetliner, Flight 4U9525, that crashed in the French Alps on March 24, cancelled a flight today that was scheduled on same route, Barcelona to Dusseldorf, as the plane that crashed. AFP reported that the crew of the cancelled flight were unwilling to fly it.
March 25 announcements from the airline confirmed the cancellation: "Following the incident in France yesterday, Germanwings cancels one flight today and operates the remaining flights according to schedule. Due to emotional distress, some crew members are also unfit for service today. Germanwings understands these circumstances, as crew members have lost beloved colleagues in the incident."
A follow-up announcement posted on the airline's website said this: "Germanwings' top priority at present is to provide the best possible support for relatives and dependents. We are striving to provide the relatives of every single passenger with an appropriately psychologically-trained employee who, for example, also speaks the language of those relatives. Our aim is to do everything within our power to provide every single relative with precisely the help he or she requires. We will operate two special flights, one to take relatives from Düsseldorf to Marseille and one to take relatives from Barcelona to Marseille.
"Accident investigators from the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation, safety pilots from Germanwings and Lufthansa, a technician from Lufthansa Technik, [and] a radio expert from Lufthansa Systems are at the scene of the accident close to Barcelonette. We are making every possible effort to assist BEA, the French Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation, with the investigation.
"We are experiencing a huge amount of solidarity and support from other companies in the industry and tremendous commitment among employees within our own airline. Some crews are not ready to work today due to sorrow and emotional distress. The company is sympathetic to this as in some cases the employees have lost good friends among the crew involved in the accident. Although they would not actually have been on duty, other crew members have reported voluntarily for work in order to support us."
Germanwings operates a total of 11 aircraft on approximately 40 flights, according to its March 25 statements.