03/06/2026
A pilot flying across Europe for just €1,000 a month? Cabin crew working full-time for €300? It sounds impossible but it’s happening, right now, through wet-leasing.
Wet-leasing, or ACMI, lets airlines rent planes and crew from other operators. It’s legal. And it’s on the rise. But too often, it’s abused by turning aircrew into disposable labour.
At the European Cockpit Association, we’ve spent the past three years uncovering what really happens behind these contracts.
Our Policy Advisor, Anastasiia Prychta, has been speaking to pilots, discussing with authorities and analysing flight data across Europe. What she’s found is deeply troubling.
Pilots hired as fake freelancers.
No sick leave.
No pension.
No job security.
Worse still, many of these workers aren’t even properly registered as posted workers — even though EU law says they should be.
The result? Legal grey zones. Rights denied. Uninterested authorities. A quiet race to the bottom in European aviation.
We’ve put the data on a dashboard. We’ve named the trends. We’ve sounded the alarm.
Now we’re asking the aviation community & decision-makers in Europe to take notice.
