Belgian pilots refuse to fly to Israel. A variable-geometry approach to aviation ethics

Like other European airlines, Brussels Airlines has resumed flights to Tel Aviv after months of suspension due to the war with Iran. However, Belgian flight crew unions are objecting, citing safety and ethical concerns. As regards the former, this is clearly understandable. Ben Gurion Airport is frequently targeted by terrorists. As for the latter, there is much to be said.

“Anyone with serious safety or conscientious objections must be able to refuse these flights without suffering financial, professional or disciplinary consequences,” explains Jolinde Defieuw, a representative of the Puls trade union. Israel is a parliamentary democracy with closely fought elections, a combative press, a Supreme Court unpopular with the government, an opposition that gives no quarter in Parliament, and a sitting prime minister facing trial in the courts. It is not a dictatorship. It is the only democracy in the Middle East. If the Belgian pilot’s conscience compels him to divert from his route on the grounds of ‘ethical objection’, here are a few suggestions.

Brussels Airlines serves eighteen sub-Saharan destinations. Many of these countries, according to Freedom House, have very low scores on political and civil rights, with leaders who have been in power for decades, military juntas and sham elections. Burkina Faso: military junta following coups d’état. Burundi: authoritarian regime. Cameroon: Paul Biya has been in power for over forty years. Guinea: military junta. Uganda: Yoweri Museveni has been in power for decades.

Should the international community look the other way and carry on? A brutal theocracy, state-sanctioned morality, public hangings, and women under criminal guardianship characterize the regime. If Israel is deemed intolerable in the cockpit, what would it be like to fly over Tehran? Belgian pilots are already flying over and within a real-life authoritarian regime. Invoking ‘conscience’ to target Israel means admitting that the compass is not pointing towards justice, but towards consensus.