"Pilots raise alarm at Qatar Airways for doctored hours, hidden fatigue," 27 Jan 2022

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 (QA) tries to minimise crew downtime...

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...

A spokesperson said the company was engaging with employees "to ensure that the rest time and rostering needs of our Flight Crew team are strictly balanced with the airline's operational requirements, especially given the unique challenges facing the global commercial aviation sector."

The airline said it was working to put "the most rigorous fatigue risk management programme in place."