Rabat - Following the tragedy of Germanwings flight 4U 9525, in which 150 people died, including a Moroccan couple, Royal Air Maroc (RAM) CEO, Driss Benhima, said that the decision to introduce the cockpit 'rule of two', which requires two people to be in the airplane's cockpit at all time, "should not be made in a hurry."
In an interview with news website Media24, Benhima said that the policy of Morocco's flag carrier is against taking hasty and emotional decisions.
The deliberate crash of the Germanwings Airbus A320 into the French Alps by co-pilot Andreas Lubitz has prompted airlines around the world to introduce cockpit 'rule of two'.
Two low-cost European carriers – easyJet and Norwegian Air Shuttle reportedly said that they would bring the new rule into effect almost immediately.
Air Canada and the Canadian charter airline Air Transat also said they would require two people to be in the cockpit at all times.
Aviation authorities in Portugal as well are now obliging all airlines based in the country to ensure having two pilots in the cockpit of every flight at all times.
However, RAM CEO said that his company is aware of the fact that things need to be changed in the wake of the tragedy, but "the implementation of such a measure requires thinking about improving safety in the cockpit."
Benhima told Media24 that during the outbreak of the Ebola epidemic in Western Africa the majority of airlines have taken the hasty decision to flee the region.
"We were the only airline to maintain our flights to these destinations by treating the matter calmly and responsibly without yielding to international panic," he said.
"The proof that we were not wrong is that today all international companies are coming back," he added.
He said that RAM is awaiting the conclusions of the investigation into the crash of Germanwings plane before making any decisions, adding that his company does not formally oppose to the idea of having two pilots inside the cockpit all the time.
On 21 August 1994, Royal Air Maroc Flight 630 from Agadir to Casablanca using an ATR 42 aircraft crashed ten minutes after takeoff. The crash caused the death of all 44 passengers and crew on board.
The investigation into the crash revealed that the plane's autopilot was intentionally disconnected by the aircraft's pilot 32-year-old Younes Khayati, who then deliberately crashed the aircraft.
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