• Cabin breathing air on all aircraft apart from the Boeing 787 is taken directly from the engines and provided unfiltered to the aircraft. This is known as 'Bleed Air'.
• Bleed air is known to become contaminated with engine oils and/or hydraulic fluids...
• Contaminated bleed air events have been recognised as occurring since the 1950s.
• No aircraft currently flying has any form of detection system fitted to warn when these events occur.
• Flight safety is being compromised by contaminated air events.
• Crew and passengers have been reporting short and long term health effects as a consequence of exposure to contaminated air.
• Contaminated air events are not rare and known to be under reported.

Members of the GCAQE include:

ACPA - Air Canada Pilot’s Association; Aeropers - Swiss Air Line Pilots Association (Swiss ALPA); AFA - Association of Flight Attendants; AIPA - Australian and International Pilots Association; ALAEA - The Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers' Association; CUPE - Canadian Union of Public Employees; FIT CISL - Italian Transport Federation; FSC-CCOO Federation of Citizen Services; Icelandic ALPA - Icelandic Air Line Pilots Association; IPA - Independent Pilots Association; NF - Norsk Flygerforbund - Norwegian Airline Pilots Association; PARAT - PARAT; SAFE Norwegian Union of Energy Workers; SNPL - Syndicat National des Pilotes de Ligne; SNPNC - Syndicat National du Personnel Naviguant Commercial; SWEALPA - Svensk Pilot Förening; TWU - Transport Workers Union; UFO - Unabhängige Flugbegleiter Organisation - Independent Flight Attendant Organisation; Unite - Unite The Union; Vereinigung Cockpit - German Airline Pilots Association; VERDI - Vereinte Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft; VNC - Vakbond Van Nederlands Cabinpersoneel; HTW - Holiday Travel Watch