Airline bosses demand reform after ATC strikes
Ian Taylor
ian.taylor@travelweekly.co.uk
Leading airlines have called on the EU to curb escalating strikes by air traffic controllers, demanding action by the end of the year.
The heads of easyJet, Ryanair and British Airways owner IAG led calls last week for dispute arbitration, advance notification of strikes and protection of ‘overflights’ in the wake of nine days of air traffic control (ATC) strikes in June. EasyJet chief executive Carolyn
McCall said: “Strikes this year have already caused more than 3,000 cancellations [in Europe]. “We’ve had 167 strike days in
the past five years, resulting in 30,000 cancelled flights. Millions of passengers have been affected. This year alone we’ve already faced 20 ATC strikes.” Pan-European lobby group
Airlines for Europe (A4E), set up last year, released a study by consultancy PwC last week suggesting the strikes cost the EU €9.5 billion in lost GDP in six years. But McCall said: “You can’t put
‘ATC strikes have cost €9.5bn and it’s getting worse’
IAG chief executive Willie Walsh described the cost of air traffic control [ATC] strikes as “shocking”. He said: “We have 15,000 [ATC]
people affecting the movement of 900 million passengers a year at a cost of €9.5 billion. These are shocking figures. A group of people are inflicting significant economic harm and it’s getting worse.” Walsh insisted: “Nobody is
WALSH: ‘We can’t sit back’
denying there is a right to take industrial action. What we’re saying is it should be the last measure not the first, and there
DISRUPTION: There were 167 strike days between 2010 and 2015
ATC STRIKE FACTS
w 879 million: air passengers transported across EU (2014)
w 167: ATC strike days in EU during 2010-15 (France, Greece, Italy and Portugal most affected)
w 475,000: flights affected by ATC strikes during six years (2010-15)
w €8.6 billion: estimated reduction in EU GDP due to ATC strikes in six years
w €9.5 billion: estimated total economic impact of strikes over period
Source: PwC/A4E
“We don’t want to sit in Brussels talking about this for another 20 bloody years”
a number on the loss in terms of people missing weddings, family holidays or business meetings.” She insisted: “ATC strikes are
an immediate and pressing issue. We’re at the mercy of unreasonable and disproportionate strike action. But there is no process in place to tackle it on a European level. “Disruption adds costs, which
ultimately means higher fares.” Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said: “We don’t want to
sit in Brussels talking about this for another 20 bloody years. The commission has promised to act by the end of the year. If they don’t we’ll want to know why.” The airlines called on the EC
to ensure Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs) sign up to “participate in arbitration or conciliatory procedures” before threatening industrial action; protect flights overflying a country affected by action; provide 21-day advance notice of strikes; provide 72-hour advance notice of participation in industrial action “at individual employee level”; explore ways “to minimise the impact of ATC disruption”, such as allowing a neighbouring country’s ATC to take
should be steps to counter action. “It’s not just the economic
impact, it’s the reputational impact. We can have passengers sitting on board aircraft and we have to take them off. We can’t just sit back and accept it. Europe is going to have to take action, recognising that people have rights.” He added: “There is a role for
arbitration and conciliation. If we have adequate warning airlines can adjust schedules and communicate with customers. We’re asking for 21 days’ notice. We get advance notice now, but it’s too short. “Now we might know there is
over a strike-affected area. Henrik Hololei, EC director-
general for mobility and transport, acknowledged the “significant impact” of the strikes and said: “There are possibilities of mitigating the impact. We’re looking at arbitration, warnings, at new flight paths and rerouteings. We expect to have something ready by the end of the year.” But Hololei warned: “It might be
difficult to have a legally enshrined text [as suggested by A4E]. The right to strike is one of the basic rights of the EU citizen.” On the demand to exclude
overflights from strike action, he said: “That sounds like a solution, but it’s difficult to achieve.”
a strike in France but not know which sector [will be affected]. We’re asking for 72-hour notice so we can reroute, and calling for protection for overflights.” Walsh said: “We also want
some way for airlines to recover costs. The ANSPs [air navigation service providers] don’t suffer a hit to business from the strikes, it’s the airlines that suffer. The costs should be borne by the ANSP and it shouldn’t be allowed to recover them [in increased charges]. “Employees would then have to
take account of the impact of their action on their employer.”
7 July 2016
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