Air traffic controllers in Europe may go on strike over the summer holidays, which may impact flights.
Eurocontrol, the organization that is responsible for managing aircraft over Europe, has indicated that one of its unions may participate in strike action, but no specific dates have been disclosed as of yet.
Eurocontrol stated that negotiations are still taking place with the union as well as other unions.
Another trade group, Airlines for Europe, stated that it “remains to be determined” how any potential strike action may affect the industry.
Eurocontrol issued a statement stating that it was “making every effort to keep negotiations open and to find a constructive way forward.”
The Union Syndicale Bruxelles, which is one of the organization’s trade unions, has “announced a period of six months during which industrial action could take place.”
The company stated that the action may have an impact on its Network Manager Operations Centre, which is responsible for managing more than 10 million flights annually.
It had daily peaks of coordinating more than 37,000 flights prior to the pandemic, and Eurocontrol said the centre played a significant role in the management, simplification, and improvement of air traffic.
Eurocontrol emphasized that it was engaging the union in “ongoing dialogue” throughout the entire process.
“As no notice of specific industrial action has been received, it is premature to speculate on any potential impact,” the statement stated.
Airlines for Europe stated that any strike action would not affect the air traffic control services provided by Eurocontrol and “therefore, its impact on passengers could be limited.”
The media has made an inquiry about the matter to the Union Syndicale Bruxelles.
This summer, aviation in Europe is going to have to contend with a unique combination of obstacles.
The demand for flights has increased to levels not seen since before the COVID pandemic, but Russia’s conflict in Ukraine is making it more difficult to fly in Europe.
However, there is a lack of air traffic controllers, and some strikes have already been organized. For instance, there is an air traffic controller strike scheduled to take place in Italy on Saturday, July 15th.
The members of Airlines UK were quoted as saying that they were “looking forward to a busy summer, meeting growing demand for travel, and carrying millions of people on holidays.”
According to the statement, if Eurocontrol and the union members could come to an agreement, it would “avoid any potential disruption for airlines and their customers.”
In addition, it was stated that air traffic controllers were already being forced to work within “a more constrained European airspace” as a result of Russia’s involvement in conflict in Ukraine.
An authority on travel named Simon Calder stated that the union in question was not known for its history of militantism and that this incident was instead a “cry for help” over staffing numbers.
According to him, a large number of older air traffic controllers retired in 2020 during the height of the Covid pandemic, and their positions have not yet been filled.
He stated that he anticipated that this potential conflict would be handled prior to it reaching the stage where it would be a strike.
However, a more serious problem was a shortage of air traffic controllers in general, which was already having an impact on the industry as seen by “a series of cancellations every day in the UK.”
This comes as a result of a comeback in demand for air travel following the pandemic, he explained, with Friday being the busiest day for air travel since 2019 began.
As a result of staff shortages, there was consistent disruption to flights during the summer of 2022, which caused problems for vacationers, and more than a third of all aircraft departing the United Kingdom were delayed.
As a result of the worst of the Covid pandemic, thousands of jobs were lost in the aviation industry, and as a result, many aviation enterprises, including airports, were unable to hire new staff members quickly enough.
However, throughout Easter weekend of this year, airports and airlines expressed confidence to the BBC that they had sufficient workers to prevent any mayhem in the travel industry.
In spite of the fact that personnel numbers have been increased for the summer, industrial action may still cause inconvenience.
Already this year, many strikes have made it difficult to travel to France from the United Kingdom.
