In the face of a week of likely airline disruption across Europe thanks to a new wave of air traffic control strikes, European airline association, Airlines for Europe (A4E), has called on the European Commission to step up to protect the rights of travellers.
A week of disruption lays ahead for thousands of European passengers as airlines have been asked to reduce capacity by 25% next week. According to A4E, more than 1,000 flights are expected to be cancelled, creating problems not only for flights within France, but also for anyone making connections through France. Travellers are expected to experience heavy delays.
Thomas Reynaert, managing director of A4E, decried the planned week-long disruption. “Already during the first weeks of 2017 European travellers become victims of yet another ATC strike – unbelievably, not only for a day but for a whole week. A4E urges the Commission to protect the rights of European travellers and work together with Member States, Air Navigation Service Providers, unions and other stakeholders to minimise the impact on passengers”, he said.
“We cannot allow a small group of Europe’s 15,000 air traffic controllers restricting the rights of millions of European travellers. Following our Call for Action last year we have seen a positive reaction by some unions. It is now the right moment to build on that and minimise the impact of strike actions without questioning the individual right of workers to take industrial action”, added Reynaert.
According to A4, the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO), representing Europe’s air navigation service providers, last month agreed to work together with A4E to enhance the performance of Europe’s air traffic management network in the future.
The organisations hope to promote the implementation of measures that will minimise the impact of industrial action on passengers.
