Air traffic control strike could cancel or delay thousands of summer flights
Holidaymakers could face a summer of chaos with cancelled or delayed flights after air traffic controllers warned they could strike.
It could impact a third of European flights after talks between air traffic management body Eurocontrol and bosses broke down.
Strike dates are yet to be revealed, but the break down in talks is said to be over pay, staffing and rosters.
Up to 12,600 flights a day across the continent could be delayed or cancelled, an industry expert warned The Times.
They warned: ‘In a full-blown strike, 20 to 30% of flights would be at least delayed. They are big numbers.’
A senior airline source told the paper it would have a ‘massive and extremely disruptive’ impact, adding there had been no contingency plans.
According to The Times’ source, the set of strike dates were set to be announced on Monday, but no official announcement has been confirmed.
Officials at Eurocontrol believe action is ‘inevitable’ and could target dates at the start of the school summer holidays.
Stuart Wingate, the boss of Gatwick airport, said strikes were his biggest challenge this summer.
Meanwhile director-general of Eurocontrol Raúl Medina, said busy European areas such as Reims and Marseille in France, Athens in Greece and Budapest in Hungary, could experience ‘high overloads’ of traffic.
Warnings have also been issued for cities like London, Brussels, Nicosia, Warsaw and Zagreb for peak days such as Fridays and weekends in summer.
These overloads can lead to flight delays as planes may be forced to fly longer routes to avoid areas full of traffic.
Eurocontrol handles around 96,000 messages a day from pilots and airlines, all of which need to be checked manually for any inconsistencies.
Every pilot is required to submit a flight plan to Eurocontrol’s operations centre and it makes sure other planes don’t have the same ‘call-sign’, a way to identify planes.
Flights are able to cross national borders and go between air traffic control centres with ease because of its work.
On top of this, it also handles and issues landing and departure slots at several European airports.
Union Syndicale Bruxelles (USB), which represents civil servants in the EU, wrote a letter to managers demanding that 20 more controllers were hired immediately.
It cited a 25% shortfall in staff of about 40 controllers and the union said it has no other option but for its members to strike.
A spokesperson for Eurocontrol said no date had yet been set.
It insisted the body was ‘making every effort to keep negotiations open’.
It is not the first time this year air traffic control staff have gone on strike after employees decided to take industrial action in France in June.
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