At the beginning of July, the ATC strikes in France led to 1500 flights in two days, disturbing the journey of over a million passengers. Together with strikes on July 26 in Spain and Italy, pressure is growing both from travelers and airline management.
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According to Eurocontrol, the European Civil and Military Aviation coordinator, which is cited by Euronews, The number of flights in Europe is currently 98 percent. level of 2019 Contrary to expectations, travels did not become smoother, but much more uncertain.
One of the reasons is that Several air routes have been narrowed or completely closed because of the war in Ukraine. Closing its airspace for over three years, as well as a ban on flights of EU machines over Russia and Belarus, forced hundreds of daily flights to use tighter corridors, creating congestion even before the occurrence of weather conditions or strikes.
Until every fourth position is not supported
However, staff is a bigger problem. Throughout Europe, ATC centers (air traffic control) are fighting to fill jobs after budget cuts from the time of pandemic and delayed training.
According to Euronews, in some countries, including France and Germany, Until every fourth position remains unhappy. Meanwhile, the controllers refer to burnout, striking and demanding better working conditions.
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Strikes in France at the beginning of this month could be a turning point for some airlines. Unlike other countries, such as Italy and Greece, France does not allow flights – flights that only fly through its airspace during strikes. This makes cheap carriers particularly exposed to interference.
Airlines, such as Ryanair, who drew attention to the “hopeless mismanagement” of ATC in France, Spain and Germany, claim that the crisis is only deepening. Ryanair claims that delays will be even worse than last year, blaming “poor planning” and staff deficiencies.
