Passengers and airlines once again hijacked by unacceptable ATC strikes

Once again passengers and European airlines are seriously affected by strike action by Air Traffic Controllers and Air Traffic Management.  The Association of European Airlines (AEA) strongly condemns this unjustified industrial action which holds the entire industry to ransom during one of the busiest passenger traffic weeks of the year.

While strike action by one of the French Air Traffic Controllers’ unions is on-going, Belgian Air Traffic Controllers are preparing to stop work from tonight onwards. The reason for this social unrest is linked to the self-interest of the unions which refuse to accept much needed efficiency improvements to their working practices.

The consequences of these strikes are felt by passengers, airlines, freight forwarders and express courier services. The Association of European Airlines strongly believes that there can be no justification for these actions which hamper European economic growth. “Europe’s airlines and passengers have suffered at the hands of ATC providers for years now”, said AEA’s CEO Athar Husain Khan. “Not only are these providers deliberately delaying the implementation of the Single European Sky project, which is urgently needed to lower the environmental footprint of aviation and to increase the efficiency and capacity of the air traffic system, they are once again imposing unjustified strikes on their clients. This has to stop immediately.”