IATA Condemns Costly Strike Actions

IATA is condemning the effects of air traffic controller strikes, which the association said have caused one million minutes of delays across Europe this year, and it called for governments to take steps to ensure service continuity in the face of industrial action.

Rafael Schvartzman, European regional vice-president for IATA, said that: “The current frequency of disputes is totally unacceptable. European air travellers have suffered an incredible 1 million minutes of delay and over 3,000 cancelled flights as a result of strikes this year.”

He pointed out that: “Every hour wasted impacts European productivity as businesses are disrupted. And it hurts holiday-makers when plans need to be altered. The time has come for European governments to work together to ensure the essential service of air traffic control is able to continue even during strikes.”

IATA called on governments to ensure service continuity for air traffic management services.

“The European economy needs reliable air connectivity. It cannot afford to have its airspace closed like this. A starting point to keeping Europe’s skies open would be for each country to develop its own national airspace strategy, in consultation with airlines, which contains provisions for ensuring service continuity during periods of industrial action or equipment failure,” said Schvartzman.

Go to http://www.iata.org/europe-airspace for more.