What promises to be an exceptional summer in terms of travel demand in Europe, after two years of restrictions due to the pandemic, is becoming hard to swallow for airlines and airports.
Lack of ground service personnel and cabin crew in the main markets; Jet fuel has soared above crude, and the movement’s revival has fueled idle labor disputes. Last week he was the CEO of IAG, Louis GallegoWho warned of the advent of complicated months.
The impressive photo of thousands of bags lost at London-Heathrow due to operational problems last Monday only served to raise the alarm. There were more than 30 cancellations, and the airport even asked airlines to reduce production that day to straighten the route. Yesterday it was also learned that the UK Department for Transport will give a Exemption for airlines under renewal slots To relieve pressure on the main airport in Britain.
before all this British Airways It had canceled 10% of its offer through October to prevent further imbalances recorded since March.
Ryanair, Easyjet, Lufthansa or Air France have open conflicts with their templates
Iberiaalso from IAG, this month complained of serious communication problems in Madrid-Barajas due to the lack of police officers at passport control, That spurred reinforcements by the Ministry of the Interior.
Another one of the greats easy planeOn Monday, it announced a downward correction in its production, given the risk of collapse at two of its most important bases, the British base at Gatwick and the Dutch base in Amsterdam. More than 11,000 flights could be affected through September, out of the 160,000 flights that Orange Airlines normally operates in the summer months. It is even considering removing seats on planes to adapt the aisle for the crew.
The mismatch between operational capacity and recorded demand is such that the aforementioned Amsterdam Airport predicted it would limit passenger volumes this summer, translating into a 16% drop in planned flights.
stops
In the chapter on strikes, the largest airline by passenger traffic, Ryan Air, it faces cabin crew (TCP) strikes in five countries nearly simultaneously. It is threatened by a six-day strike in Spain, called by the USO and Sitcpla on 24, 25 and 26 June, and from Thursday 30 of this month to 2 July; The Belgian ACV Puls and CNE, as well as the Portuguese SNPVAC union, called for strikes on 24, 25 and 26 June; In France, the call for the SNPNC is on the 25th and 26th, and the Italian FILT-CGIL has set a protest date on the 25th. The general demand is employment under the local labor regime and negotiation agreements. Despite the fact that this mobilization affects 2,700 TCPs, Ryanair is confident that there will be minimal follow-up.
Before facing this fire the president of the Irish airline, Michael O’Learyconfirms that the lack of forces does not affect him, but he acknowledges, in statements to skyLast weekend, a quarter of its flights suffered delays that it blamed on air traffic control.
The CEO of IAG last week predicted that this summer will be difficult
In France, pilots Air FranceAnd ready to pack up. The Alter union, which has just over 20% representation among the group, has set its strike on Saturday 25th. The standoff reaches the low-cost affiliate. Transviawith a strong volume of operations to Spain.
in the group Lufthansawhich will lay off about 1,000 flights in July in search of stabilizing its operations, is Brussels Airlines The plane whose half a thousand flights were checked from tomorrow to Saturday before the strike announced by TCP representatives. Finally, 315 operations were canceled and about 40,000 passengers were affected. The situation in Brussels was exacerbated by the strike of security personnel who had already closed Zaventem Airport on Monday. Paris Charles de GaulleFor its part, it is facing a labor struggle as of July 1.
In Northern Europe, combined with the effect of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent closure of airspace, a labor struggle erupted in Norwegian Air Traffic Technicians Organization (NFO)which is already spurring cancellations in Scandinavia.
Summer has just begun and conflict is rising in a key sector of the European economy. IAG or Ryanair expect that stabilization, after the engines are out during the pandemic, will take several months.
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