This summer, there is danger in Europe. The situation at airports is likely to get worse after the problems that were encountered in spring. Many airlines have called for strikes because of poor working conditions.
Ryanair has announced a strike for next weekend in Spain (France, Belgium, Portugal, and Italy). As the Irish company prepares to have a more active summer than 2019, hostesses/stewards (PNC), are demanding that labor laws be respected and wage increases are not violated.
France’s representative of the National Union of Commercial Flight Crews (SNPNC), Damien Mourgues, explained to AFP that the company “does not respect rest times as required by the Civil Aviation Code”. His union also wants a salary hike for employees “paid at minimum wage”.
The airline claims it is in negotiations to improve collective agreements and has ceased “minority union strike” in Europe. This affects 90% of its employees.
The British Easy Jet is another low-cost company that has been affected by the social movement. According to the USO, the Union Syndicale Ouvrier has called for walkouts on Friday through Sunday during the three weekends of July. At this point, July 23 and 24 are not being considered.
The USO states that “EasyJet’s Spanish cabin crew currently earn a base salary salary of 950 Euros per month. This is the lowest salary among all bases in Europe. According to “Le Monde”, this base salary in France does not exceed 854 euro per month. To that, 8.50 euros are added per hour of flight.
On Tuesday, the company sought to “reassure its customers”, stating that all flights will be maintained through the weekend and that it would do everything possible to prevent disruptions. It announced Monday that it would be reducing its summer transport capacity due to staff shortages. Easyjet, France-Blue, stated that “aviation in Europe faces operational difficulties” which include “traffic control delays” and “staffing shortages” at European airports. This can lead to cancellations and serial delays.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic, low-cost airlines have seen a remarkable rebound in activity. Many companies are forced to cancel flights because of a lack of staff due to the rapid recovery of traffic.
Staff shortages at airports can also lead to mass cancellations and longer queues. Paris-Charles de Gaulle employees are asked to cease working starting July 1.
Aeroport de Paris management says they are “generally confident”. “We held a lot of forums during May where we hired several hundred security personnel. According to Augustin de Romanet, its CEO, it should be acceptable for the summer,” he said on BFM Business Thursday.
Raphael Caccia (secretary general of the federal aviation union CFDT), quoted by France-Bleu as saying that there are around 15% and 20% of ground handling staff shortages for French airports in order to be able to operate efficiently this summer.
Due to strikes and a lack of staff, thousands of travelers faced long lines at airports in Frankfurt, London, Rome and Paris in spring. Industry experts warned that chaos could be imminent at airports this summer. They cited the need to recruit and the difficulties of managing sudden increases in traffic following a pandemic.
