Cancelled flights, long queues, staff shortages – the strain on travelers continues as several airlines in Europe announce strikes during the summer holidays.
It's not just travelers who are unhappy with the state of the travel industry. Airline employees across Europe are demanding better working conditions and higher wages and are now resorting to strikes to put pressure on their employers, creating even more chaos in the industry.
On Thursday – the day before the EU summit – cabin crew and pilots at the Belgian airline Brussels Airlines will go on a three-day strike. Over 300 flights will be cancelled and around 40,000 passengers will be affected. The strike is expected to have a major impact as it coincides with with the Brussels summit.
Europe's largest low-cost airline, Ryanair, has also announced a strike. The company's cabin crew in several European countries, including Spain, Portugal and France, will go on strike for six days in late June and early July. Tens of thousands of travelers across Europe could be affected.
Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary has warned that cancellations and delays will continue throughout the summer, with travellers expecting a "less than satisfactory experience", he told Sky News.
Swiss Easyjet's cabin crew in Spain have announced a 9-day strike in scattered bursts in July: July 1-3, July 15-17 and July 29-31, which will result in cancelled departures to several destinations in Europe.
In mid-June, 97 percent of British Airways cabin crew voted in favor of going on strike during the summer, but so far no strike has been announced.
SAS will also be hit by a strike if the pilot union and the airline do not reach an agreement. Previously, the union has given notice of a strike on June 29th, and this week SAS mechanics in Denmark gave notice of a sympathy strike on July 5th if the parties fail to reach an agreement.
But it's not just cabin crew and pilots who are unhappy with the working conditions and salaries. Aéroports de Paris, whose staff work at Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports in Paris, is going on strike on July 2. The last time airport staff went on strike, on June 9, a quarter of departures at both airports were cancelled.
The global aviation industry lost around four million jobs during the pandemic and is now struggling to readjust to the sharply increasing demand.
Source:DI.SE-TT
