Thousands of travellers in Europe and America[/B] are in despair because of strikes by airline staff and increased cases of coronavirus. Hundreds of flights have been cancelled, delayed or postponed causing chaos at several busy airports.
Ryanair cabin crew in Spain have not boarded any of the Irish airline's planes and are expected to continue their strike today and over the weekend. This has affected all 10 of the airline's bases in Spain in: Madrid, Malaga, Seville, Alicante, Valencia, Valencia, Barcelona, Girona, Santiago de Compostela, Ibiza and Palma de Mallorca.
Ryanair has assured that these cancellations account for less than 3% of its flights in Spain. However, they said that "it is worrying that these unions deliberately undermined the decision on minimum services by the Ministry of Transport by instructing the crew not to turn up on protected flights".
These actions are "illegal and harm Spanish consumers and the Spanish economy that depends on these air transport infrastructure links," a Ryanair spokesman added.
The strike by Ryanair workers in Spain follows that of their colleagues in Belgium, Portugal, France, and Italy last weekend.
Today's strike is part of the ongoing action called by the USO and Sitcpla unions.
Easyjet will also participate in the strike on 1, 2, 3, 15, 16, 17, 29, 30 and 31 July at its three Spanish bases: Barcelona, Malaga and Palma.
Paris airports cancel 17% of flights due to staff strike
Flights from Paris' two major airports will be disrupted today after airport workers declared a second 24-hour strike.
Yesterday about 10% of all flights from Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport were cancelled due to ground staff strikes and a similar disruption is expected today, a spokesman for the airport company said.
"Airport staff, including check-in and security staff, will leave on Friday 1 July due to an ongoing dispute over pay," a statement said.
Following a review of staffing levels at Paris' Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports for today, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has ordered the cancellation of 17% of flights departing between 7am and 7pm.p]
"Anyone who has booked a flight today is advised to contact their airline to find out if it will take off."
The strikes do not affect Paris' Beauvais airport, which is run by a different operator.
The strike is the second 24-hour strike and unions say the action will continue unless their demand for a 3.5 percent wage increase is met to deal with the rising cost of living.
Chaos at Heathrow after 30 flights cancelled
Britain has been facing similar problems for days. Yesterday passengers due to fly from Heathrow were left with their bags in their hands when the airport ordered the cancellation of 30 flights because it could not cope. Some passengers were told their flights were only cancelled on arrival at Britain's busiest airport.
A spokesman for Heathrow said the cancellations were necessary for safety reasons: "We will work with airlines to re-book affected passengers on other off-peak flights so as many as possible can be removed and we apologise for the impact this has had on travel plans. We are working hard to ensure that everyone has a smooth journey to Heathrow this summer and the most important thing is to ensure that all service providers at the airport have enough resources to meet demand."
A spokesman for British Airways, one of the airlines affected, said: "As a result of Heathrow's requirement for all airlines to reduce their routes, we have made a small number of cancellations."
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The airline said it was contacting affected customers to "apologise, inform them of their consumer rights and offer them alternative options, including a refund or re-booking".
Virgin Atlantic said one of its return flights from Heathrow to New York had been cancelled in each direction, with Air France, KLM, American Airlines, Delta Airlines, Lufthansa, Aer Lingus, Brussels Airlines and Air Canada also affected.
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Several European airlines and airports have suffered strikes in recent weeks and more travel disruptions are expected next month, as airline workers use the strong travel demand and staff shortages caused in part by pandemic COVID-19 to push for higher wages and better working conditions. Data from data company Cirium shows that airlines cancelled 611 flights last month.
Although airports and airlines are trying to speed up recruitment, they are facing several difficulties and this has resulted in delays in check-in, security, and baggage loading/unloading with several bags left orphaned at terminals.
Problems in Dublin, Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Vienna and the US
At the same time furious passengers expressed their anger on social media yesterday after Aer Lingus was forced to cancel more flights from Dublin airport. Staff shortages due to Covid-19 absences continue to plague the airline, with another five flights cancelled, affecting travel to London Heathrow, Berlin and Hamburg.
Yesterday, Aer Lingus had to cancel 12 extra flights as a result of the increase in Covid cases.
200 workers at Hamburg airport will also go on 24 strikes today, while the situation at Düsseldorf airport has also been problematic for days, with Lufthansa estimating that operations will not return to their normal schedule until 2023.
A similar situation is also prevailing these days at Vienna airport, where more than 60 flights were cancelled for the weekend, mainly due to the absence of employees who have been infected with coronavirus.
In the US, Delta Airlines pilots staged a walkout yesterday outside airports across the country as hundreds of flights were delayed and cancelled ahead of the 4th of July weekend.
Protesters in the midst of contract negotiations want higher wages, more time and more staff to offset fatigue from increased travel demand, the Air Line Pilots Association said in a statement.
Delta alone suffered 307 delays and 89 cancellations, ranking second among U.S. airlines in total cancellations and delays.
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Outside JFK Airport, Delta pilots complained about a lack of workers due to cutbacks amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The same happened at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta, where Delta is headquartered.
As a result of the strikes, passengers faced 3,165 delays and 440 cancellations in the US, according to FlightAware.com.
Source: Proto Thema
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