Strike of thousands of Italian airline workers cause travel disruption

Friday, June 10, 2022

The European travellers face more travel chaos as thousands of Italian airline workers prepare to strike. Faced with a cabin crew walk-out, multiple budget airlines have cancelled Wednesday flights to and from Italy. EasyJet has canned 20 Gatwick flights scheduled for today, including departures to Bologna, Milan, Naples, Rome and Venice. Ryanair has cancelled 14 flights between London and Milan, and several flights between Italy and Stansted Airport.

In statements, both airlines, Ryan Air and Easy Jet promised to do “all they can” to minimise disruption, but insisted that strike action is “outside of (their) control.”

Unionised air traffic controllers at multiple Italian airports will also strike for 24 hours today, leading Italian carrier ITA Airways to cancel 81 flights. The industrial action comes after weeks of chaos at European airports, with travellers trapped in snaking queues for up to seven hours.

The pilots and flight attendants of Volotea, EasyJet and Ryanair (including sister airlines Malta Air and Crewlink) will walk off the job between 10am to 2pm (CEST) today.

Meanwhile, air traffic controllers at multiple Italian airports will strike for an entire 24 hours, returning to work on June 9.

The striking staffs are members of Filt (Italian Federation of Transport Workers) and Uiltrasporti (Italian Union of Transport Workers, or UILT).

In a joint statement, of Filt (Italian Federation of Transport Workers) and Uiltrasporti (Italian Union of Transport Workers, or UILT)blamed poor pay conditions for the Industrial action.

Among the issues are: arbitrary reductions of paychecks, the non-payment of sick days, the company’s refusal to grant leave during the summer season, and the lack of water and meals for the crew,” the statement read.

A further 180 flights were axed by easyJet and British Airways today due to the airport issues. The aviation strikes in Italy are also causing issues with Ryanair and Jet2 having to cancel flights to the country.

At the end of the half-term holiday and a four day weekend, many families were due to return home this week. But over the weekend almost 200 flights into UK airports were cancelled from airlines including easyJet, British Airways and Wizz Air leaving passengers stuck abroad. 

Many travellers ended up stranded at airports across Europe when EasyJet British Airways and Wizz Air scrapped more flights earlier this week.

British Airways has also axed hundreds of short-haul flights, stressing that passengers affected were given advanced notice as these were part of a schedule reduction in place until October. Further cancellations have added to the ongoing chaos leaving questions about whether the industry will be ready for the summer season.

Even without the scrapped flights, many travellers are facing long queues at security, baggage check-in and when reclaiming their luggage. Aviation bosses have blamed ongoing staff shortages and bad weather over the weekend for the disruption.

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