Just like Easter, the official start of the summer air traffic control strike season is a moveable feast. Normally it is French workers who walk out en masse to scupper the travel plans of tens of thousands. But, rather like the start of the Tour de France, sometimes it begins elsewhere.
This year, Belgian air-traffic control slightly jumped the gun, walking out on 31 March. The last day of March technically qualifies as “summer” because the northern hemisphere airlines switch from their winter schedules when the clocks go forward. But while the stoppage grounded all flights to and from Brussels and Charleroi airport, the wider impact was limited.
The Greeks have gone for April, with a 24-hour strike on Wednesday 9 April that has already caused and will continue to cause disruption. The first flight of the summer to be grounded by a large-scale walkout of the expert men and women who keep the skies safe was Aegean Airlines’ 7.20pm departure from Athens to London Heathrow the day before. The reason: the return flight to Athens was due to land in the early hours of Wednesday, and so the round-trip was grounded – along with similar operations to Paris, Porto and Jeddah.
Wednesday is a no-fly day for Aegean, the Greek national carrier. British Airways has cancelled all eight of its flights between Heathrow and Athens, while passengers with easyJet and Ryanair are also likely to be grounded in their thousands.
Air-traffic controllers across Europe are under pressure this summer, with chronic staff shortages likely to delay one in three flights between June and August. And that is when everyone is working normally, rather than shutting down the skies.
The Greek Air Traffic Controllers’ Association, which goes by the interesting acronym EEEKE, told The Independent: “Unfortunately, air traffic control in Greece is in a bad situation as we have staffing shortages and equipment problems which cause a lot of delays in the last years and will cause a lot this year as well.”
The walkout is part of a wider transport strike, with ferries, buses and trains in Greece also halted. But no other group of workers possesses such extreme industrial power as air traffic controllers. A union with just 500 members will wreck the plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers.
Airlines face millions of pounds in costs from a combination of lost revenue, customers who abandon their plans and demand a refund, and the obligation to provide hotels, meals and alternative flights for those who are stranded by the strike.
Overflights will go ahead, I understand – which will be a relief to dozens of airlines. Because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, most Europe-Asia flights are routed through a narrow neck of airspace taking in Bulgaria, Turkey and the southwestern corner of the Black Sea. Were Greek skies to be closed to all planes, the squeeze would intensify.
France is the grand fromage of air traffic control strikes, because it is a large country astride hundreds of air routes between northern and southern Europe. “When the French are f***ing striking, the whole single market is shut down,” says Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary. “That can’t be allowed to continue.”
Currently, I see no strikes on the radar threatened by the main French unions, UNSA and SNCTA, though the latter is warning of an “ongoing climate of conflict and mistrust”. That does not bode well for airline passengers in 2025.
Air traffic controllers are extremely highly trained to perform critical roles around the clock. They keep the skies safe and deserve to be decently rewarded. But as I know from some readers who have got in touch, the first strike of the season is causing serious anxiety to British travellers. Industrial action has emotional as well as economic consequences. With so much uncertainty in Europe and beyond at present, there is a human cost to eroding confidence in travel and extinguishing the joy of a Greek islands holiday. Let us hope that the season of closed skies proves brief.
