To deal with the difficult situation in British air traffic, the British government is now relaxing the rules on take-off and landing charges at airports. This should ensure that airlines such as British Airways do not have to cancel their connections at the last minute. As in Austria, these and airports complain about understaffing.
Shortly before the big travel season, numerous workers are missing across Europe, some of whom were laid off during the corona pandemic. This situation now has consequences for business operations. For example, several connections were canceled at Heathrow (London) in the UK last week because there were no staff to handle the flights. Similar scenes took place at many UK airports over the Easter holidays and early June.
Until now, airlines that cut connections had to fear losing their expensive take-off rights. Therefore, the cancellations often came at short notice, which meant a lack of planning certainty for passengers. To change this, the British government is now relaxing the rules on take-off and landing rights. Those who renounce slots may retain their starting right. This is intended to allow for a “realistic flight plan”. However, a condition for this arrangement is that the airlines must announce their canceled flights by next Friday at the latest. The relaxed arrangement does not apply to flights canceled later.
Strikes threaten across Europe
British Airways has already welcomed the move. This could protect flights to popular holiday destinations. Yet the line threatens with a strike because employees demand ten percent more wages. Paris’ Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle airport is also currently affected by strikes, with a fifth of scheduled take-offs and landings having to be canceled between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. today. 17 percent had already failed on Friday. The strikers demand higher wages and better working conditions. Despite the increased demand for flights, the staff was not expanded. Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle is the busiest passenger airport in Europe after London Heathrow.
At the Scandinavian airline SAS, on the other hand, a planned pilot strike was postponed. Negotiations on a collective labor agreement are progressing, says one participant. The Swedish Pilots’ Association accuses the company SAS of using the pandemic to lay off nearly half of its pilots. Should there actually be a strike, hundreds of flights would be canceled every day in Sweden, Norway and Denmark.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
