AIR TRAFFIC CHAOS
AIR TRAFFIC CHAOS
Today, 30th May 2008, Italian Air Traffic Control are on strike once again. This is the eighth time since January 2007 that Italian Air Traffic Controllers have gone on strike, disrupting the business and holiday plans of millions of passengers.
Similarly, French Air Traffic Control have gone on strike seven times since January 2007. Between them, the French and Italian air traffic control average a strike every five weeks. It is a disgrace that these State monopolies should be permitted to sabotage European aviation, while at the same time the Governments, which own them impose unjustified penalties on the airlines who are the victims of this State sponsored anarchy.
Other Air Traffic Control providers might as well have been on strike, given the level of inexcusable 'staff shortages' in UK ATC (NATS) and the Danish ATC (NAVIAIR) over the past week, or earlier this year in Irish Air Traffic Control, where controllers tried to hold the country to ransom by seeking a 15% pay rise to their €142K benefits, simply to be available for requests for overtime.
The same pattern is repeated every year. Government monopoly ATC providers fail to control either their costs or their staff and allow restrictive work practices to handicap recruitment and training. This inevitably leads to long delays throughout the Summer. During the quieter Winter months these monopolies claim that all problems have been fixed until, of course, they are repeated the following year.
Speaking today, Ryanair's Director of Flight & Ground Operations, David O'Brien said:
'Ryanair passengers enjoy the best service in Europe - the lowest fares, best punctuality and fewest lost bags. It is an outrage that monopoly ATC providers should be permitted to sabotage the travel plans of millions of passengers every Summer, while increasing their charges at the same time.
'EU Governments have failed abysmally to protect passengers from the service failures of these over priced monopolies. Instead of taking on the difficult task of challenging over priced, national monopolies, the EU has instead wasted time and money on meaningless PR stunts such as their ill advised EU261 regulation. Ryanair, on behalf of our 60 million passengers, calls on the EU Commission to:
• Require monopoly ATC suppliers to compensate passengers for flight delays. There is no acceptable excuse for the collapse in Air Traffic Control performance which occurs at the beginning of every Summer, and which is now being repeated this Summer.
• Prohibit ATC providers from recovering lost income lost due to strikes or service failures by increased levies on airlines and passengers in subsequent years.
• Allow competition into EU Air Traffic Control in order to eliminate the scandal of strikes, delays and service failures which blight European aviation and disrupt the lives of millions of EU passengers.
Ends. Friday, 30th May 2008
For reference: Lorna Farren - Ryanair Pauline McAlester - Murray Consultants
Tel: +353-1-8121271 Tel: +353-1-4980300
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