Italy’s first big holiday weekend of the summer has been hit by a web of co-ordinated industrial actions that began at 00:01 on Sunday, 5 July and will continue until 23:59. The walk-outs involve almost every part of the aviation chain: air-traffic controllers at Milan-Malpensa, security screeners at Rome-Fiumicino and Ciampino, baggage-handling crews at Catania, ramp and fueling staff at multiple airports, and cabin crew at several airlines. Unions USB Lavoro Privato, Fast-Confsal, Filt-Cgil, Fit-Cisl, Uiltrasporti and ANPAC called the strikes to protest slow collective-bargaining talks and what they describe as “record profits but shrinking pay packets.” EasyJet personnel are observing a separate 24-hour stoppage. The Italian civil-aviation authority ENAC confirmed that the two legally protected flight windows (07:00-10:00 and 18:00-21:00) remain in force, but carriers have still pre-emptively cancelled or rescheduled hundreds of services. Milan-Malpensa’s ENAV air-traffic control centre warned that over-flights could also be rerouted, adding delays across European airspace. At Rome-Fiumicino long queues formed at security filters as ADR Security employees downed tools between 10:00 and 18:00. Airlines including easyJet, Ryanair and ITA Airways activated fee-free rebooking policies. Travel-management companies have urged corporate travellers to shift meetings online or route through neighbouring hubs such as Zurich or Vienna. Under EU Regulation 261, passengers whose flights are cancelled must be offered re-routing or reimbursement, although financial compensation is not owed when the cause is a strike by “extraordinary” staff such as controllers. Business-mobility managers are watching closely because further strike notices for 26 July and 2 August have already been filed with the Ministry of Transport. With the Entry/Exit System adding extra processing time at the border (see separate story), airports fear a perfect storm of staffing shortages and passenger surges if industrial tensions are not defused. Practical advice: travellers should check flight status before leaving for the airport, keep boarding passes and receipts to claim refreshments or accommodation if stranded, and allow extra time at security—especially at Rome-FCO, Rome-CIA, Milan-MXP and Catania-CTA.
Source: Napolike; la Repubblica
