A spiral of workers’ strikes in Europe’s vital aviation sector and canceled flights at a time when millions of travelers are preparing to flee for the summer are threatening the sector’s timid recovery.
Airports and airlines are collapsing under pressure from demand pent-up during the pandemic, which has been unleashed on understaffed and overburdened operations across Europe.
– cabin crew –
A coordinated strike by Ryanair flight attendants in five European countries has highlighted volatile labor relations at low-cost airlines.
“It’s June and colleagues are already exhausted,” said Damien Mourgues, SNPNC union representative at Ryanair.
“Our base salary is 854 euros (900 US dollars) with variables of 8.50 euros per hour flown,” he said.
In Spain, “we have a basic salary of just 950 euros” and “if you don’t fly, you earn 950 euros, that’s all,” lamented Pier Luigi Copellon, a steward in Barcelona for 14 years.
At Transavia in France and Volotea in Spain, the prospect of summer strikes is becoming more likely.
At Brussels Airlines, which is on strike on Friday, “a crew member works an average of between 50 and 60 hours over five days,” said Claudia de Coster, cabin attendant and representative of Belgium’s Setca-FGTB union.
– Airport Security Officers –
Frontline airport security suffers more than any other aviation workforce from understaffing as traffic increases.
Baggage and passenger screening officers at checkpoints are forced to handle a massive influx of visitors with fewer hands on deck than before.
“In the end we have two or three instead of five per security check,” said Said Abdou, Securitas employee at Paris-Orly airport and representative of the CGT union.
“The pace is so fast. Securitas recently hired 17 people, they worked a day and didn’t come back – it was too hard,” he said.
Eight of his colleagues burned out because they were denied vacation this summer.
Said Abdou earns €1,500 after taxes and deductions, paid 13 times a year, and an individual performance bonus of €500 per year after 18 years of service.
On Monday, a strike by security staff at Brussels’ Zaventem Airport resulted in the cancellation of all of the day’s flights.
– luggage rack –
“Among the baggage handlers, there are those who put the baggage on the carousel, those who squat in the aircraft hold to pack it, it’s very tiring,” said Luc Atlan, an airport branch organizer at French trade union Unsa.
Baggage handlers, dependent on large orders like Air France, have made massive staff cuts at the height of the pandemic.
The sudden increase in the pace of growth leads to “working under pressure. And with the shortage of staff, it’s easy to leave and injure yourself. There will be more absenteeism,” said Atlan.
– escorts –
They are less prominent than other frontline workers in the aviation ecosystem, but are vital to the smooth running of the airport.
The people in charge of accompanying people with reduced mobility are no less important for the traveling public.
“We have many delays, many mistakes,” said Ali Khiati, a member of the aviation section of the SUD union.
“There are people who wait an hour on the plane,” which forces the plane to stay on the ground.
“If you arrive after an hour, you’ll be yelled at by the captain, by the customers, even though you only got the order five minutes ago,” Khiati said.
“I think the summer is going to be catastrophic,” he said, adding that he’s never experienced anything like this in his 18-year career.
“A week ago, 21 people missed their plane on the same day. There were 16 who left for Algiers, we put them in one (waiting area) – but there was so much work that the dispatcher forgot about them,” he said.
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