As though the airport delays and flight cancellations are not already causing dismay among European holidaymakers, travellers in Spain could face yet more chaos after Ryanair cabin crew voted to hold six days of strikes during June and July demanding “guarantees of decent work conditions for all personnel.”
Ryanair currently operates out of 20 Spanish airports which could all be brought to a virtual standstill if workers affiliated with two Spanish unions, USO and SITCPLA, go ahead with their threatened action, scheduled for 24, 25, 26 and 30 June, as well as on the first two days of July.
However, a spokesperson from Ryanair said “We do not expect widespread disruption, as most staff are affiliated with different unions who have reached agreements with Ryanair.
“We believe that the strike calls will not be supported by our Spanish crews.”
The two unions meanwhile claim otherwise as they threaten to coordinate action with other Ryanair staff in Belgium, France, Italy and Portugal.
Travel experts claim that after 191,000 airport staff were made redundant during ‘lockdown,’ as travel demand surges once again, airports and airlines are too short-staffed to handle the passengers in such large numbers.
The airline industry say that they have launched a recruitment drive, but Air Council International – Europe’s trade body for airports – predicts that delays are inevitable at two-thirds of European airports this summer.
With thousands of flights cancelled over the past month, the strike is the latest to beset European travel. Last week, industrial action forced multiple budget airlines – including Ryanair – to cancel flights to and from Italy, while a Thursday morning strike meant that Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport had to scrap 100 flights.
And during June, hundreds of British Airways staff at London’s Heathrow will vote on whether or not to walk off the job to protest pay conditions with GMB – the union leading the UK strike action – warning that British Airways, which has already been forced to scrap 8,000 flights from its March-October schedule, will face a “gruelling summer of travel chaos” if the company doesn’t offer staff a pay hike.
