Ryanair launched a petition on Monday asking the European Commission to intervene to “protect passengers” during airstrikes in France, demanding minimal maintenance and outsourced flight management, though without disclosing the financial implications.
“Today we launched a petition to collect one million signatures for the European Commission to intervene and try to protect freedom of movement within the European Union so that people who do not fly to and from France […] unaffected,” Ryanair Executive Chairman Eddie Wilson said at a press conference in Brussels.
“Strikes are allowed, but they must not be allowed to undermine the freedom of movement of citizens of Europe and the Commission. [Europeia] should intervene and do something about it,” he added.
The position comes at a time when Ryanair points out that strikes in the aviation sector (namely, air traffic controllers) in France have already delayed or resulted in the cancellation of more than a million air passengers, mostly overflights of French territory.
Claiming that there are no European rules to protect flights over French airspace during the current strikes, the Irish low-cost airline is asking the community executive to use minimum service laws to protect flights by allowing other European air traffic controllers to operate flights over France. and even force French unions to hold binding arbitrations before going on strike.
France is currently facing several strikes organized by unions – not just in the aviation industry but elsewhere – to protest French President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reform to raise the minimum retirement age from 62 to 64.
This situation affects aviation in the country, which has already led the French Civil Aviation Authority to ask airlines to reduce flight schedules.
Ryanair data shows that with 14 strikes over the past eight weeks, the number of passengers affected by this situation already exceeds those faced with similar scenarios in 2022, with 80% of the current affected flights coming from flights in France, such as those in United States and from them. Kingdom, Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece.
350 flights to or from Portugal have been affected this year, with a total of 62,500 passengers delayed or canceled, according to Ryanair, as French laws only protect domestic flights.
When questioned by Lusa at a press conference about the financial implications of these strikes, Eddie Wilson declined to answer, pointing out that “it’s not about the money” but rather about “derailing operations.”
In addition, “from an environmental point of view, airlines fly longer routes” and use more fuel, resulting in more pollutant emissions in the form of an additional 4,000 tons of carbon dioxide, he said.
Eddie Wilson did not provide details of passenger compensation when asked if these strikes were considered extraordinary circumstances, exempting the airline from paying compensation under European rules.
“We will have [de usar] additional fuel, in some situations we will have to pay extra to people, and in other situations it is an emergency,” he said, without specifying.
As for the estimates for next summer, after last year’s high season under pressure also due to strikes and staff shortages, Eddie Wilson added that the current situation “doesn’t help, because when you have that kind of influence in the winter, when there are more planes, […] summer comes, and there is no strength for him.
The petition currently launched is called “Protect Passengers, Keep the European Union Skies Open”.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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