European flights delayed by series of strikes
European air passengers are in for delays in France and Germany, with strikes also set to spread to the UK.
Half of all French domestic flights from and to Paris Orly airport and a quarter of the international flights via Charles de Gaull are to be canceled on Tuesday (23 February), Air France-KLM Group said in a statement.
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The disruption comes as a result of a strike by four unions, including air traffic controllers, which is scheduled to last until Saturday.
The workers are worried about how Europe's 'single sky' policy - reforms designed to end national-level control of some parts of the industry - will affect job security and working conditions.
The policy plans to merge the traffic control services of France with those of five European neighbours by 2012. The four unions believe that such a merger would result in significant deterioration of their ability to perform their job.
The action comes after a one-day strike of 4,000 pilots working for German carrier Lufthansa, one of the biggest airlines in Europe. The travel plans of some 10,000 passengers are estimated to have been affected by the action, as 800 flights were canceled.
Union members of Vereinigung Cockpit, the German pilots' union, fear Lufthansa plans to substitute its members with less-well-paid pilots from the airline's new Austrian, British, and Belgian subsidiaries. The company estimates the strike will cost the company €25 million.
Negotiations between the union and Lufthansa resumed late Monday night, with pilots threatening to go out on strike again in March if no agreement is reached.
Also on Monday, British Airways cabin crews voted in favour of a 10-day strike, although no dates were announced. A similar 12-day walkout planned during the Christmas holidays was blocked by a UK court.
Unite, the union representing British Airways employees, said it is continuing negotiations with the airline. As with Lufthansa pilots, British Airways staff are concerned about wages and job security, as their companies face financial losses due to the economic crisis and competition from low-cost carriers.
British Airways this year cut cabin crew numbers on international flights and brought in a two-year pay freeze.
"We accept that change is needed and we accept that British Airways is in serious financial trouble ...the problem we've got is British Airways decided to impose change instead of doing it through negotiations," Len McCluskey from Unite, the airline union, told CNN.