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Ryanair calls for ‘Right to Strike’ to be ended for essential French ATC services

Direct News Source

11-Oct-2010 Ryanair, Europe’s favourite airline, today (11th Oct) called for the EU Commission to remove the ‘right to strike’ from essential services such as ATC and to reform the EU261 passenger rights legislation which is unfit for purpose after it was forced to cancel another 250 flights ahead of yet more French ATC strikes which will close French airspace tomorrow (12th Oct).

So far in 2010, Ryanair has been forced to cancel 1,650 flights and delay over 12,000 other flights, disrupting over 2.5m passengers, as a direct result of Belgian, French and Spanish ATC strikes and work to rules. Under EU261 regulations airlines suffer the costs of these disruptions without any recourse against those unions calling strikes or the EU Govts who own the ATCs and repeatedly allow European airspace to be closed.

Ryanair called on the EU Commission to reform ATC services as follows:

1. Remove the "right to strike" for essential services such as ATCs.

2. Sack any ATC staff who participate in illegal strikes (as Ronald Reagan sacked and replaced striking ATC staff in the US in the 1980's).

3. Deregulate Europe's national ATC services to allow non striking ATC's to keep the skies over Belgium, France and Spain open, while their overpaid, underworked ATCs go on strike again and again.

4. Reform the EU261 passenger rights legislation to relieve airlines of 'right to care' obligations in such force majeure cases which are clearly outside of airlines' control.

Ryanair's Michael O'Leary said:

"The single greatest cause of ATCs strikes and delays are EU Govt owned and mismanaged ATC services. It's time the 'right to strike' within ATC was removed as it is for other essential services like the police and fire services. If these people don't want to work, then replace them with military and other controllers who do wish to work. The EU Commission must act to now end this ATC chaos.

How many more times will Europe's airlines and their passengers be disrupted by unnecessary airspace closures, strikes and work to rules before the EU Commission finally takes some action? Striking French ATC staff are the modern equivalent of highwaymen. They don't care about consumers, they don't care about passengers, they repeatedly strike because they know they can shut down Europe's skies and hold EU Governments and passengers to ransom.

It is ridiculous that Belgian, French and Spanish ATC controllers can repeatedly strike without any financial penalty, while airlines suffer a 'right to care' to passengers and absorb the costs of these un-necessary disruptions."