Almost one in three Ita Airways flights will not take off today. The company has canceled approximately 29% of its schedule for Wednesday, September 30, and the reason is not the weather or a fault. From 1pm to 5pm the staff of ENAV, the company that manages air traffic in Italy, stops, together with that of Techno Sky, which deals with the management and maintenance of flight control systems. When the radar towers and rooms fold their arms, and not just the crew of a single company, everyone pays the bill.
The airports involved and the times
The national strike was proclaimed by Uiltrasporti on 21 July, as shown in the statement of the Observatory on industrial conflicts of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport. In the same time slot, from 1pm to 5pm, the abstentions called by the Uilt corporate representatives at the airports of Bologna, Bari, Milan Linate and Naples are added, as well as that of the staff of the ENAV headquarters in via Appia Nuova, in Rome. The accessions of Linate and Naples arrived later, in September. Then there is an exception regarding the timetable: for two structures of the Roman headquarters, the ASPP service and the Procurement office, the stop does not follow the afternoon window but concerns the last four hours of the working day.
The union’s reasons
In a note dated 28 September, Uiltrasporti explains that “the mobilization arises from the lack of answers on numerous open disputes” and from a confrontation with the company which, according to the union, has not produced any progress. On the table are the never renewed company supplementary contract, eroded purchasing power, reduced staff, a shift system that doesn’t work and delayed infrastructure investments. Added to this are specific problems in various operational locations and in the Rome headquarters. The union talks about issues that have been dragging on for months and closes with a message addressed to the top management: the hope is that the new management will finally open a serious discussion. Otherwise, Uilt says it is ready for other actions.
Flights guaranteed by ENAC
The National Civil Aviation Authority has published the list of flights to be assisted during the abstention, as required by law 146 of 1990 on essential public services. In addition to state, military, medical, humanitarian and rescue flights, charters to and from the islands authorized before the proclamation and three connections with the islands with a single daily frequency are protected (these are the easyJet round trip between Malpensa and Lampedusa and the Ryanair from Perugia to Cagliari). Incoming intercontinental flights also remain guaranteed. The document then ensures the landing of national flights already in the air at 1pm, the departure of those scheduled before the start of the strike and delayed for reasons beyond the control of the parties, and the arrival of international flights expected within half an hour of the start of the stop. The protection periods provided for by law, from 7am to 10am and from 6pm to 9pm, have little to do this time, because the strike falls entirely in the middle.
Changes and refunds for Italian passengers
In the above note, Ita Airways asks travelers to check the status of the flight before leaving for the airport, on the company’s website or at the agency that issued the ticket. Anyone who has a canceled or rescheduled flight can rebook without penalty. The refund is only available if the flight was cancelled, if it left more than 60 minutes early or if it was delayed by at least five hours. The request must be made by October 7th at the number +39 06 85960020, valid from Italy and abroad, or through the travel agency. The ministry’s calendar already indicates the next date. On November 21st it will be the turn of ENAV staff again, this time following a proclamation from Filt-Cgil and Ugl-Ta, with a national strike in the same period from 1pm to 5pm.
