by InTrieste
Travelers flying to and from Italy on Saturday may encounter delays and cancellations as a series of strikes affecting airline crews, air traffic controllers, ground staff and airport personnel are scheduled to take place across the country.
The labor actions, set for June 13, involve employees at several airports, including Verona, Milan Linate and Cagliari, as well as pilots and cabin crew employed by the low-cost carrier EasyJet.
The most significant disruption is expected to come from an 18-hour nationwide strike by Italy-based EasyJet pilots and flight attendants, scheduled from 6 a.m. to midnight. The walkout has been called by several trade unions amid an ongoing dispute over the renewal of the airline’s collective labor agreement.
The strike follows a series of previous labor actions earlier this year and several unsuccessful rounds of negotiations between employee representatives and the airline.
Separate industrial actions are also planned at a number of airports.
At Verona Airport, air traffic control staff employed by ENAV are scheduled to stop work during the same 18-hour period, raising the possibility of delays for both arriving and departing flights.
At Milan Linate Airport, ground handling employees working for Sky Services in part of the airport’s apron area are expected to strike for four hours, from noon until 4 p.m.
Meanwhile, operational staff employed by Sogaer, the company that manages Cagliari Airport in Sardinia, are set to walk out from 6 a.m. until midnight.
Italy’s civil aviation authority, ENAC, has announced that flights scheduled during two protected time periods — from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. — must operate as planned despite the strikes.
Certain routes are also protected, including connections where only one daily service is available, such as Milan Malpensa–Lampedusa, Naples–Palermo and Naples–Olbia.
Under Italian regulations, domestic flights already in the air when a strike begins are permitted to continue to their destination. International flights scheduled to arrive within 30 minutes of the start of a strike are also generally allowed to operate.
Passengers whose flights are canceled are entitled to either a full refund or transportation on the next available flight to their destination.
Airlines and airport authorities have advised travelers to check the status of their flights before departing for the airport and to monitor communications from carriers for any schedule changes.
