The European Transport Workers' Federation (ETF) announced on Wednesday 3 June that it intends to end its cooperation on air traffic management (ATM) with the European Commission's Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport (DG MOVE) for the next three months.
This decision was taken on the basis of several reports of pressure exerted by DG MOVE on employers in the sector to force them to reduce the labour costs of Air Navigation Service Providers (ANS).
EU officials have reportedly called for redundancies and pay cuts, details a statement issued by the ETF.
"The Commission has requested in particular that each Member State present a study on all the measures taken to reduce the wage bill in the sector so that the national results can be compared", Charles-André Quesnel, Air Traffic Controller, Chairman of the ETF ATM Committee and co-signatory of the declaration, told EUROPE.
Industry at Risk
The organisation deplores the Commission's intervention, "in conflict with the national authorities" in an area where it has "no competence", and considers the initiative particularly unwelcome at a time when the Covid-19 pandemic has grounded aircraft.
"Since March, air navigation service providers in Europe have been left without resources", Quesnel said. Eurocontrol has agreed to defer payment of airline charges (see EUROPE 12463/21), relieving the airlines but putting the service providers in difficulty.
The cost reductions requested by the Commission should also further relieve the burden on airlines, which finance air navigation service providers (ANSPs).
For the ETF, this amounts to putting the interests of the airlines ahead of those of the workers in the sector.
Reducing the size of the NASP workforce would also jeopardize the entire ATM industry for years to come, according to Mr. Quesnel. "And when controls are reduced, planes fly longer routes", which is not in line with the Commission's climate objectives, he said.
Suspension of work
The ATCEUC, an organisation representing mainly air traffic controllers, has joined the ETF, also ending its cooperation with the Commission. The various stakeholders were in fact working on a roadmap to improve air traffic control services in Europe.
However, according to Charles-André Quesnel, "it is antinomic that the Commission wants to work on improving performance while asking us to cut costs".
This decision was notified to the Commission on Wednesday morning, the ETF confirmed to EUROPE, indicating that it had received a reply from the European institution later that day. At the time of going to press, however, the Commission had not responded to our requests. (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)