Page 10 - STAT August 2022 for Magzter

specialreport

GLOBAL CRUNCH

IN AVIATION WORKERS HITS

AIR CARGO MOMENTUM

With the Covid pandemic came a slowdown followed by a spate of unprecedented
layoffs in aviation. However, as capacity returns and a busy summer season looms,
acute labour shortages and worker discontent with the industry is choking the
sector and its reverberations are being felt globally.

Lakshmi Ajay

n July 26, German national air better pay as well as improved working
carrier Lufthansa announced conditions, including meals on long shifts.
that it will cancel most of its On July 2, more than 900 or 55 percent
Oflights in Germany owing to of IndiGo flights were delayed owing to
workers moving to strike over pay rise. The the mass sick leave of the airline's staff
strike would reportedly involve 20,000 over discontent attributed to pay. IndiGo
ground employees involved in ground had earlier cut 30 percent of pilot salaries
and freight handling, administration, main- as a cost-cutting measure and later sus-
tenance, and security. pended many pilots in April this year who
Lufthansa is slated to have called off had protested over the issue.
its entire flight programme at its hubs in These latest developments from across
Frankfurt and Munich as a result, even as the world sum up the state of instabil-
Germany's main worker's union Ver.di, an- ity and chaos that has plunged airports,
nounced that Frankfurt, Munich, Cologne- airlines, and cargo operations into utter
Bonn, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover, chaos globally, owing to severe labour
and Stuttgart airports would be affected issues that got exacerbated due to the
by these strikes. pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war, China’s
Close to 500 flights were scrapped in Covid restrictions, inflation, and other
Italy on July 17 owing to staff agitation and macro-economic factors.
four-hour walkouts. These involved staff of Since the airline industry
low-cost airlines and air traffic controllers, began its peak summer
while the Italian transport ministry told the season, there has been a
press that the strikes were called by work- spate of airlines having
ers for Ryanair, EasyJet, and Volotea airlines. cancelled flights, cargo
Airline workers were reportedly seeking planes being redirected,

8 | AUGUST 2022 www.stattimes.com