Staff Writer
According to the airport, 64 flights were canceled on Friday after operations were suspended for four hours due to a workers’ strike at the start of the busy summer travel season.
Early on Friday morning, the airport tweeted, “Because of the social action… the direction decided a temporary halt of operations from 6:00 am to 10:00 am (0400 GMT and 0800 GMT).” “64 flights — both arrivals and departures — cancelled.”
A spokesman for the airport said on Thursday that the cancellations at Switzerland’s second airport, a major hub for the low-cost airline EasyJet, were expected to affect about 8,000 people.
International flights from North America and the Middle East were impacted in significant numbers.
The airport’s board authorized a new salary policy on Thursday, which was opposed by the workers. The strike was announced in response, and it may be extended into the coming days.
Only passengers on flights planned after the strike period were permitted inside, and there were numerous police and security personnel stationed in front of the airport.
Outside the terminal’s main entrance, some 50 striking employees and union members were demonstrating.
It is the first time that airport employees who are directly hired by the facility, as opposed to subcontractors, have gone on strike. According to Swiss airline, this includes tarmac guides and air traffic controllers.
A trade unionist claimed that it was challenging to comprehend how they had reached the deadlock.
The head of the Swiss Trade Union Confederation (USS), who showed up to support the strikers, Pierre-Yves Maillard, claimed that the airport is a profitable corporation that enjoys a monopoly and is targeting the working conditions of its employees.
Official records show that between January and May, the airport handled close to 6.8 million passengers.
The mayhem at European airports last year has been something that the airline industry has been trying to avoid happening again.
The industry struggled to handle an increase in travel because it was severely understaffed as a result of the Covid pandemic’s mass layoffs.
Huge queues, lost luggage, and delayed flights were all issues for travelers.
Additionally, other European airports and airlines
