More than 200 flights were canceled today to and from Italy, as hundreds of transportation workers walked out of their jobs. The strikes were in protest of the current management of Rome, in particular, it’s mayor, and also affected rail, road, ferry and even civil services.
What happened?
Following a summer of multiple incidents of strike threats and strike action, European travelers are once again finding their travel plans disrupted as trade unions in Rome staged a general strike. Workers from over a dozen firms took strike action to protest what they called ‘dire management’ of the Italian capital by its current mayor.
From garbage collectors to public transportation workers, hundreds of staff walked out of their jobs this morning. Road and rail travel were disrupted, as well as schools and public buildings. Also disrupted were hundreds of flights in and out of the country, as airlines canceled services ahead of the industrial action.
Who has been affected?
In what local media are calling ‘Black Friday’, hundreds of flights to and from Italy were canceled ahead of the strike action.
Employees at beleaguered national carrier Alitalia walked out, leaving the airline to cancel in excess of 200 flights, reports the Independent. These included services from both Rome and Milan to Heathrow and London City.
Other airlines would not have felt much or any impact from their own workers striking, however will have been disrupted by ATC strikes. Not having enough people on the ground at the airport would also have forced some flights to be canceled or diverted.
According to the Independent, easyJet has been the worst affected. It has been forced to cancel 32 flights to and from Italy, including to destinations such as Bologna, Pisa, Rome and Venice from Gatwick. In addition to these flights from its hub, easyJet has also canceled flights to Pisa and Venice from Luton, to Rome and Venice from Bristol, to Catania and Milan from Manchester and to Milan from Edinburgh.
An estimated 5,000 passengers of easyJet have had their travel plans disrupted.
British Airways had to cancel a couple of flights also. Two return services from Heathrow to Rome and Milan got the chop, as well as trips to Bologna, Venice and Pisa. From Gatwick, it had to cancel two services to Verona and a Venice service. And from London City, BA had to bin its flight to Florence.
The only other carrier affected, as far as we know, was Flybe. The regional carrier, soon to become Virgin Connect, did not cancel its services from Birmingham and Manchester to Milan; instead they were both delayed for around four hours in order to miss the strike period.
Will everything be normal tomorrow?
In theory, yes. The airline strikes ran from 00:01 until 24:00 today, Friday 25th. This means everyone should be back at work tomorrow and all flights should be operating as normal. However, there could be some residual disruption as airlines, rail services and motorways work to get everything restarted.
It would, therefore, be advisable to leave a bit more time than usual for your transit to and from the airport, and check with your airline in case there’s been any change to the scheduled flight and departure time.
If you were affected by the strike action, you may be eligible to claim compensation under the EU passenger rights