Tue, Jan 20, 2004
Travelers, Airports Hit Hard
Monday was a bad day to
fly in or out of Italy, as the country's national airline --
Alitalia -- cancelled 364 flights in response to a
devastating worker strike. The airline expected about 18,000
passengers to face travel disruptions as a result of the one-day
walk-out protesting job losses.
The debate stems from Alitalia's management proposal to cut
2,700 jobs to help reduce the state-run airline's financial woes.
Company officials also claim the move will help prepare for its
transformation to a private operation.
Obviously, the unions don't agree with this cost-cutting plan.
"We want the plan withdrawn and discussions to start again from
scratch," said Stefano Pietrini, a spokesman for Fit-CISL trade
union.
As a result of the
disagreements and subsequent one-day strike, which called an 8-hour
stoppage between 0900 and 1700 GMT on Monday, check-in counters at
Rome's Fiumicino airport -- among many others -- were deserted on
Monday as the strike's effect began to take a toll. Facilities
outside of the Roman airport were also affected, as union plans
included a lunchtime protest outside the Finance Ministry in
Rome.
The strike is the third major transport stoppage to hit Italy
this year. you may recall, Italian air traffic controllers held a
one-day strike on January 8 to protest pay and working conditions
which led to 334 Alitalia flights being cancelled, and causing
20,000 stranded passengers to sit around for hours on end. A
nationwide strike on January 9 also caused chaos on Italian bus,
train and metro transportation services.
More News
Touchdown Zone Lighting Two rows of transverse light bars located symmetrically about the runway centerline normally at 100 foot intervals. The basic system extends 3,000 feet alon>[...]
“Discovery and innovation are central to our mission at Virgin Galactic. We’re excited to build on our successful record of facilitating scientific experiments in subor>[...]
"We are reaching out to you today on behalf of the Popular Rotorcraft Association because we need your help. We are dangerously close to losing a critical resource that if lost, wi>[...]
UAS Traffic Management (UTM) The unmanned aircraft traffic management ecosystem that will allow multiple low altitude BVLOS operations and which is separate from, but complementary>[...]
Aero Linx: Society of Aviation and Flight Educators (SAFE) SAFE is a member-oriented organization of aviation educators fostering professionalism and excellence in aviation through>[...]