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August 11, 2010 -
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) urged AENA, the
Spanish air navigation service provider, and the Spanish air traffic
controllers to take all measures possible to avoid strike action.
Specifically,
Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s Director General and CEO urged Spain’s air traffic controllers to
accept AENA’s offer to enter into an arbitration process to resolve
their differences.
“This is not the
time for strikes. Arbitration is a fair, open and balanced means to
settle the differences between AENA and the air traffic controllers. And
it would avoid debilitating disruption to Spain’s
economy,” said Bisignani.
(see
Spain’s Air Traffic Controllers Have A Nerve To Vote To Strike)
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“The global
financial crisis and Europe’s ongoing
debt crisis are challenging governments, employers and employees to
change in order to build stronger and more robust economies. With 20%
unemployment, Spain
cannot be a spectator. The economy is weak and it can ill afford the
devastating effects of an air traffic control strike on Spanish
business, especially tourism,” said Bisignani.
"This is not just
theory. When much of Europe’s air space closed for a few days as a result of
the ash crisis, airlines lost $1.8 billion in revenue and the cost to
economy is estimated at over $5 billion. Even the threat of a strike is
seeing people changing plans to avoid Spanish destinations, airports and
airspace. That’s lost money for the economy and puts Spanish jobs at
risk. Agreeing to arbitration would remove the threat of a strike and
restore passenger confidence,” said Bisignani.
After decades of
discussion, Europe
is finally moving forward with some key elements of the Single European
Sky. Uniting Europe’s air space is
critical. Each year, the efficiencies generated will save over EUR 5
billion in costs, reduce delays by millions of minutes and reduce CO2
emissions by 16 million tonnes. Many of the changes under contention
between AENA and the air traffic controllers are associated with the
preparations for Spain to benefit from the Single
European Sky.
“Over the last decade, every industry has been challenged to change and
to improve efficiency. Airlines improved productivity by 63% but, as the
bankruptcy of Mexicana proves, the industry is fragile and even more
change is needed. Changes in telecoms, automobiles or pharmaceuticals
have all been massive, often times painful, but absolutely necessary to
survive. AENA too must change to ensure that Spain has cost-efficient air
connectivity to power its economy. The burden of this change includes
the controllers,” said Bisignani.
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