Ryanair presses EU to ban ATC right to strike            

27th October 2010

Ryanair presses European Union to prohibit Air Traffic Controllers right to strike

Following another day of strikes by French ATC Ryanair have been forced to cancel over 200 flights and have asked the EU to preclude air traffic controllers throughout the European Union from having the right to strike on the same basis as Police and Fireman in this country.

They request that legislation is brought in prohibiting the right to strike and if they did so they should automatically be dismissed.

Ryanair's anger follows similar cancellations in April and May due to the ASH cloud disruption whereby it was forced under current legislation to pick up the bill for accommodation, meals and return flight costs. It maintains that if cancellations are caused by circumstances completely out of their control it should not fall to them to pick up the bill.

If Governments were made responsible perhaps they would be quicker to bring in legistlation protecting the travelling public from the strike action of Air Traffic Controllers.

These strikes are once again causing massive problems due to the number of flights that are routed through France and bringing misery to many holidaymakers. The company stress that their ability to affect so many people and cause financial cost to business is out of proportion and the EU must act quickly to stop this ongoing chaos.