The nightmare summer in the European skies, the head of the iata denunciation: it will be record of late flights

European travelers must prepare for a summer with a late flight record for the lack of controllers in the towers and radar centers in the middle continent. It is the alarm that launches the head of the main international association. « It will be definitely worse than the last 20-30 years, » he says to Corriere Willie Walsh, general manager of the IATA, on the sidelines of the annual assembly in New Delhi. The inconveniences would exceed those, as a record, of the summer 2024 which – according to the data provided by Eurocontrol – recorded the delays along the highest route since 2010.

Estimates

Just Eurocontrol – the agency that supervises the European skies and not only – provides for 2025 an average delay scissor for flight along the route that ranges between 2.02 and 2.54 minutes (equal to at least 70 thousand minutes per day), well above 0.9 minutes as a target. And it’s not a little. Just think that about 10% of flights suffer delays, with landing 25-30 minutes beyond the scheduled time. On average.

The resources

And this net of the impact of bad weather. « But be careful: the weather is used by many air traffic service providers to mask a resource problem, » reports Walsh. « The managers of the European airplanes did not face the changes made by the companies to improve efficiency », accuses the head of the IATA which was previously CEO of IAG, a group that controls British Airways, Iberia, Vueling and Aer Lingus.

« Few controllers »

« The offer of flight controllers does not keep up with the market demand, » continues the general manager. Eurocontrol calculates that staff in radar centers and towers are 10-20% lower than the necessary, in particular in the areas that are recording a significant number of delays such as Spain, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Croatia and Serbia.

The accusations

« I am happy that Eurocontrol is highlighting him, because we have been denouncing him for some time – continues the general manager of the IATA -: now they admit that they did not have the right resources. And they have to fix it. It’s simple. They must solve it, they must put the right resources in the right places ». A great way, says Walsh, « would have been the single European sky », which for years remains only on paper and provides for a centralization of flight management. « It would have been cheaper, more efficient, safer and better for the environment. »

European standards

Since according to the head of the Ita, most of the delays is due precisely to the flight controllers « these should 100% take charge of compensating passengers ». « But I don’t think it will happen, » says Walsh. “It’s a shame. And goes to the heart of the EU261 legislation (the package that establishes common rules to compensate and assist passengers in case of denied boarding, deletion of the flight or its prolonged delay, editor’s note), where it was thought that the way to improve performance was to fine the airlines – seen as the problem – if they did not respect the standards ».

The Heathrow case

« Now the aviolinee are fined because the flight controllers have problems or because, as in the ridiculous case of London Heathrow, the airport closes, » accuses Walsh. « Indeed, the CEO of the London airport, in the interview I heard, said it was not their fault, have no responsibility, they did an excellent job and is very proud of it. » « But the fact that they are there to say that they have no responsibility – he underlines – shows how arrogant they are, because they do not see any risk in their bankruptcy ».

« Failure to regulate »

To confirm this reasoning, says the head of the Iata, « is the fact that the first thing you read on airport sites when there is a breakdown is » contact your airline «  ». « Unfortunately this is a failure of regulation because it has not produced the desired results, » Walsh think. « Airlines have improved their services significantly, but they are victims of the scarce performance of airports and in particular of the Suppliers of Aeronavigation services ». That’s why « it is not fair to compensate if the flight is late because of the flight controllers ».