Travellers using Italian airports this weekend are advised to double-check flight status after ground staff employed by Sogaer—operator of Cagliari Elmas—started a 24-day overtime and extra-hours ban that officially began at 00:01 on 6 September and is still in force today, 19 September. The industrial action, registered with the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, was highlighted this morning by Fiumicino airport’s strike bulletin, which confirms service impacts across the network because Cagliari is a key diversion field and crew-rotation hub. Although not a full walk-out, the overtime ban means no additional staffing buffers are available for late-running flights, aircraft turnarounds or irregular-operation recoveries. On Friday evening airlines pre-emptively cancelled or consolidated 18 domestic sectors touching Rome, Milan and Bologna to keep schedule integrity. ITA Airways has issued a commercial policy allowing free rebooking within seven days, while several low-cost carriers are warning that hold-baggage delivery may be delayed when shifts finish. Under Italian law minimum services must be guaranteed during aviation strikes. ENAC’s list of protected flights covers those scheduled in the 07:00–10:00 and 18:00–21:00 slots, as well as all intercontinental arrivals within 30 minutes of those windows. Business travellers should therefore avoid tight connections outside the protected bands, particularly if onward rail or ferry segments are involved. Travel-risk managers are advising corporate travellers to build at least four hours of slack into itineraries involving Sardinia and to check whether time-critical cargo—pharmaceutical samples or AOG spares—can be rerouted via Olbia or Alghero. Companies with posted-worker obligations are reminded that delays affecting daily rest under EU Regulation 561/2006 may require derogations to posted-driver schedules. Unions FILT-CGIL, FIT-CISL and UIL Trasporti say the dispute centres on understaffing and the application of the sectoral collective agreement; mediation with the prefecture resumes on 23 September. Until then, mobility planners should monitor the MIT strike register and airline ops bulletins for late-breaking changes.
Source: Fiumicino.it strike bulletin
