Low-cost carrier easyJet faces operational headwinds in Italy after flight-attendant unions declared a 24-hour national strike on Wednesday, 16 October. The announcement, published on the specialist monitor AirportStrikes.eu on 11 October, covers all Italian bases, including Rome Fiumicino, Milan Malpensa, Naples, Venice and Catania. Union representatives accuse the airline of stalling on the renewal of the national collective agreement, citing frozen salaries, uneven rostering and insufficient rest periods that they say fall below the standards secured by cabin crew at competitor carriers. In a statement, they also criticised what they call the “outsourcing spiral” of ground-handling and cabin-cleaning services, arguing that it undermines on-board safety and service quality. Under Italian industrial-relations law, a seven-day notice period applies to aviation strikes, giving easyJet time to rearrange schedules. The airline said it is “reviewing flight programmes” and will publish an updated list of cancellations by 14 October. Passengers whose flights are axed will be offered rebooking on alternative services, free changes or refunds. ENAC, the civil-aviation regulator, will enforce minimum connections on a handful of territorial-continuity routes such as Milan – Lamezia Terme and Rome – Palermo. The strike comes at the tail end of the high-season conference calendar and could disrupt thousands of delegates heading to Milan for the World FoodTech Expo and to Rome for the European Society of Cardiology summit. Travel managers with attendees booked on easyJet should consider switching to rail on trunk routes like Milan-Rome or securing seats on ITA Airways and Ryanair flights before load factors peak. For corporate mobility programmes, the industrial action is a reminder of the value of flexible fares and real-time traveller-tracking tools. Companies are advised to update risk alerts, communicate contingency options to travellers and verify hotel cancellation policies in case onward journeys are delayed.
Source: AirportStrikes.eu
