Planes canceled and companies in the storm, travel increasingly at risk. The bulletin of the scorching summer of the skies is enriched every day with new episodes, more and more surprising. There Sas company, already a jewel of Scandinavian aviation, presented to the court of New York the request to be admitted to the “Chapter 11”, i.e. the controlled administration procedure envisaged by US laws in order to be able to face, under the protection of American judges, the restructuring of company costs in order to then proceed to the payment of debts. In the coming weeks the scandinavian vector he is confident he can raise on the capital market at least 700 million dollars, the ones needed to get out of the state of crisis in 9-12 months and repay the creditors, among which the Treasury ministries of Sweden, Denmark and Norway stand out, exposed for 650 million dollars towards the company.
In short, the New York judge will act as guarantor towards the national airline with respect to the debts towards Copenhagen e Stockholm – shareholders as well as creditors – ed Oslo (already out of the capital) while raging the protest of a thousand pilots of the company which has been paralyzing activity since Monday, with the cancellation yesterday of 80% of flights to the detriment of 30 passengers. "It is a very serious attitude that falls into an already dramatic situation", said the CEO of Scandinavian Airlines, Anko Van der Werff . The unions reply: "unacceptable behavior": Sas, which until recently enjoyed robust public support, created two low-cost airlines without hiring the redundant pilots fired by the parent company.
Almost a school case of the great confusion in the skies of Europe which, unlike what the president thought, does not lead to anything good.
Planes and airlines at risk: canceled flights, delays and strikes throughout Europe
The companies, stressed by the expensive fuel, from the long stop of the pandemic and from the effects of the war in Ukraine, they faced the summer with staff reduced to the bone, on a par with ground infrastructure.
At about the same time Sas' attorneys entered the Manhattan Soth courthouse, British Airways announced the cancellation of 1.500 flights in the coming weeks which comes on top of a previous 10% cut in links. For now, because the situation, on the ground even more than in the skies, is not under control. Heathrow, the main airport of London, will be practically paralyzed for 72 hours from 21 July also in this case due to a strike, this time by ground services workers.
But, strikes or not, in recent weeks disorder reigns supreme in structures already above suspicion: Schiphol Airport, flag of Dutch efficiency, for months has been living in a Levantine atmosphere of absolute inefficiency, to the point that on 22 May the travellers, exasperated by the hour-long wait for baggage delivery, came to blows with the services.
It's no better at Charles De Gaulle, the main hub of Paris, put to the test by union unrest over the weekend: one in five flights has been cancelled, music will be repeated this weekend.
The same happens to Charleroi, the Ryanair "den" hit by the anger of employees who denounce "serf" treatments. In the meantime, Peter Bellew, chief operating officer of, raised the white flag EasyJet, who pays for the start of a disastrous summer, amidst delays and cancellations, with his resignation.
Lufthansa, still fresh from the aid paid by the Berlin government (already returned, however) apologized for the inefficiencies, including those of the Belgian subsidiary Brussels Airlines which has already announced a 6% cut in flights scheduled for the summer.
Shortage of staff: a summer of fire for European travellers
The list could go on quite a bit. It is estimated that there will be at least 1,8 million passengers who, between delays, cancellations e missed coincidences, will pay tribute to this crazy post-Covid season, marked by the sector's resounding inability to predict the will of European consumers to recover. But also of the limits of the labor market that emerged under the skies of the crisis.
At the origin of the flop are the lack of personnel in ground operations, from baggage embarkation/disembarkation to security personnel who increasingly put planes and companies at risk. The system, after the massifs layoffs last year, struggles, due to long working hours and low payroll, to find new staff. All in a condition of substantial uncertainty: after the summer season, in any case supported by the savings accumulated during the pandemic, will the Europeans' desire to travel continue? Or the coming recession will impose a abrupt halt to the tourism boom? Furthermore, Michael O'Leary, the creator of RyanAir and the undisputed leader of the low-cost epic, declared that “an era is now over. Let us resign ourselves to flying at much higher costs”.
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Ita Airways: who will be the buying consortium?
Given these premises, it is difficult to foresee a rapid recovery of investments. Even if, surprise among surprises, this season of confusion risks finding a solution Ita Airways file. Tuesday 5 July at 18, it is closed the second round of negotiations to win control of Ita Airways, the mini Alitalia that survived an infinite crisis. Within the week, barring surprises that are always possible, the Treasury should be able to present its assessment of the offers presented by the consortium at Palazzo Chigi MSc/Lufthansa and that of the bottom Use Certares, commercial partner of Air France/KLM and Delta Airlines. Then negotiations will start with the chosen partner with a view to being concluded within the year.
Do you postpone? They are always possible but dangerous: values tend to go down these days. Even if the decline in oil, kerosene, given the shortage of refineries, is likely to remain at elevated levels. In short, even in this case, the delay is at risk.
