With the busy summer travel season underway, data recently released by Eurocontrol showed that flight delays in Europe this year have more than doubled compared to 2017 reports.
So far in 2018, air traffic management delays have exceeded 47,000 minutes per day, according to the Eurocontrol report. Staffing, capacity shortages, weather delays, and worker strikes have all contributed, leading to an average flight delay of 20 minutes this month. The situation has spurred the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to pressure European governments to address their airspace bottlenecks so travelers can get to their vacations on time and without frustration.
“Too many will be disappointed because of air traffic delays,” Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO, said. “We should be making progress, but delays are double those of last year. There is no quick fix for this year. But the needed solutions are well-known. With the correct investment and planning by governments and ANSPs we can, and must, make next year better.”
IATA, which represents some 290 airlines, has called for the modernization of infrastructure that has been lagging in investment. They want to see this coupled with implementation of the Single European Sky ATM Research, for which airlines are already paying.
“The impact of ATC delays ripple throughout the economy. At a time when Europe’s competitiveness urgently needs to be improved, increasing ATM delays is totally unacceptable. Travelers are fed-up. Change must start now,” de Juniac said.
IATA is also calling for reforms of work practices and expanded recruitment efforts, along with empowerment of the European Network Manager to plan and configure the network to meet air travelers’ needs better. Lastly, they request a strengthening of the performance and charging scheme so that those not delivering agreed capacity would be penalized accordingly.