Ryanair, at its annual general meeting today, called on the European Commission to end the ability of Europe’s air traffic control providers to strike, primarily by exposing them to competition under a market-based system. At the same time, the airline called on governments to replace striking ATC personnel with military and “other substitutes…to keep Europe’s vital airspace open and running efficiently.” The Irish low-fare airline condemned European governments for failing to end repeated strikes, which it blamed for “unnecessary flight delays all summer,” particularly within French, German, Spanish and UK airspace.
The continent should deregulate its national ATC providers and allow them to compete against each other, according to Ryanair. If, for example, the French go on strike, then the British or the Spanish should be allowed to manage French airspace “to prevent flights being cancelled or delayed and consumers being blackmailed or held to ransom,” Ryanair concluded. Meanwhile, it called on European governments to take actions similar to those carried out by former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, who in the early 1980s fired striking air traffic controllers in the U.S.
