The plans from the EU Commission to raise the minimum slot utilisation rate from 50% to 64% starting with the summer flight plan could have a huge impact on the European airlines.
The airline industry is still heavily impacted by the pandemic and the new omicron variant leading to a decrease in passengers and future bookings. The situation is fast moving and the future is uncertain.
If the minimum slot utilisation rate is raised in the light of the current booking situation or possibly even worse future predictions for the summer flight plan this could lead to increasing numbers of unnecessary flights which only carry few passengers or even “ghost flights“ without any passenger.
According to Annette Groeneveld, President of EurECCA: “Airlines which would normally not perform such a flight as it is not profitable would then have to operate the respective flight in order to keep the slots. Besides the negative impact on the airline level, it is even more crucial to emphasize the impact on the environment of these flights. In times of major ambitions to reduce carbon emissions and strive for a climate neutral aviation for example throughout the Fit-for-55 package this would be contradicting.“
EurECCA calls the EU Commission to reconsider their plans and not to put additional burdens on European airlines and their employees in times of the corona pandemic. EurECCA represents, protects and develops the rights and needs of all cabin crew all over Europe
About EurECCA: established in Brussels in 2014, the European Cabin Crew Association, EurECCA, represents, protects and develops the rights and needs of cabin crew all over Europe. It is composed of cabin crew unions from European Union Member States as well as accession and bordering states and represents some 33,000 cabin crew accounting for 70% of all organized cabin crew in Europe. EurECCA has no political connections. EurECCA’s work is around Cabin Crew working conditions, wages, social protection and health and safety at work.
