Recovery on standby

The series of airline industry strikes which left travelers across Europe stranded this week will likely set back the continent's tepid recovery from economic recession.

Pilots of the German airline Lufthansa walked off their jobs Monday, only to suspend their planned four-day strike until at least March 8 after an appearance in a Frankfurt labor court.

Although a Lufthansa spokesperson said the airline plans to be flying on-schedule by Friday, its efforts to do so have been complicated by a five-day strike started Tuesday by French air traffic controllers and Wednesday's 24-hour general strike in Greece. Cargo flights have also been affected.

British Airways cabin crews announced Monday their intention to strike against a planned pay freeze and unsatisfactory working conditions, but they have yet to set a concrete timeframe for doing so.

Ingo Friedrich, president of the European Economic Senate and former vice president of the European Parliament, said the longer the strikes last "the more difficult the economic recovery we all hope for will be."

"Naturally it is very important to end the strikes as quickly as possible," Friedrich told Deutsche Welle. "The longer the strikes last, the more they endanger the recovery phase of the European economy."

"It is necessary to ease the tensions surrounding as many problems as possible and to do everything to we can to assist recovery."

Industry overcapacity

The Lufthansa pilots' strike left some 900 flights cancelled worldwide - a disruption the company said will cost it about 25 million euros ($34 million) in revenue. The pilots' trade union fears Lufthansa's billion-euro cost-cutting drive will eliminate German jobs as the airline increases its reliance on foreign subsidiaries that pay pilots less.

Meanwhile, French air traffic controllers are protesting the planned consolidation of flight control authorities in France, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland. When Greeks went on strike Wednesday to protest plans to resolve their country's debt crisis, they completely shut down air travel nationwide along with other public services.

While much of the unrest in the airline industry has to do with the rising costs of fuel and security measures put in place after the New York World Trade Center was destroyed on September 11, 2001, some of it is linked to industry deregulation and the privatization of national carriers.

Asger Schubert, deputy director of the Frankfurt-based Board of Airline Representatives in Germany, told Deutsche Welle the industry has excess capacity but that privatized national airlines are reaching the point of being competitive without government support.

"It will certainly be necessary in coming years for further weeding-out to take place in the market, but that can only happen if there is no further regulatory intervention. The goal is to have airlines in competition with one another internationally without government support, and so bringing the European Union into the picture would be counter-productive."

Because airline travel is a global business, it isn't possible to isolate problems, but generally all airlines suffer the same burden from fuel and security costs, according to Schubert.

"In the end it's about who has the best product and who can deliver it at the lowest price," he said. "It is noteworthy that strikes are being discussed at the classic carriers while at low-cost carriers – which have won market share during the past years – such actions aren't even being discussed. But at the same time it's true they are hardly organized in terms of unions."

Air travel at today's low prices is only possible because of the industry's overcapacity, but that situation will likely change with time and bring about a new price structure, "which means flying certainly will not get less expensive," Schubert said.

Social market endangered

Wolfgang Franken, general secretary of the European Economic Senate, described the strikes at Lufthansa as damaging to Europe's social economy. He blamed a lack of political outreach for what he described as an underestimation of the importance of European economic recovery.

"Governments have not publicized enough the importance of economic recovery, so that everybody knows how important that is for social systems in Europe," he said. "

"We're lucky to live in a social market economy, but money for social benefits has to be earned at some point. If we endanger our income through such striking, then it becomes difficult for states to keep their commitments."

Franken suggested if Lufthansa pilots want job security, their best chance is through cooperation between themselves, the company and the German government.

If unions representing cabin crews, ground crews and air traffic controllers all choose to strike at individual times, they can "bring an entire country into a bad situation," he said.

"Striking is a legitimate method with which to assert one's interests, but it can be avoided if people communicate sooner rather than late."

Author: Gerhard Schneibel
Editor: Sam Edmonds