EU Air Traffic Controllers plan to strike Oct 10, 2013

-  Inti Landauro, Wall Street Journal

Air traffic controllers in several European countries are planning partial labor strikes for Oct. 10 that will have a significant impact on flights in the European Union as they continue to protest over civil aviation reform, a French labor union official said Tuesday.

Controllers in Germany, Italy, Spain and Portugal are also planning partial strikes for Oct. 10, he added.

The air traffic controllers' unions are opposing EU plans to press ahead with much-delayed reforms aimed at reducing congestion in the region's airspace--a project dubbed the Single European Sky.

The EU project aims to remove national boundaries in aviation just as the Schengen Agreement in 1995 eliminated most national land borders in the 28-country bloc. The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, is trying to strengthen provisions for the long-delayed single sky plan to force greater cooperation among national air management agencies.

The Air Traffic Controllers European Unions Coordination, an EU umbrella group, argues that the plan emphasizes efficiency at the expense of safety. "This contradiction constitutes a real danger for the future of safe and efficient" air-traffic management, ATCEUC said.

Cain will be monitoring this situation.   While the UK is not part of this strike, delays/cancellations will likely be felt as well.