Brussels Airlines’ management confirms that the trade unions have not called off their strike on Monday. Therefore, half of Brussels Airlines flights scheduled for Monday have been cancelled. Of the 12,500 passengers expected, 3,500 reservations had to be cancelled.
The three trade unions of Brussels airlines staff confirmed on Friday that they would maintain the 24-hour strike from Monday at 05:00. In the wake of this announcement, the management of Brussels Airlines sent the unions a letter of formal notice of default urging them either to cancel the strike immediately and no later than 17 December 2021 at 11:00 or to make them bear the weight of the financial impact of such an action estimated at 2.5 million euros for the cancellation of 116 flights.
Didier Lebbe of the CNE union explains that the trade unions maintain the call to strike. “The management letter is ridiculous and is pure intimidation which goes against all international conventions. We have served a strike notice since July and this action is therefore totally legitimate“.
Maaike Andries, an airline spokeswoman, does not want to comment further on the conflict. However, at this point, she said that “all attention is placed on the passengers so that Monday is not too chaotic for them.”
Management asked the pilots and flight attendants who was willing to work and who was not. It still sees a certain will and expects half of the scheduled flights to be maintained, essentially all long-haul flights to Africa and North America and their feeder flights.
Out of the 3,500 cancellations, a solution has already been found for some travellers, such as a new reservation onboard a flight from another company of the Lufthansa Group. The office staff will work all weekend to try and find solutions for all travellers who have booked a flight for Monday.
