Air Chaos and Zapatero Defends Government Actions

You may have heard about it, Spanish airspace was closed on Friday the 3rd of December causing, to say the least, chaos.

Friday was the first day of the longest Spanish holiday weekend of the year given that Monday the 6th (Day of the Spanish Constitution) and Wednesday the 8th (Immaculate Conception Day) were holidays. Thousands of Spaniards took Tuesday off to make what they call a puente (bridge), or long weekend, and headed to the airports.

Unfortunately most of them did not get to go anywhere. Air traffic controllers in an act of defiance walked off the job leaving Spanish air space almost completely shut down. Most of them claimed sickness, but it was widely recognized as an illegal strike. Strikes are legal in Spain but must be communicated beforehand and minimal services must be maintained.

The union has been negotiating with the government for months regarding salaries, working conditions and benefits. The final straw seems to have been a decree approved the same day which required controllers who miss work to make up the lost hours and that they could be subject to medical checkups immediately if they call in sick.

Their main complaint, however, is that new reforms have limited the amount of overtime hours that they are allowed to work, greatly affecting their overall salaries because extra hours are paid at triple the normal rate. The Spanish air traffic controllers are considered an extremely privileged working group in Spain. They have extremely high salaries in comparison to the average worker in Spain, lower working hours, more vacation, better benefits, and a lower retirement age. Government officials have openly stated that it "outrageous" for some controllers to be making nearly half a million euros ($660,000) a year given the amount of unemployment and crisis currently going on in Spain. Average yearly salaries in Spain for professional workers is around 20,000 euros ($26,500).

The Spanish government evoked part of the constitution that had never been used before in order to call a state of alarm and militarize the Spanish Airspace. Once the military decree was evoked, it gave the government the power to demand that the controllers returned to their jobs, or face military penal codes and jail time under military law.

By Saturday the emergency measures took effect and Spain's airspace was re-opened. Damage is estimated at over 500 million euros, a big loss to the Spanish economy. An estimated 300,000 passengers were affected.

The air crisis was a big test for Spain's government, led by José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who has been actively cutting costs and making economic reforms. Recent reforms passed partially privatized AENA, the company in charge of Spanish airports, and made moves to regulate airport work hours.

Today, in a government session dedicated to discussing the events occurred over the weekend, Zapatero appeared defending the government's decision to call a "State of Alarm" and involve the military to quickly put a stop to the air traffic chaos.

Meanwhile the Attorney General, Cándido Conde-Pumpido, has said the State prosecutors office will ask for sentences from 3 years up to 8 years in jail for those controllers found guilty of sedition. He also promised sanctions against all the controllers who had taken part in the action describing that as similar to doctors abandoning a hospital.

The Attorney General, Cándido Conde-Pumpido, also spoke to congress and stated that they will pursue 3-8 year jail sentances for all controllers found guilty of sedition and also to sanction any controller who had taken part in the unauthorized strike. He said that the move was similiar to that of doctors abandoning a hospital, completely unacceptable.

Air traffic controllers plan to appeal to the Supreme Court to remove the militarization of the airports. The union has already filed two appeals.

Meanwhile, the hospitality industry was the most affected and many businesses are considering legal action against the controllers and AENA for business lost.

What is the general feeling in Spain? Well, I am pretty sure air traffic controllers are not bragging to people about their job right now :)

Zapatero has asked for the State of Alarm to be continued to ensure that the traffic controllers do not create chaos over the Christmas holidays.