Brussels Airlines pilots threaten with a three-day strike at the end of June

A deep rift between the unions representing the Brussels Airlines pilots and the airline’s management is threatening the start of the holiday season. If today’s reconciliation meeting doesn’t result in an agreement, a strike warning will be issued with the ultimate threat that the pilots will stop working at the end of this month or the beginning of July. Chances are high that other Brussels Airlines staff will also join the pilots.

Last year, on Monday 20 December, the staff of Brussels Airlines led a 24-hour strike denouncing “untenable” working conditions and demanding the respect of agreements signed in early 2021. But since December, nothing has changed, unions say.
According to BBTK secretary Olivier Van Camp, there is great dissatisfaction in the pilots’ group with regard to the Summer rostering and wages:

“As long-haul traffic has recovered less from the pandemic than short-haul flights (Europe), pilots who normally carry out long-haul flights are now deployed on short-haul flights.”

“Last Summer was already very difficult with heavy duty rosters on the medium-haul network, this year it only seems to get worse,” Van Camp said.
“During the COVID-19 pandemic and a subsequent major restructuring, pilots agreed to a wage decrease of 10%. Now that the airline is slowly starting to recover, pilots want at least part of their sacrifice back.”

“A strike just before the start of the Summer season is detrimental to the image of Brussels Airport. Nobody benefits from it,” says aviation expert Luk De Wilde to Belgian daily Het Laatste Nieuws. “Both unions and management will have to make concessions to avoid a new chaos. Brussels Airlines is still not profitable, besides they have to repay a loan of 290 million euros to the Belgian state by 2024. A strike is never good to retain the passengers’ trust.”