On Tuesday, an aviation summit was held at the invitation of the Austrian Climate Protection Ministry, chaired by State Secretary Magnus Brunner. The Vida union also took part in the conference, which was held online due to the corona pandemic.

Like hardly any other industry, aviation was hit by the Corona crisis. The number of airlines flying to Vienna has almost halved from 75 to 38. Flight movements in Austria decreased by more than 64 percent, while the number of passengers at domestic airports fell by as much as three quarters. “Due to the strong impact, attempts were made at national and European level to provide the aviation sector with the best possible support in this crisis. Nevertheless, the gross added value of aviation in Austria fell by 2,54 billion euros and has thus almost halved, ”said the Climate Protection Ministry in a press release.

The employee representatives announced that due to the short-time work, employment in the heavily affected industry could be kept comparatively stable. “A corresponding extension of short-time work IV is therefore advisable. Otherwise there is a risk of job cuts in Austria, including long-term emigration and, as a result, a permanent shortage of highly qualified people when aviation starts up again after the end of the pandemic, ”demands Vida department head Daniel Liebhart.

“In response to the crisis, the federal government launched numerous support services. Measures such as short-time work and the investment bonus also benefited the aviation industry. Thanks to short-time working, 95 percent of the jobs in the industry could be retained, but the crisis has claimed almost 2.300 jobs, ”said State Secretary Magnus Brunner (ÖVP). “The pandemic turned back the time in aviation by 26 years. 75 percent fewer passengers in Austria and half of the aircraft on the ground in Europe. The situation is threatening our very existence and the next six months will demand a lot from us, but it is important to talk about restarting aviation now. So that airlines and airports can prepare for increasing traffic volumes and passengers can get safely from A to B when the situation improves. Because the desire to travel is palpable and next summer is sure to come. "

According to Brunner, the following emerges from the discussion at the Aviation Summit Suggested measures:

"Double test strategy for high-risk areas"

Due to the mutation of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, Austria has imposed landing bans for countries such as Great Britain and South Africa. These have led to a further decline in flight movements - just over a third of the flights from last year can be found in the European skies in the first few weeks of January. “The landing bans are important as a quick measure to prevent the unknown mutations from spreading rapidly. In a further step, however, it is now important to move away from landing bans and towards stricter restrictions for travelers from high-risk countries, as proposed by the EU Commission. The aim is to test all passengers from high-risk countries who enter Austrian soil before departure and then to have them quarantined in accordance with the current entry regulations in order to guarantee double security ”, says Brunner.

"Proposal for European travel regulations: everyone should be vaccinated or tested"

In addition, possible options for safe travel in the summer months were discussed at the summit. The industry is largely placing its hopes in nationwide vaccination and testing options in order to achieve the long-awaited upswing in summer. “The aim is that all passengers who take a flight can show a negative test or a vaccination against Covid-19. As part of the working group, it should be worked out how the complete control can work in practice. We are looking for European partners to implement the proposal, because uniform standards are required for unbureaucratic control and easy and safe travel, ”says Brunner. “But it is also clear that it is not about compulsory vaccination through the back door. Austria relies on the voluntary nature of the Covid vaccination. For people who cannot or do not want to be vaccinated, there must also be solutions, such as tests ”.

Vida calls for wage and social dumping to be stopped

But the union is also plagued by concerns that in the course of the expected recovery in the aviation industry, the price dumping competition in Vienna could also celebrate its comeback. Politicians would be asked to see the right measures to be able to prevent this. Liebhart said: “State Secretary Brunner must therefore do everything possible to ensure that not only the unscrupulous airlines survive in the market after the pandemic. Because the serious airlines operating on the market cannot otherwise compete with the immoral approach of individual low-cost airlines. In particular, the climate protection and labor ministries are urged to finally put a stop to wage and social dumping for a sustainable recovery in aviation with regulations to be enacted ”.

Vida criticizes Ryanair and Wizz Air participation

The low-cost airlines with the largest offerings, Wizz Air and Ryanair, were this time - in contrast to the previous aviation summits - each with one representative. The union Vida is angry: “For us it is incomprehensible that representatives of airlines such as Ryanair and Wizz Air were invited to today's consultations at the aviation summit. They make almost no contribution to Austrian added value. On the other hand, they cause a lot of suffering among employees with wage and social dumping, and not just their own, ”criticizes the Vida unionist.

In order to get the planes up again, the industry is currently focusing on FPP2 masks, testing and vaccinations. “From our point of view, all measures must be taken to enable travel. In the course of the whole discussion, however, it should not be forgotten that this is often about sensitive health data and the trust of employees in the safety of vaccinations. This discussion must be conducted with the staff, the works councils and with us as a union. This is the only way to find solutions that also take account of the employee and data protection requirements required here, ”says Liebhart.