Vida-Liebhart calls for better working conditions and good wages as a remedy against staff shortages in aviation.

"The current cheering reports from individual aviation companies or the announcement from Austro Control that they have enough staff to manage the summer flight schedules are causing great surprise among the employees themselves and also among us," says Daniel Liebhart, Chairman of the Aviation Department in the union Vida. Because throughout Europe, airports and air traffic control would warn that there could be serious delays in summer because they could not find or train enough staff to be able to process the usual air traffic in the summer peak travel season. “In Austria, the personnel situation is just as drastic. Here we will, if at all, only get through the summer months with oh and noisy. The fact that so many things are going better in Austria is simply wrong. It would be utter nonsense to believe that the managers in Austria would have made smarter decisions," said Liebhart.

Employees and companies in the aviation industry have suffered major cuts in the pandemic years. In view of the abrupt increase in traffic figures, management must be aware that the current challenges can only be overcome together, emphasizes Liebhart. "All credit to the management's commitment, but it is now completely wrong to paint the picture that air traffic in Austria will run smoothly in the coming months. There is not only a shortage of staff among the Austro Control air traffic controllers, but also in the ground services at the airport. "There is no need for nice talk now, but rather good wages and working conditions in order to keep the existing staff and to be able to recruit and train new ones," demands the Vida trade unionist.   

Austro Control is "evergreen of staff shortages"

“The tragic evergreen of the shortage of staff is Austro Control. The workforce is so thin that the existing number of controllers was just enough to create regular rosters during the pandemic," criticized the Vida trade unionist. “It is true that the company is desperately trying to increase the number of employees. However, with moderate success. The training courses are not full and still far too few manage to complete the training.” In addition, the management is struggling with an unsuccessful system renewal that costs additional resources in flight. "Whether the summer can be managed without significant capacity bottlenecks remains to be seen. It is clear that this can only be achieved with countless overtime hours and extra work by the employees. But if the employees are deprived of their regeneration time, then I don't see much that this will be successful," Liebhart points out. 

Short-time work has prevented major management errors at airports

One of the "big problem children in European aviation" is currently the staff shortage at the airports for ground services. Thousands of employees are missing from aircraft handling and security checks. “The fact that the situation in Austria is a little less dramatic is thanks to short-time work. The Austrian short-time work regulation has ensured that companies are not allowed to lay off employees. That may have annoyed one or the other managing director at the beginning, but it is now the saving straw for the industry in Austria," emphasizes the Vida trade unionist. 

Staff levels have decreased significantly 

Liebhart is convinced that the social partners and the government have prevented major managerial mistakes with short-time work. Nevertheless, the natural loss of staff has led to a significant reduction in the number of employees. "The employees are now feeling this in a higher workload that reaches their limits," criticizes Liebhart. Rougher waiting times and delays could only be prevented by ensuring attractive working conditions and wages, so that the often modest wages are not further eaten up by the massive rise in prices. “Some companies have already recognized these developments, while others are still trying to sugarcoat the current situation. But we also reach out to these companies and call on them to work with us to create attractive jobs. Otherwise, the challenges in aviation will not be manageable," affirms the vida trade unionist.