Expatica news

Strike grounds scores of Brussel Airlines flights

Strike actions by Brussels Airlines pilots grounded scores of flights on Monday to and from mainly European destinations, the company said.

“Due to a wildcat strike action of a number of our pilots, we are forced to cancel some of our flights,” read an update on the airline’s website.

It listed just under 100 flights to and from European cities, plus cancellations connecting New York and Tel Aviv.

The latter was among 19 return flights scheduled for Tuesday that the company had already cancelled.

A union representative cited by national news agency Belga said about 80 percent of pilots refused to fly amid action targeting a 100-million-euro ($135 million) raft of savings imposed last year, which made a partial reduction in working time obligatory.

The airline said it was offering re-bookings and refunds, and urged passengers to check live web updates.

“We cannot speculate about the impact of the action later today,” it underlined.

Conciliation talks with the pilots were ongoing late Monday.