Poland plans drastic cut to Warsaw flights in traffic controller row

Poland could drastically cut back on flights to and from Warsaw from May 1 if a dispute with air traffic controllers over working hours and pay is not resolved, according to legislation published before negotiations were set to resume on Tuesday.

Poland could drastically cut back on flights to and from Warsaw from May 1 if a dispute with air traffic controllers over working hours and pay is not resolved, according to legislation published before negotiations were set to resume on Tuesday. Almost 90 percent of air traffic controllers in Warsaw chose to quit rather than accept new working regulations which they say threaten safety. Some have already left and the notice period for the remaining 136 ends on April 30.

This will leave Warsaw's two main airports with only 26 controllers between them and likely lead to mass cancellations of flights to and from Warsaw and passing through its airspace. Late on Monday the government announced in the official gazette that from May 1, the Chopin and Modlin international airports would only be operational from 0930 to 1700 local time due to a lack of air traffic controllers.

Talks between the air traffic controllers' union and their employer, the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency (PANSA) were scheduled to resume on Tuesday. In a joint statement sent to state-run news agency PAP on Monday evening, the union and PANSA said that talks were progressing in "a substantive manner and in an atmosphere of mutual respect".

Among proposals seen as unacceptable by the union are a cut in air traffic controllers' pay, an increase from eight to 12 in the maximum number of hours they can work in a shift and the possibility for controllers to work alone.