Lisbon Airport Faces Continued Delays Following December 11 National Strike
by Marsha Mowers
The compelling cityscape of Lisbon, Portugal.
A one-day national labour strike in Portugal on December 11th is continuing to cause some delays at Lisbon’s Humberto Delgado Airport as services resume and backlogs are cleared.
Pilots, flight attendants and airport staff walked off the job Thursday, causing the cancellation of about 400 flights nationwide, with Lisbon—being the country’s busiest airport—bearing the bulk of the impact.
On Thursday, Lisbon airport schedules showed more than 60 flights cancelled by mid-morning due to the walkout. Today (December 12), Flight Aware shows LIS is currently experiencing departure delays an average of 29 minutes and increasing.
Flag carrier TAP Air Portugal operated only 63 of its 283 scheduled flights on December 11, in line with the minimum level of service required by law.
It’s country’s biggest strike in more than 10 years as two labour groups – the General Workers’ Union and the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers – protest against the government’s planned changes to employment labour laws across many sectors, including aviation.
There is no official word yet on how long the strike is expected to continue or if more labour disruptions are planned.
