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While the United States grapples with air travel delays due to its air traffic control system, Europe is facing similar challenges. According to Yahoo News, European airspace may experience a record number of delays and cancellations this summer. The resurgence of air travel to pre-COVID-19 levels has stressed the European air traffic control system.
A French ATC strike in early July already affected over a million passengers, and further disruptions are expected as summer continues. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has also contributed to these issues by closing Ukrainian airspace and limiting flights over Russia, forcing European controllers to manage more planes in a smaller area.
Eurocontrol, responsible for providing air traffic control services across 42 nations in Europe, faces a shortage of controllers similar to that in the United States. This shortage affects operations as training new controllers takes around 18 months. Recent strikes by French air traffic controllers on July 3 and July 4 led to thousands of flight cancellations and delays.
