Announcing the deal, which was signed in parliament, Poland’s Infrastructure Minister Andrzej Adamczyk said: “Air travel in Poland will be free from disturbance in the coming days and weeks."
He praised “constructive talks” that he said made the agreement possible, adding that the country has been spared “the worst scenario for Polish airspace, for the Polish skies.”
Adamczyk thanked "the negotiating parties for ensuring that Polish airspace will be used to support Ukraine, rather than being closed or restricted in terms of the number of flights.”
Two-month deal
Andrzej Fenrych, one of the leaders of the air-traffic controllers’ trade union, told reporters that the agreement would remain in force until July 10.
In the meantime, the two sides will work to thrash out a final settlement, government officials said.
“It’s not the end of the war, it’s a truce,” Febrych cautioned.
Meanwhile, Adamczyk revealed that flight regulator PANSA had agreed to restore the controllers’ pay to pre-pandemic levels under the temporary deal, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Pay dispute
Air-traffic controllers from the capital Warsaw had threatened to quit their jobs if their salary demands were not met, according to media reports.
On Tuesday, government spokesman Piotr Müller told reporters that “the air-traffic controllers in Warsaw currently earn around PLN 33,000 (EUR 7,000) a month on average ... and are demanding that their average monthly salary be increased to over PLN 80,000 (EUR 17,000).”
"The expectations of the trade union are very, very high," he said at the time.
Poland’s Civil Aviation Authority (ULC) warned earlier this week that it would have to impose limitations on air travel through Warsaw’s Chopin Airport and Warsaw Modlin Airport from May if a deal was not reached.
In particular, the daily number of aviation operations at the two airports would have been reduced from 500 to 180, while opening hours would have been cut to between 9:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. local time, according to officials.
Following Thursday’s agreement, these emergency plans will be scrapped, the infrastructure minister told reporters.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, gov.pl