The prospect of significant travel disruption looms over easyJet passengers in Portugal, with cabin crew announcing two distinct periods of industrial action. The first strike is scheduled to run from October 2nd to 6th, followed by a second, potentially more impactful stoppage from December 19th to 23rd. This move by the National Union of Civil Aviation Flight Personnel (SNPVAC) signals a deepening dispute over working conditions and compensation, threatening to ground hundreds of flights at key Portuguese airports.
Lisbon, Porto, and Faro airports are expected to bear the brunt of the October action, which could see approximately 500 scheduled flights cancelled, assuming no minimum service mandates are imposed. The timing of this initial walkout is particularly sensitive, coinciding with the long weekend surrounding Portugal’s Republic Day public holiday on October 5th. However, the December strike, set just days before Christmas, carries the potential for even greater disruption, striking at the heart of the busy festive travel period when countless individuals rely on air travel for leisure or to reunite with family.
This decision to strike, unanimously approved by 188 easyJet employees during an emergency general meeting, comes after what the SNPVAC describes as “numerous attempts” to resolve long-standing labor and pay issues. The union asserts that these concerns have been consistently ignored by the airline. Among the core grievances articulated by the cabin crew are frequent and disruptive changes to duty rosters, alleged breaches of the existing collective labor agreement, and a perceived disparity in treatment between cabin crew and pilots. The union also points to systemic problems with operational planning and the pressure on staff to work excessive overtime, which they attribute to ongoing staff shortages within the airline.
A central tenet of the union’s complaint revolves around compensation. The SNPVAC contends that easyJet maintains Portuguese crew on wages that are not only below those offered by other airlines operating within Portugal but also fall short of what easyJet itself pays in other countries across its network. The union argues that salaries in these other regions more accurately reflect the local cost of living and national minimum wage standards. This alleged wage discrepancy, coupled with what the SNPVAC characterizes as a “climate of tension and dissatisfaction,” has fostered an “intolerable deadlock” in negotiations, leading them to conclude that easyJet’s ultimate aim is to indefinitely prolong its current stance.
Further escalating the dispute, the SNPVAC has accused easyJet of circumventing striking workers by “repeatedly resorting to replacing striking crew members with managers and colleagues from other countries in the network.” The union claims this practice allows the airline to operate flights that would otherwise be cancelled, effectively undermining the fundamental right to strike and prolonging the industrial action. As the dates for these strikes draw nearer, passengers with travel plans involving easyJet in Portugal will undoubtedly be monitoring developments closely, bracing for potential changes to their itineraries during two of the year’s busiest travel windows.
