Possible strike at Belgocontrol on 25 June

[Passenger]

What hurdle? Is sending a letter with a receipt to an adress too complicated for you?

It's not too complicated. It's illegal.

Legislation is what it is: "Where reference is made to this Article, passengers shall be offered free of charge: (a) meals and refreshments in a reasonable relation to the waiting time; (b) hotel accommodation in cases".

Legislation does not say "passengers must arrange hotel accommodation themselves". And legislation surely doesn't add "refund is only granted if mr. O'Leary finds the expenditure reasonable".

When I visit my mom on Mother's Day, I'm not telling her "hi mama, I'm giving you flowers, but I don't have them with me. But just go to a flower shop tomorrow, buy them, then send me the cash slip by post, and if it's not too expensive, I will send you the money by bank draft".

[sean1982]

Who says you are right? That's just your interpretation
Offered free of charge: thats exactly what they get, a standard room with breakfast in a hotel of their choice.
Do they want to stay near the airport? Fine! Do they want to go into the city? Also fine!
"Not reasonable" would be getting the bridal suite, roomservice, etc...

[sn26567]

It would be interesting to read the first-hand experience of somebody to has been actually reimbursed by Ryanair for his "reasonable" expenses.

[Airbus330lover]

I'm still waiting for my compensation for a serious delay (>5 hours) 3 years ago......

[AirOpinion]

Since now NMBS is calculating the cost of mondays strike...
Are there any numbers available on the fnancial impact for the aviation business due to the ATC strike in Belgium and France?

[Inquirer]

One of the reasons a compromise can't be found easily, is because Belgocontrol is edging on bankruptcy!

"According to the annual report of Belgocontrol, last year a loss of over €10M had to be booked for the 5th consecutive time. This caused the accumulated loss to rise to over €60M at the end of 2013, which for the first time is more than the total capital of Belgocontrol even!
As most important reason for the recurrent and widening losses, Belgocontrol mentions the fact that it is obliged by law to offer an ever increasing number of services to regional airports for which it isn't being paid."


http://www.tijd.be/nieuws/ondernemingen ... newsteaser

[Passenger]

One of the reasons a compromise can't be found easily, is because Belgocontrol is edging on bankruptcy!
"According to the annual report of Belgocontrol, last year a loss of over €10M had to be booked for the 5th consecutive time. This caused the accumulated loss to rise to over €60M at the end of 2013, which for the first time is more than the total capital of Belgocontrol even!
As most important reason for the recurrent and widening losses, Belgocontrol mentions the fact that it is obliged by law to offer an ever increasing number of services to regional airports for which it isn't being paid."
http://www.tijd.be/nieuws/ondernemingen ... newsteaser

Every newspaper is going through hard times, and so does De Tijd. They had to cut in their staff costs, and here we see the result: they just copy/paste a text that some junior journalist at Belga has provided them.

Actually, Belgocontrol has reduced its annual loss compared to the previous year: 9.708.691 Euro loss in 2013, compared to 14.130.910 Euro loss in 2012. If this trend continues, they're in the black in 2015.

I don't know how De Tijd concludes that cumulated losses exceed Belgocontrol's own assets. I see an impressive own assett of +137.465.536 Euro in their balance, to -60.893.614 cumulated loss (= including the losses from the past).

Finally, I would like to know how De Tijd explains that a company with 22.000.000 Euro on a saving account and a healthy normal bank account could go bankrupt (I haven't calculated the cash flow yet).

[sn26567]

An agreement has been reached between Belgocontrol and the unions. There will be no further actions.