After the strike action of security personnel at Charleroi Airport (BSCA) caused intense disruptions over three days, airport CEO Philippe Verdonck has spoken out calling the situation "catastrophic," and has called for the introduction of a law on minimum service.
The staff of Security Masters, which is the company hired by the airport's subcontractor BSCA Security to ensure security at the airport, went on strike after failed negotiations with security management from Monday to Wednesday.
"I have already spoken to the Minister of Transport about a law for minimum service. We have to think about the implementation, it's not that simple," stated the CEO Thursday morning on a live broadcast from the tarmac.
Verdonck was not part of union discussions at the beginning of the week.
Chaos during strike action of safety personnel at the departures terminals of Charleroi Airport this week. Credit: Belga / Virginie Lefour.
"You have to wonder how the Security Masters teams can walk out so quickly, without any warning," the CEO continued.
"There is an internal knowledge that the company needs to have with regard to its employees. It's about knowing. It's not possible to walk out so quickly." Are the unions overwhelmed? Verdonck's answer is yes: "That's what they said on Monday."
Security Masters to pay passengers' compensation?
Now that the situation is back to normal with promises from the CEO that all planes will take off this Thursday, attention now turns to affected passengers. Who will pay? "the people responsible are Security Masters," said the CEO of BSCA. "What's certain is that it could be a long road to recovery for passengers."
This journey can start by lodging a complaint via a tab created on the Charleroi Airport website to claim a refund. "I invite passengers to send us their complaint which we will forward to the company Security Masters," said Verdonck. This contact form is to be used to get reimbursed for expenses outside of plane tickets, such as hotels.
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For reimbursement of air tickets, the website of the airlines such as Ryanair, TUI or Wizz Air is the first point of contact.
Ryanair has said that they will compensate passengers for flights at the beginning of the week while TUI and Wiz Air will compensate passengers for flights missed on Wednesday.
