Air traffic controllers vs HungaroControl, scandal on the horizon?

HungaroControl and its employees are unable to come to terms with the agreements regarding wages, making the situation very uncomfortable and complex.

As Daily News Hungary wrote, air traffic controllers were planning to strike in July, despite a 15% rise in their pay and 30% less work. As far as the press knew at the time, navigation employees earned 1-2 million forints (2,769-5,539 euros) per month, which could rise to 2-3 million (5,539-8,308 euros) with benefits. The benefits were said to be really good, including healthcare.

In August, we also wrote about issues caused by a government decree that was introduced to ban the planned strike of air traffic controllers demanding higher wages. Since July, it has been observed that aircraft make larger bends and loops near Budapest Airport. This may be a way to get revenge, not only resulting in longer flights but also extra expenses for airlines.

Recently, Telex did some further investigation into the issue and found out that

despite rumours about wonderful wages for aircraft controllers, in reality, they had a 30-40% decrease in their pay.

A source told the news portal that state- and Covid-related traffic would not have stopped during the strike, despite the fact that the government’s decree had the argument that these important flights would be negatively affected.

Air traffic in the area increased significantly, and considering the number of flights, there has been a 50% growth. This is why, in 2018, employees demanded higher salaries, and the company seemed inclined to meet the employees’ demands, but the discussions were delayed. In 2020, when they started again, the employer, HungaroControl, had a different standpoint regarding wages.

HungaroControl is a 100% state-owned company – in fact, it does not operate from public funds. It derives the vast majority of its revenues from the various fees paid by airlines.