Will Hungarian soldiers solve the problem of delayed planes in Hungary?

Hungary struggles with labour shortages in many areas, and it seems the Hungarian government would solve the shortage of air controllers with soldiers. That would not be a surprise since the Orbán cabinet would end teacher and driving instructor shortage with Hungarian soldiers as well.

Are Hungarian air traffic controllers responsible for delays?

As we wrote HERE, the Hungarian government is to fine airlines causing delays. Gergely Gulyás, the Minister of the Prime Minister’s Office, talked about heavy, significant damage-causing fines for airline delays on a Monday government press briefing. Gulyás said that airlines are responsible for 2/3rd of the delays, while air controllers, ground handling services, and the weather bear responsibility for 1/4th.

Gulyás mentioned the air controller shortage at the press briefing. He said they increased the number of employees, but that was not enough. Therefore, he asked all participants of the Hungarian air traffic sector to compile an action plan, hvg.hu wrote.

Will Hungarian soldiers sit in their chairs soon? Photo: FB/HungaroControl

Labour shortage at HungaroControl

Hungary was the first in Europe to allow planes to use airspace 24/7, skyrocketing air traffic in Hungary’s airspace. But after the Russian annexation of Crimea (2014) and their full-scale attack against Ukraine (2022), traffic became too heavy above Hungary. And HungaroControl could not keep up with that immense increase.

An insider said there could be 4 thousand planes over Hungary on an average day in July. Theoretically, that is not unmanageable for HungaroControl. But in practice, the labour shortage at the company can only keep 6 out of 8 air traffic sectors open. Furthermore, they cannot operate all of those continuously.

Photo: FB/HungaroControl

Based on HungaroControl, air traffic increased by 25-30% in Hungary’s airspace compared to the pre-COVID time. However, the number of air traffic controllers grew only by 3.3%. That is because the number of applicants falls while the number of experienced employees decreases because many choose to continue their careers abroad.

Hungarian soldiers as air traffic controllers?

In 2021, the Hungarian government forbade the Hungarian air controllers to go on strike and for 2.5 years HungaroControl has been operating under the N7 Holding Ltd., headed by ex-minister László Palkovics. Even though the company is profitable, wages increase slowly. As a result, the real value of the air traffic controllers’ salaries falls.

That is why the Hungarian Defence Ministry thought they would transfer apprentices and volunteer reservists into the tower of HungaroControl. They even wrote a draft decree, but it has not entered into effect yet. Such employees would not be able to work alone. They would need an experienced supervisor, based on the draft decree.

The decree calculated only with ten more air traffic controllers transferred from the Hungarian Army, which would generate a HUF 131 million-plus budget by 2028.

Read also:

• Is Hungarian air traffic control behind the chaos and delayed flights in Europe? – Read more HERE
• Hungarian air traffic controllers assert delays are not solely their fault