Last December, the pilots had already gone on strike for 24 hours to protest against the workload. Contacted by Het Laatste Nieuws, the three unions announced on Tuesday that since then, “nothing structural” has been done to solve the problem. Although a meeting is scheduled for the day, it is very likely that neither side will give in.
“During the restructuring last year, everyone at Brussels Airlines had to give up their salaries,” aviation expert Luk De Wilde told Het Laatste Nieuws. “The pilots were paid 30% according to the cafeteria plan: they suddenly received a budget allowing them to choose a number of extra-legal benefits. But this amount has not been indexed once, whereas for the rest of the population there have already been four or five index adjustments in 2021 and 2022. They therefore suffer a loss of salary”.
With no result in the negotiations at the end of the day, the pilots will therefore go on strike for three days at the end of the month, which could cause a huge mess in holiday departures. According to the Dutch-language daily, it is possible that other Brussels Airlines staff will also join the pilots.