For three and a half hours on Sunday night, there will be no approach controllers at Chopin Airport in Warsaw, the tvn24.pl portal has learned. For this reason, the plane will not land from 2 am to 5:30 am at the largest airport in the country. Even if he finds himself in an emergency. A similar situation took place on the night from Friday to Saturday. This is a consequence of a conflict in the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency (PANSA) and notices submitted by inspectors.
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Our reporter found that the approach controllers (without their work, no machine will be able to “sit” on the Warsaw airport lane) will not be at work from 23.59 to 3.30 universal time (UTC), i.e. from 1.59-5.30 Polish time. During these hours, no take-offs and landings are planned due to the “night silence” introduced in March 2018, which is valid from 23:30 to 5:30. However, this does not mean that the lack of controllers does not change anything: the port handles delayed flights at night and is an alternate airport for many flights. There may also be humanitarian flights at night.
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As established by Grzegorz Łakomski, such an organization of the airport’s work is necessary due to staff shortages among the inspectors. The airport in Warsaw was also unable to accept any planes during the night from Friday to Saturday. On the occasion of that event, we talked to air controllers with many years of experience who decided that the closure of the largest airport in Poland was an “unprecedented” situation.
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Also read: Mass departures at PANSA. Soon, only one in six air traffic controllers can stay in the position
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PANSA on traffic controllers
On Friday evening, the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency (PANSA) announced that “it is currently facing the challenge of an increased number of absenteeism of air traffic controllers due to, inter alia, sick leaves, notifications of indisposition, etc., and, consequently, delays in air traffic.” The press release added that the agency “is taking the necessary steps to ensure audit staffing and stabilize the situation in the coming days.”
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It was also stated that “negotiations between the management of the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency and the management board of the Air Traffic Controllers Trade Union are ongoing and will be continued on Monday”. “Additionally, during the talks, the social side reports new issues that go beyond the agreed scope” – it was announced in the release.
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Conflict in PANSA
Tvn24.pl has been describing the conflict in PANSA for many months. In the second half of January this year, the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency announced that it was implementing new remuneration regulations. It is part of the Agency’s modernization plan. As PANSA informed at the time, these regulations were developed jointly with the social side and approved by the minister of infrastructure. According to PANSA, it compensates for “the disproportions in the earnings of employees of operational services that have grown over the years and introduces a system of motivating and incentives for employees”.
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The agency reported that nearly three-quarters of its employees, including the controllers working in the regional bodies, most of the operational and technical services, have adopted the new conditions and are working under the new rules. Under the new remuneration regulations, air traffic controllers can earn up to 45,000. PLN per month, including resources from the bonus fund. Moreover, each of the Agency’s employees may receive additional remuneration for work in development projects conducted by PANSA.
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Also read: Unsuccessful alliance of the altar with the drone, i.e. the backstage of the conflict in PANSA
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However, the conflict does not only concern the issue of wages, but also the issue of security in the Polish skies. Maciej Sosnowski, the head of the Air Traffic Controllers Trade Union, in an interview with tvn24.pl: – The progressive degradation of safety will eventually lead to a catastrophe, to a collision of two planes in our airspace.
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His deputy in the trade union, Andrzej Fenrych, echoes him: – Working in PANSA, in this form, with such managers, is simply dangerous. Even if you shower us with gold and nothing else changes, we will not return to work.
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This is confirmed by the findings of the Supreme Audit Office. “The Supreme Audit Office has a negative opinion about the activities of the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency in each of the analyzed areas,” we read in the document received by tvn24.pl. In the opinion of the Supreme Audit Office, “the situation of tensions within the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency may lead to a reduction in the level of air traffic safety.” The inspectors point out to the agency that “the auditors reported feeling overloaded with work” and that “the auditors (…) also experienced situations of confusion”.
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On Thursday, March 31, 44 people said goodbye to work at PANSA. Along with the end of April, the notice periods for another 136 people will expire. If they also go away, out of the 216 area and zoom controllers working so far, there will be 36, which is only one in six.
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Change of the president at PANSA
On March 31, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, at the request of Minister of Infrastructure Andrzej Adamczyk, appointed Anita Oleksiak as the president of the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency. Oleksiak replaced in this position Janusz Janiszewski, the president of PANSA.
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The Air Traffic Controllers Trade Union assessed that the change in the position of the person managing the Agency is “undoubtedly a step in the right direction”.
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“The union hopes that the new President will get acquainted with the latest assessment of the situation by Eurocontrol, but also with our analyzes of the situation in which, as a result of bad – unprecedented, in its long history – management the Agency found itself and we will jointly develop a program to restore safety to the Polish We are open to talks and to present recommended solutions to restore the proper functioning of the institution, and we will rebuild the recently damaged ethos of the controllers’ work.
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In recent days, talks between the management of the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency and the Air Traffic Controllers Trade Union on the terms of remuneration are underway. “So far, during the talks, safety issues have been widely discussed, which are a priority for both parties. In addition, during the talks, more issues beyond the agreed scope are reported by the social side” – PANSA informed on Friday, adding that the talks will be continued in Monday.
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