ROME (Sputnik) – Italian airline Alitalia had to cancel 60 percent of its domestic and international flights due to 24-hour strike organized by trade unions, calling on the airline to give up the idea of cutting wages as part of cost-saving measures, the airline said Thursday.
"Alitalia was forced to cancel 60% of its flights, both domestic and international due to industrial action by trade unions. The USB and CUB Trasporti trade unions, together with ANPAC and ANPAV professional associations have confirmed on 23 February a 24 hours strike," the airline said in a statement, posted on its website.
The airline stressed that the flights scheduled for peak times, namely, from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. local time (from 6:00 to 9:00 and from 17:00 to 20:00 GMT), would not be subjected to cancellation.
The airline also called on passengers to check the status of their flights before leaving for the airport and added that it had taken measures to save customers the inconvenience of the forced flights’ cancellations.
Earlier in February, flights in the United Kingdom and Germany were also subjected to cancellation over the strikes, staged by workers, demanding pay rise.
