Air traffic controllers warned about the possible reduction of 800 employees of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise State Air Traffic Management Corporation (ATM) subordinate to the Federal Air Transport Agency. This follows from a letter from the head of the Federal Trade Union of Air Traffic Controllers (FPAD), Sergei Kovalev, to the President of the Russian Federation (Izvestia has it).
Dismissals mainly threaten air traffic controllers and other key production personnel who ensure the safety of flights in the airspace of the Russian Federation, according to a representative of the FPAD. He pointed out that reductions in skilled personnel, which take five to 10 years to train, will have an impact on flight safety.
The letter says that due to the sharp decline in flights in Russian airspace caused by the pandemic, the ATM Group has lost 60% of its income. Now, despite the fact that the number of flights on domestic routes has exceeded the level of 2019, the state corporation continues to show negative economic efficiency – about 2 billion rubles per month. The reason is the slow recovery of the intensity of flights on international air routes, including transit ones.
To equalize the balance between income and expenses at the enterprise in the summer, the wage fund was cut by 10% until the end of 2022, and by the end of last year, a headcount optimization program was adopted, Sergey Kovalev added.
Read more in the Izvestia article:
“Not up to par: Air traffic controllers reported a safety threat due to cuts”
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