The strike will stop air traffic at the beginning of February. We asked HS readers how it affects their lives.
AIR SERVICE practically stops due to political strikes for two days in the beginning of February. Unions operating in air transport and stations announced strikes on Friday afternoon.
Finnair has announced that the strikes will significantly affect its operations, and flights will have to be cancelled.
We asked HS readers how the strike in air transport affects their lives.
By Sunday, almost a hundred responses had been received to the survey. For many of the respondents, it was still unclear during the weekend whether the strike would affect their trips at all.
One among those who are unsure is from Helsinki Timo Kaljunen, whose skiing trip to the French Alps is in danger of being postponed for the fourth time. His flight is scheduled to leave Finland on February 3, but there is no certainty about the departure yet.
At the French end, the journey would continue with transportation organized by the travel agency.
“Travel agencies are usually not able to change the agreed schedules of a group trip, so they usually just cancel the trip.”
Kaljunen has been trying to get on the trip since the beginning of the corona pandemic. Two cancellations were due to the pandemic, and last winter the travel agency was unable to provide a guide for the weekend Kaljunen was planning a trip for.
“I've been wondering if I could manage to try a fifth time. It's not frustrating in itself, because I'm already used to cancellations during the corona era,” he says.
He has not formed a clear opinion about political strikes. On the other hand, in his opinion, they are sometimes too strong a measure, but this time he understands the reasons for the strikes.
“Now the poor are being squatted down so thoroughly that in this case I accept them.”
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“An absolutely impossible situation from the customer's point of view.”
Prominent some of the survey respondents say that they are very angry and disappointed when their trip is canceled or the date of travel is changed.
Many people say that they have been eagerly waiting for their trip. Among the answers are canceled business trips and family vacations. Some have had to cancel birthday parties.
Flight cancellations cause many changes in people's lives: one respondent was supposed to fly to the United States to take care of his grandchildren so that his son and daughter-in-law could go on business trips.
Strikers the parties are criticized in the answers to the survey for being undemocratic and ruining the image of Finland.
A few respondents even say that they will resign from their trade union because they do not accept its actions.
Finnair also receives criticism. Many say that its services were blocked. One respondent waited in line for the telephone service for more than five hours, but in the end did not get through.
On the other hand, the customer service backlog was to be expected. Finnair announced on Friday that it has 1.-2. February approximately 60,000 customers whose travel plans may be affected by the strike.
From Turku Markus Tasalan was supposed to travel to Folgaria, Italy to cheer on her teenage daughter, who is representing Finland in the international youth alpine skiing competitions.
According to Tasala, the trip could have been more successful if the flight could have been made earlier in the day. However, there were no more flights left for the last day of January.
“At the moment, it looks like we won't go on a trip at all, because other schedules don't come into question. It feels boring.”
Finnair has not been in contact with Tasala, but he himself has been in contact with the company several times. He was told that the flight has not been officially canceled yet.
“I could buy tickets from a competitor, but I don't know how it will work when Finnair hasn't canceled the flight yet. However, it is likely that it will not be flown. An impossible situation from the customer's point of view.”
Tasala wonders why the strike measures are aimed at people who are not parties to the labor market struggles. In his opinion, it does not belong to democracy.
“The strikes are completely disproportionate compared to the changes planned by the government. The Ay movement just wants to show its strength.”
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“I don't even dare to get angry that people are on strike. Fortunately, it is possible in a free democracy.”
Part you can get through the answers with less effort. They say, for example, that they managed to postpone either their outbound or return flights by a day or two.
Among the answers, there are also speeches defending the strikers.
From Raasepor Juha Hämäläinen resorts to the train to get to the freefall trip to Pallas. While planning the trip, he noticed that the strike falls on the day he had booked a flight to Kittila.
He submitted a compensation application to Finnair for the price of the ticket, but he does not know if he will receive compensation for it. According to him, the compensation service was also congested.
“It was a pity that the flight was cancelled. After all, it's a hassle, but these are pretty minor inconveniences for a person who is going on a camping trip in this world situation when bombs are falling all over Europe.”
According to Hämäläinen, free democracy includes that employees can defend their rights by striking.
“I don't even dare to get angry that people are on strike. Fortunately, it is
possible in a free democracy. I can pay as much as tickets for that right.”
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