Europe: Airlines call for faster training of controllers to ease delays

European airline chiefs Wednesday called for a shake-up of air traffic control, including greater competition and faster training, to ease bottlenecks that led to rising delays in 2018. Ryanair CE Michael O’Leary hit out at what he called the “scam” of high charges for the use of airspace despite strikes and staff shortages and called for the training time for new controllers to fall to 6 months from 2-3 years. “We can train someone to fly an airplane in 6 months - not to be a captain, but to fly the plane. Air traffic control is a fundamentally simple process. It is not complicated,” he said after chairing an industry report on air traffic delays. Unions immediately rejected the suggestion. “For the public, we could compare our work with what is done by surgeons. Obviously, no one would accept to have surgery with a student who only has a 6-month training,” said Jean-Denis Larrere, First Vice President of ATCEUC, which coordinates the work of European air traffic control unions. Air traffic control (ATC) strikes and staff shortages cost the EU economy E17.6b in 2018 in the worst year of delays for air passengers in nearly a decade, industry association Airlines for Europe (A4E) said. The “disgraceful” delays are caused by a combination of strikes, poor management and delays in implementing new EU-wide regulations, IAG Chief Executive Willie Walsh said. Story has more.<br/>