“Twenty-five departing flights were canceled, and 19 arrivals were affected,” stated Carlos Araújo, leader of the Sindicato das Indústrias Metalúrgicas e Afins (SIMA), at around 20:30.
Carlos Araújo noted that the strike caused further disruptions at the capital’s airport, coinciding with other issues, including an emergency landing of a SATA Azores Airlines aircraft.
The union leader expressed regret over the incident, which occurred late in the morning due to a bomb threat onboard that turned out to be a “false alarm,” as confirmed by the Azorean company.
Araújo also mentioned that over “20 to 30 flights” to various destinations had luggage unboarded due to the strike.
“Tomorrow, Sunday, the ‘snowball effect’ will continue, and by Monday, the service will completely degrade. We were forced into this situation due to the intransigence of the current management [of SPdH/Menzies],” predicted the union leader.
Organized by SIMA and the Transport Workers Union (ST), the strike began at midnight on Friday and will last until midnight on Monday.
ANA–Aeroportos de Portugal reported that by around 12:30, today’s strike by SPdH/Menzies workers had caused “some delays” and the cancellation of 20 flights at Lisbon airport.
“Due to the Menzies (‘handling’) strike, up until now, some delays and 20 flight cancellations (10 arrivals and 10 departures) occurred at Humberto Delgado airport,” noted the airport management company at that time.
ANA advised passengers with flights operated by Menzies, responsible for ground handling services, to contact their respective airlines ahead of time to confirm the flight status before traveling to the airport.
Meanwhile, in a statement released at 13:15, Menzies Aviation indicated that so far, “the strike has caused only minimal disruptions in Lisbon, with no impact at other locations.”
Reaffirming the “commitment to legality, fair working conditions, and open and respectful dialogue,” Menzies assured that there would be no “any type of dialogue resumption while the strike continues.”
This is the first of five four-day strikes scheduled for weekends up to early September.
In August, strike periods are planned from the 8th to the 11th, 15th to 18th, 22nd to 25th, and from August 29 to September 1.
Workers are demanding an end to base salaries below the national minimum wage, payment for night hours, better salary conditions, and the maintenance of parking access under previous terms.
