First air traffic controller sacked for 2010 strike chaos

SIX months after the chaos created in Spain by the unannounced air traffic controllers strike, the Airport Authorities, AENA, have announced the first dismissal. The dismissed controller worked at Santiago de Compostela Airport where the problems first began in November last year before a general decision by colleagues throughout Spain to take sick leave before a major holiday, causing Spanish air space to collapse.

At Santiago de Compostela Airport alone, disciplinary proceedings were initiated against 29 employees and have now been resolved.

One controller has been dismissed, two have been sent to Almeria and Granada, four cases have been sent to the public prosecutor for serious misdemeanours, and the 22 remaining employees face different degrees of suspension without pay ranging from five to 86 days.

The problem in Santiago began a month before the rest of Spain when thousands of passengers were stranded and the army took over at civil airports throughout the country.