Italy Air Traffic Control Strike Hits Friday Flights

Published on Nov 14, 2025, 9:32 am CST

7 min read

Key points

Italy air traffic control strike runs 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. CET on November 14
Volotea staff are on a 24 hour national strike and easyJet crews stop from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Flights scheduled 7:00 to 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. local time are legally protected
Expect delays and some cancellations at Rome Fiumicino, Milan Malpensa, and other Italian airports
Additional November rail and general strikes mean fewer backup options on later dates

Impact

Plan Around Strike Window: Avoid departures scheduled between 1:00 and 5:00 p.m. CET where possible today
Use Protected Flight Periods: Target flights in the 7:00 to 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. CET windows that must operate under Italian law
Build Extra Connection Time: Add a generous buffer for same day connections, especially evening banks and last flights of the day
Check Airline Apps And Email: Monitor status updates, automatic rebooking offers, and any change fee waivers from your carrier
Know Your EU261 Rights: Review compensation and care rules, which differ for air traffic control versus airline staff strikes

Italy's air traffic control, ATC, workforce is carrying out a nationwide work stoppage today from 100 to 500 p.m. CET, a four hour strike that will force schedule trims and rolling delays at airports across Italy. The action coincides with a 24 hour strike by Volotea staff and a four hour walkout by easyJet crews, which concentrates risk around the afternoon peak and reduces slack in the system if anything else goes wrong.

Italy Air Traffic Control Strike Details

Italian transport strike calendars and foreign ministry advisories describe today's action as a national air traffic control stoppage, with controllers walking out from 100 to 500 p.m. at airports across the country. The stoppage covers the ENAV controlled network, which includes major hubs like Rome Fiumicino Airport (FCO), Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP), Venice Marco Polo Airport (VCE), and Naples International Airport (NAP), along with dozens of regional fields.

Unions representing controllers have framed the strike as a response to pay, staffing, and working condition disputes, following months of talks that did not resolve concerns over workloads and rosters. Trade and corporate travel advisories expect the four hour stoppage to translate into selective cancellations and retimed flights in the main strike window, plus knock on delays that spill into the evening.

Estimates from European business travel outlets suggest that roughly 10,000 passengers could feel the impact of today's combined aviation strikes, which also include airline specific actions. While that is small relative to Italy's total daily throughput, the concentrated nature of the stoppage means that certain banks of flights may be heavily disrupted while others operate close to normal.

How Airline Walkouts Layer On Top

Today's ATC strike does not happen in isolation. Volotea staff are striking for a full 24 hours, from 1200 a.m. to 1159 p.m., as part of a dispute over union recognition and contracts, with protests planned at major Italian airports. At the same time, easyJet crews based in Italy are holding a four hour walkout aligned to the ATC stoppage, from 100 to 500 p.m. local time.

These overlapping actions make flights operated by Volotea and easyJet particularly exposed, since those carriers lose both the option to reroute around the ATC strike and the ability to rely on normal staffing in the same window. Italian and European media are already warning that passengers on these airlines should expect a higher chance of cancellations or significant delays, even if their departure technically sits at the edge of the formal strike hours.

Rome, Lazio, faces an additional complication, with a 24 hour local public transport strike affecting buses, trams, and metro services on the same day as the aviation actions. That means travelers heading to or from Rome airports could run into slower or less predictable transfers, especially if they rely on city transit rather than dedicated coaches, taxis, or car services.

Today's disruption also sits inside a packed November strike calendar that includes a 24 hour national rail strike from November 27 to 28, plus a separate nationwide general strike affecting air, rail, and local public transport on November 28. Travelers who move their flights to later in the month to dodge today's disruption should be aware that some of those backup dates carry their own risk.

Background: Strike Rules And Protected Flights

Italy's civil aviation rules carve out "guaranteed" windows during strikes, which are designed to protect essential connectivity and reduce the worst peaks of disruption. For today's actions, authorities and strike calendars confirm that flights scheduled to depart between 700 and 1000 a.m., and between 600 and 900 p.m. local time, must operate, although they may still suffer residual delays as the system restarts after the stoppage.

In practice, airlines tend to cancel or retime departures that fall squarely in the 100 to 500 p.m. strike window, while trying to protect early morning and early evening waves, long haul departures, and certain island or remote services. That is why many carriers will encourage travelers to move voluntarily into protected periods or to alternate dates, sometimes with a change fee waiver.

From a traveler rights perspective, air traffic control strikes are usually treated as "extraordinary circumstances" under Europe's Air Passenger Rights Regulation (EU 261), which means airlines often do not owe cash compensation for cancellations directly caused by ATC industrial action, although they still must provide rebooking and care. However, strikes by airline staff themselves, for example easyJet or Volotea crew walkouts, can in some cases qualify for compensation depending on how courts interpret the event, so it is worth documenting the cause of any disruption and checking with the carrier.

What Travelers Should Do Today

If you are flying to, from, or through Italy today, the first step is to check your reservation in the airline app and refresh your email for any automatic rebooking offers or schedule changes. If your flight is still showing as on time inside the 100 to 500 p.m. window, treat that as provisional, arrive early at the airport, and be mentally prepared for a last minute gate delay or cancellation.

Where your plans allow, it is smart to move into the protected windows that run from 700 to 1000 a.m. and 600 to 900 p.m. local time, especially for important trips or tight itineraries. Many carriers will quietly let you shift flights on the same route within a limited date range when strikes are confirmed, and some publish temporary change fee waivers on their travel advisory pages.

If you have a connection through Italy today, consider adding extra buffer or rebooking to avoid short layovers during the evening bank, when delayed inbound flights may miss outbound departures. Travelers heading to Rome should factor in the local public transport strike as well, since the combination of reduced city service and airport delays can quickly stretch transfer times.

As you evaluate backup plans, remember that Italy currently carries a Level 2, "exercise increased caution," advisory from the U.S. State Department related to terrorism risk, not to the strikes themselves, which means today's disruption sits on top of a stable but watchful baseline security environment. Keeping an eye on local news and avoiding large demonstrations near transport hubs remains good practice, particularly on days when labor actions are underway.

Final thoughts

Today's Italy air traffic control strike is a sharp but time limited shock to the country's aviation system, focused on a four hour window when controllers step away from their consoles just as airlines and local transport unions are mounting their own actions. Travelers who pay attention to the strike schedule, aim for guaranteed windows, and build in generous slack for connections and transfers can usually salvage their plans, even if they lose a specific flight. If you are booked on Volotea or easyJet in particular, or if you are connecting through Rome with city transit on either end, your best move is to treat today as a disruption day and plan proactively around the Italy air traffic control strike rather than hoping to skate through untouched.