A crisis situation at Bucharest International airport, where several TAROM flights were canceled last night and Monday morning due to the temporary unavailability of flight crew members. This is also a sort of strike, even if not declared as such.
TAROM announced in a press release the cancellation of ten flights. In the case of each flight, the reason is that a crew member declared themselves „unfit to fly (…) The individual decisions of the pilots were made in accordance with current regulations to ensure the safety and comfort of passengers and crew.”
Hundreds of people spent the night at the airport after being informed that their reserved flights had been canceled. And the problems worsened Monday morning when even the flight on which two ministers were supposed to travel to Paris was canceled.
The TAROM flights canceled so far are:
- ROT101/2 Otopeni -Cairo- Otopeni,
- ROT167/8 Otopeni -Beyrut- Otopeni,
- ROT187/8 Otopeni -Amman-Otopeni,
- ROT701/2 Otopeni - Iaşi-Otopeni,
- ROT621/2 - Otopeni - Oradea-Otopeni,
- ROT261/2 - Otopeni - Istanbul-Otopeni,
- ROT231/2 - Otopeni - Budapesta-Otopeni,
- ROT 301/2 - Otopeni - Frankfurt-Otopeni,
- ROT361/2 - Otopeni - Amsterdam – Otopeni,
- ROT 381/2 - Otopeni - Paris-Otopeni.
It is noted that among the canceled flights is the one to Paris, from where a government delegation was supposed to then travel to Washington for the NATO summit.
The spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, Brigadier General Constantin Spînu, stated that Romania's delegation participating in the NATO summit departed Monday morning with a C-27J Spartan aircraft to Paris.
From there, the delegation is scheduled to take a flight to the USA.
The delegation includes the Minister of Defense, Angel Tîlvăr, as well as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luminiţa Odobescu.
Flights canceled due to personnel issues
TAROM stated in a release that they are committed to providing convenient alternatives for affected passengers of these cancellations, and passengers will be contacted to receive detailed information regarding rescheduling flights, refunds, or other available options, with them being informed about the new flight arrangements.
"In accordance with international aviation regulations and strict internal policies regarding flight safety, each of the respective flights was canceled because a crew member of each aircraft declared themselves 'unfit to fly,' being unable to restore the flight plan in such a short time. The individual decisions of the pilots were made in accordance with current regulations to ensure the safety and comfort of passengers and crew," the company specified.
"The company is thus facing an unprecedented situation, and the united TAROM teams are working to identify solutions and protect passengers since last night. The Commercial, Ticketing, Call Center departments, as well as some pilots and flight attendants, are currently in operational mobilization and considering rerouting or other alternatives, ensuring passengers at the airport with the necessary support. Additional staff has already been allocated for these activities,” TAROM announced.
The company conveyed that, for more information, passengers can contact the support center at the numbers (004) 021 9978, (004) 0800500 131 (Toll-Free), (004) 0371 529 000, or via email at: contact@tarom.ro, rezervari@tarom.ro.
According to sources within the company cited by Antena3, the problems are caused by a lack of staff and have been disregarded by the company, despite 60 employees leaving TAROM in the past two years.
Grindeanu calls for urgent measures
The Minister of Transport, Sorin Grindeanu, has requested TAROM management to take urgent measures, emphasizing that the focus should be on ensuring flight crew and not on retaining individuals who do not contribute to the company's proper functioning.
"I have asked the TAROM company management to urgently address the current situation! The management team, selected based on the Corporate Management Ordinance provisions, has all the legal means to make necessary administrative decisions to avoid such blockages and prevent their recurrence! Therefore, the management team must urgently come up with an efficient restructuring plan to ensure TAROM's operational capacity," the minister stated.
In his opinion, the emphasis should be on ensuring flight crew and not on retaining individuals who do not contribute to TAROM's proper functioning.
"I am awaiting a detailed public communication from the TAROM CEO announcing the identified solutions!" Grindeanu specified.