August 28: Greek Airports Face Shutdown as Air Traffic Controllers Strike

• Strike date: August 28, 2025 — all airports in Greece affected
• Duration: 24-hour strike under ADEDY, with four-hour stoppage 09:30–13:30
• Reasons: systemic failures, overcapacity, and government gag laws
• Warning: “Every day a failure, every day a risk — silence will not be imposed”

Greek air traffic controllers have announced a nationwide strike on August 28, declaring they will no longer stand silent as safety risks pile up in the country’s skies.

The union statement was blunt: “Air traffic controllers, who are witnessing a predicted aviation crime before our eyes, will not tolerate the silence that the government is trying to impose with the disciplinary law bill.”

The proposed law, which punishes “malicious criticism” under the guise of “confidentiality,” is seen as a direct attempt to muzzle warnings about failures that endanger both passengers and crew.

Systemic Failures and Ignored Warnings

Controllers cite mounting evidence of collapse:

• August 20: Athens airport systems failed, paralyzing operations
• Capacity breach: up to 34 arrivals per hour, far beyond safe limits
• Daily problems: failures, pressure, and speed-ups at the expense of safety

“Every day we see a failure, every day a problem, every day pressure to speed up air traffic flow at the expense of flight safety,” the statement warned.

Meanwhile, the government continues with a bill that further dismantles the Civil Aviation Authority, aiming to split and hand parts of it to private interests.

Defiance in the Face of Suppression

Union leaders denounced both political pressure and internal obstruction. “They are trying in every way to suppress the indignation of workers to impose a tombstone silence on Air Traffic Control, which is facing the risk of an air accident,” the statement declared.

Controllers accused the GATCA president and board of undermining the strike by delaying assemblies and acting as enforcers for ministry and company interests. “They no longer represent anyone; the workers have delegitimized them,” the statement said.

On strike day, all airports in Greece will halt operations. Controllers will join the wider ADEDY 24-hour strike, with a coordinated work stoppage from 09:30 to 13:30 local time.

“Workers are participating en masse in the strike and the strike rallies on August 28,” the union emphasized.

The warning could not be clearer: unless the failures are confronted, the risk is not inconvenience. It is disaster.