(12 Jun 2013)
1. Wide of Brussels airport entrance
2. Wide of of Brussels airport hall
3. Close up of people watching flight board
4. Wide of flight board
5. Close up of board with one flight cancelled
6. Close up of board with flights delayed
7. Mid of people in airport hall
8. Wide of plane taxiing on tarmac
9. Wide of plane taking off
10. Wide of plane in the air
11. Wide of European Transport Federation (ETF) Political Secretary for Civil Aviation, Fran�ois Ballestero working at his desk
12. Close up of agenda
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Francois Ballestero, European Transport Federation's (ETF) Political Secretary for Civil Aviation:
"The Commission wants to reduce the costs of (by) 50 percent in the next five years, 50 percent of the cost reduction is something which will have a dramatic effects on jobs as well."
14. Close of ETF poster
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Francois Ballestero, European Transport Federation's (ETF) Political Secretary for Civil Aviation:
"The appeal we have launched is an appeal that concerns 11 countries, we have not a strike in all countries, we left our members to choose the way for actions they decide. We have a strike in France, we have a strike in Hungary, but in other countries like Belgium, Portugal, Slovakia or Czech Republic, they are what we called "working to book", meaning that they will follow the rules strictly and will not facilitate the flights. In other countries we have also demonstrations, gathering or walk outs or meetings with ministers of transport."
16. Close up of files
17. Wide of Ballestero working
STORYLINE:
A massive battle is taking place in the skies over Europe - and airplane passengers across the continent are feeling its effects.
A plan to simplify the European Union's patchwork air traffic control system and open up more air traffic duties to private enterprise has sparked strikes and job actions by controllers that began on Tuesday in France and spread by Wednesday to 10 other European nations.
Nearly two decades after the 27-nation EU began eliminating checks along its land borders, its airspace remains a contentious issue.
At the heart of the dispute is the idea of a single European sky - consolidating the continent's hodgepodge air traffic control systems under a sole authority.
That would turn its many scattered air traffic zones into a few regional blocs, opening up bidding on services like weather forecasting and navigation, and easing what European officials say is a looming capacity crunch.
Air traffic control workers, however, don't necessarily want to adapt to new proposals put forward by the European Commission on Tuesday.
They say they fear threats to passenger safety and to their jobs and claim the EU is yielding to industry pressure to cut costs.
"The Commission wants to reduce the costs of (by) 50 percent in the next five years, 50 percent of the cost reduction is something which will have a dramatic effects on jobs as well," said Francois Ballestero, the European Transport Federation's (ETF) Political Secretary for Civil Aviation, in Brussels.
Ballestero said air traffic control workers in 11 countries would take part in the job action, including Austria, Belgium, Britain, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic France, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Portugal and Slovakia.
But he said protest actions on Wednesday didn't just include strikes.
About 27,000 flights a day now cross European airspace, for a total of over 9 million a year and most are flying under air traffic management systems that were designed in the 1950s, the European Commission said.
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