Italy’s Air Traffic Controllers Will Strike for Four Hours on Wednesday, September 30

Staff at ENAV, the exclusive provider of civil air traffic control in Italian airspace, will strike nationwide from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. local time on Wednesday, September 30, 2026. That is 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. Eastern time.

The walkout was called by the Uiltrasporti union. Venice Airport has warned passengers that scheduled flights in that window may be delayed or canceled.

Who is striking, and why

The strike register kept by Italy’s transport ministry lists a national four-hour stoppage by ENAV staff and a parallel one at Techno Sky. Techno Sky is the ENAV subsidiary that maintains the hardware and software systems used to provide air navigation services.

Separate notices cover ENAV staff at Milan Linate, Naples, Bologna and Bari airports, and at two ENAV sites in Rome. Every notice was filed by the same union, and the airport ones share the 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. window.

Staff covered	Hours (local)	Notice filed
ENAV, nationwide	13:00 to 17:00	July 21
Techno Sky, nationwide	13:00 to 17:00	July 21
ENAV at Bologna and Bari airports	13:00 to 17:00	July 29
ENAV, Via Appia Nuova site, Rome	13:00 to 17:00	July 30
ENAV headquarters staff, Rome	Last four hours of the working day	July 30
ENAV at Milan Linate	13:00 to 17:00	September 10
ENAV at Naples	13:00 to 17:00	September 17

In a statement on September 28, Uiltrasporti said the dispute stems from months of unanswered grievances. It listed the unrenewed company-level contract, workers’ lost purchasing power, staff shortages, problems with how shifts are organized and delays in infrastructure investment.

The union called the strike “a necessary choice” to draw attention to working conditions. It said it hopes ENAV’s new management will open serious talks, and that it is ready to take further action if not.

Which flights Italian rules protect

Italy’s strike rules are designed to stop an aviation strike from shutting the system down completely. Its minimum-service rules, set by the national strike guarantee commission and published by the civil aviation authority ENAC, protect two daily windows, 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., in which every scheduled departure must operate.

Wednesday’s strike falls entirely outside those windows, so no flight is protected just by its departure time. A narrower set of rules for air traffic services applies instead.

Under them, controllers must still handle state, emergency, rescue and humanitarian flights, and flights crossing Italian airspace without landing. They must also handle every intercontinental arrival, half of each airline’s scheduled intercontinental departures and one daily round trip to the islands per airline.

For American travelers, that means a flight from the United States into Rome Fiumicino or Milan counts as an intercontinental arrival and is covered. A return flight to the United States in the strike window is covered only within the 50% share of that airline’s intercontinental departures.

Apart from that one island round trip, domestic flights and flights to the rest of Europe scheduled between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. have no such guarantee. Knock-on delays are also possible after the strike ends, because aircraft and crews that miss their slots can end up in the wrong place.

Controller strikes are not only an Italian issue this month. Controllers at Belgium’s Charleroi Airport began a planned run of 24 nightly strikes on September 16, which forced Ryanair to cancel flights.

What passengers can claim

On flights covered by EU passenger rights rules, a cancellation caused by the strike still carries rights, though probably not cash compensation. The European Commission’s guidance says a strike by staff outside the airline may count as an extraordinary circumstance, and it lists air traffic management decisions as an example.

In that case the airline does not owe the €250 to €600 payment, but it must still offer a refund or rebooking. It must also provide meals, refreshments and, when an overnight stay is needed, a hotel and transport to it.

Passengers booked on Wednesday afternoon should check their flight before setting out. Venice Airport points travelers to its departure and arrival pages and tells them to contact their airline, tour operator or travel agent about their flight.