Chaos at Romanian Tarom air carrier during peak tourist Season: Ten flights canceled by pilots in one day / Pilots demand higher salaries / Romania’s NATO delegation grounded / Transport Minister Grindeanu issues ultimatum to state-owned airline’s management

Several flights of the state-owned TAROM airline, which has been incurring losses for 16 consecutive years, were canceled on Monday after pilots reported being sick. The union has not yet publicly announced a labor dispute, but sources within the company have indicated that a strike announcement is possible. The Tarom protest led to the cancellation of the flight that was supposed to take the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Defense, and the head of the Army to the NATO summit in Washington. On Monday morning, the Minister of Transport, Sorin Grindeanu, issued an ultimatum to the company’s management.

The United Tarom Union has not yet issued a list of demands, but union members have been requesting salary increases over the past year.

The cancellation of flights comes at the height of the tourist season, when thousands of passengers had scheduled vacations and were dependent on flying.

Tarom has been recording financial losses for 16 consecutive years, making it a black hole for Romania’s budget. These losses are covered by taxes and levies paid by taxpayers.

Tarom had 1,182 employees in 2023 (latest available data) and ended 2022 with a loss of 274 million lei (Romanian currency).

Among the canceled flights is the one to Paris, which was supposed to carry a government delegation that was then to depart for Washington for the NATO summit, according to information from Antena 3, confirmed by G4Media. The government members eventually left for Paris on a military aircraft.

Among those in the delegation are the Ministers of Defense and Foreign Affairs, and the Chief of the General Staff, General Vlad Gheorghiță.

Additionally, flights scheduled to take off from Henri Coandă Airport in the capital to Istanbul, Oradea, Budapest, Brussels, Madrid, Frankfurt, and Amsterdam have also been canceled, according to News.ro.

„I have urgently requested the management of the TAROM company to take urgent measures for the current situation. The managerial team, selected based on the provisions of the Ordinance regarding corporate management, has all the legal levers to make the necessary administrative decisions to avoid such blockages and to prevent their recurrence. Therefore, the managerial team must urgently come up with an efficient restructuring plan to ensure the operational capacity of the TAROM company. The emphasis should be on ensuring navigational personnel and not on maintaining in the scheme people who do not contribute to the proper functioning of TAROM. I expect a detailed and applied public communication from the General Manager of TAROM announcing the identified solutions,” wrote Grindeanu on a social network.

Tarom canceled flights to Cairo, Amman, and Beirut on Monday after a crew member from each aircraft declared themselves „unfit to fly.”

In May, to save the state-owned company already notorious for inefficiency and nepotism, the government approved a state aid of nearly 100 million euros for TAROM.

Tarom is led by General Manager Costin Iordache. Tarom officially announced that it canceled 10 flights due to the „temporary unavailability of crew members.” In accordance with international aviation regulations and strict internal flight safety policies, each of these flights was canceled because a crew member from each aircraft declared themselves „unfit to fly,” according to the statement. Here are the canceled flights:

• ROT101/2 Otopeni – Cairo – Otopeni
• ROT167/8 Otopeni – Beirut – Otopeni
• ROT187/8 Otopeni – Amman – Otopeni
• ROT701/2 Otopeni – Iași – Otopeni
• ROT621/2 Otopeni – Oradea – Otopeni
• ROT261/2 Otopeni – Istanbul – Otopeni
• ROT231/2 Otopeni – Budapest – Otopeni
• ROT301/2 Otopeni – Frankfurt – Otopeni
• ROT361/2 Otopeni – Amsterdam – Otopeni
• ROT381/2 Otopeni – Paris – Otopeni

Cezar Osiceanu, a Tarom pilot, explained to G4Media what is happening at Tarom. He said that pilots and co-pilots have salaries similar to those in 2007 and are demanding wage increases. „We’ve had enough,” he said. He mentioned that a Tarom pilot can earn up to 4,500 euros per month, much less than the approximately 10,000 euros per month offered by most private companies.

„It will lead to a cascading effect, with the cancellation of some charters. For example, the Bucharest – Baia Mare flight was canceled, which should take pilots to Baia Mare for two charters to Antalya. Since the pilots will no longer reach Baia Mare, the tourist charters from Baia Mare will also not depart,” Cezar Osiceanu told G4Media.

Osiceanu mentioned that according to the Air Code, flight personnel have the right to take 48 hours off for health reasons.