It is estimated that ATFM delays have cost airlines and passengers €16.1 billion since 2015, of which more than 70% are linked to a lack of capacity and staffing problems.

Delays in Air Traffic Flow Management (ATFM) in the region increased by 114% in the period 2015-2024, compared to an increase of only 6.7% in the number of flights in the same period. The analysis excluded delays caused by weather conditions, and flight cancellations induced by ATC strikes were also not included.

“Capacity limitations and staff shortages account for the majority of delays,” reveals the analysis, problems that have been known for some time but have been “inadequately mitigated,” especially in France and Germany. Air navigation service providers (ANSPs) in France and Germany are responsible for more than 50% of all delays.

“We are now seeing the consequences of Europe’s inability to control air traffic,” says Willie Walsh, Director General of IATA. The executive says that “a slight improvement expected in 2025, after a very bad 2024, does not alter the deterioration observed in the last decade.”

Furthermore, Willie Walsh points out that airlines and travellers were promised a “Single European Sky that would reduce delays and decrease fuel consumption through more efficient navigation and routes. Instead, passengers have seen delays more than double.”

“Unacceptable”

Walsh's criticism continues by emphasizing that, “while Eurocrats debate ways to increase the burden of compensation to passengers foreseen in EU261, the main cause of much of the delays suffered by travellers — air traffic control — remains unaddressed and unpunished,” concluding that “Europe's connectivity and competitiveness suffer from schedules that have to accommodate ATC inefficiency. This is completely unacceptable.”

IATA analysis shows that 7.2 million flights experienced delays between 2015 and October 2025. Of these, 6.4 million had delays of 30 minutes or less, and 700,000 registered delays of at least 30 minutes.

In 2024, delays reached 30.4 million minutes (a 114% increase compared to 14.2 million minutes in 2015), of which 38% occurred in July and August.

In 2024, staffing and capacity issues accounted for 87% of ANSP delays. Delays related to staff shortages (excluding strikes) increased by 201.7% since 2015.

Industrial action and strikes have become more common in recent years, accounting for 8.8% of delays caused by ANSP. 9.8 million minutes of delays were caused by ATC strikes over the decade — a period that includes the pandemic, when air traffic virtually ground to a halt.