Hi again amigos,
To OFSO, FWIW I'm not Catalan but I work at a Catalan ATC facility and have been living in Catalonia for 20+ years and my wife and my daughters are Catalan. Thanks for your kind words but I have to say that statistics show Barcelona ACC is leading Madrid ACC in the number of en-route minutes of delay although we handle significantly less traffic.
With a compulsory, non-negociated increase in compulsory working hours of about 50% for Spanish ATC (believe me, it's true) and a salary cut of around 50%, how could Aena's managers not foresee that the discontent of the ATC workforce would cause a noticeable decline of service quality? The truth is that Aena's customers (that is, airlines and passengers) are the ones who are paying the consequences: no fuel savings, no RFLs, no direct routes, no flexibility, no continous climb/descent... I don't even say 'hello' anymore to pilots on first radio contact!
The airlines should demand an explanation from Aena for this sudden decrease in punctuality and quality of service.