Strikes ground Italian flights
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Going nowhere: Alitalia has canceled most of its flights.
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ROME, Italy (CNN) -- Italian air traffic controllers, pilots and flight attendants held an eight-hour strike Monday, causing widespread disruption for tens of thousands of travelers.
Alitalia had cancelled 320 flights by Monday morning -- 84 percent of its service -- including 170 national, 140 international and 10 intercontinental flights. It was thought the action would affect more than 30,000 people.
The strike, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (0800 to 1400 GMT), was called by unions against new employment policies proposed by Enac, the Italian aviation agency.
There was also separate industrial action Monday from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. (1030 to 1430 GMT) by luggage handlers and catering staff against planned deregulation.
In the UK, British Airways, Ryanair, Easyjet and bmi cancelled some of their flights and rescheduled others from Heathrow, Gatwick, Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh airports.
