Travellers moving around Italy on Friday, 28 November 2025, awoke to widespread disruption as a 24-hour general strike organised by the USB base union and a constellation of smaller labour groups rippled through every major transport mode. Civil-aviation workers, railway staff, local-transit drivers and toll-booth operators walked off the job in protest against Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s draft 2026 ‘war-budget’, which shifts spending from social programmes toward defence.
At the country’s gateways, Rome-Fiumicino and Milan-Linate, dozens of departures were scrubbed despite the Italian Civil Aviation Authority’s (ENAC) protected time-bands that require airlines to operate services between 07:00-10:00 and 18:00-21:00. Flag carrier ITA Airways alone cancelled 26 domestic sectors; low-cost operators trimmed schedules even more aggressively to preserve aircraft utilisation later in the weekend. Knock-on delays mounted through the morning as airport ground staff staged a series of staggered walk-outs, forcing airline managers to consolidate flights and re-book passengers.
![Nationwide Strike Grounds Flights and Delays Trains Across Italy]()
Rail passengers fared little better. The nationwide rail strike that began at 21:00 CET on 27 November shut down most long-distance Frecciarossa and InterCity services outside the guaranteed commuter windows, severing same-day connections to key business hubs such as Turin, Bologna and Naples. Trenitalia operated a skeleton timetable limited to the morning and evening peaks, while Italo cancelled roughly 60 percent of its schedule. Urban metros and bus networks in Rome, Milan, Turin and Genoa provided only minimum rush-hour coverage, leaving business travellers scrambling for taxis and ride-shares that were themselves snarled in heavier-than-usual road traffic.
The USB union framed the action as the first salvo in a winter of dissent, promising follow-up demonstrations if defence spending is not re-balanced in favour of healthcare and education. Italy’s largest confederation, CGIL, has already announced a separate nationwide stoppage for 12 December, raising the prospect of continued uncertainty for multinational companies moving staff and cargo through the peninsula.
Practical take-away: companies with mobile workforces should revise travel policies to build in additional buffers on announced strike days, steer itineraries into ENAC’s protected flight bands, and maintain real-time communication links with ground transport providers. Firms relocating assignees in the critical pre-holiday window should also consider temporary remote-work arrangements to avoid stranded employees and missed project milestones.
At the country’s gateways, Rome-Fiumicino and Milan-Linate, dozens of departures were scrubbed despite the Italian Civil Aviation Authority’s (ENAC) protected time-bands that require airlines to operate services between 07:00-10:00 and 18:00-21:00. Flag carrier ITA Airways alone cancelled 26 domestic sectors; low-cost operators trimmed schedules even more aggressively to preserve aircraft utilisation later in the weekend. Knock-on delays mounted through the morning as airport ground staff staged a series of staggered walk-outs, forcing airline managers to consolidate flights and re-book passengers.
Rail passengers fared little better. The nationwide rail strike that began at 21:00 CET on 27 November shut down most long-distance Frecciarossa and InterCity services outside the guaranteed commuter windows, severing same-day connections to key business hubs such as Turin, Bologna and Naples. Trenitalia operated a skeleton timetable limited to the morning and evening peaks, while Italo cancelled roughly 60 percent of its schedule. Urban metros and bus networks in Rome, Milan, Turin and Genoa provided only minimum rush-hour coverage, leaving business travellers scrambling for taxis and ride-shares that were themselves snarled in heavier-than-usual road traffic.
The USB union framed the action as the first salvo in a winter of dissent, promising follow-up demonstrations if defence spending is not re-balanced in favour of healthcare and education. Italy’s largest confederation, CGIL, has already announced a separate nationwide stoppage for 12 December, raising the prospect of continued uncertainty for multinational companies moving staff and cargo through the peninsula.
Practical take-away: companies with mobile workforces should revise travel policies to build in additional buffers on announced strike days, steer itineraries into ENAC’s protected flight bands, and maintain real-time communication links with ground transport providers. Firms relocating assignees in the critical pre-holiday window should also consider temporary remote-work arrangements to avoid stranded employees and missed project milestones.
