Cold at the Counter: Why Palma Airport Employees Have to Work in Jackets

Cold at the Counter: Why Palma Airport Employees Have to Work in Jackets

Leading question: How could it happen during the terminal renovation that employees had to perform their duties for months at only around 15 °C — and what must happen now?

If you walk through Palma's departure hall in January, it's not only the morning sea air that tingles your nose: at the check‑in desks you see staff wearing thick jackets, scarves and sometimes even gloves. Travellers are surprised, the coffee aromas from the kiosks remain, but the drafts from open construction zones visibly affect many employees.

The union describes temperatures of at most 15 °C since the end of December. It cites open areas and draughts caused by ongoing renovation work as the reason. The airport operator says it was a temporary technical fault that has now been fixed. It also says the renovations should be largely completed by the coming summer season.

That is the sober set of facts. The question is: are repairs to individual systems enough to secure working conditions in the long term? In the short term, a heating failure may have been repaired. In the long term, it's about planning, responsibility and occupational health and safety during major construction phases.

What is often missing from the public discussion: a clear view of the people who stand in the terminal every day; reporting such as La cantina para empleados del aeropuerto de Palma permanece cerrada: 15.000 trabajadores afectados highlights other service and welfare issues.

Passengers are temporarily uncomfortable, which is annoying. But working long‑term in unheated, draughty areas has consequences — for employees' health, for service quality and for operations if sick days or mistakes increase.

On Mallorca, construction sites in winter are not uncommon; on the road to Portixol, near the bus stops at Plaça d'Espanya, you can see scaffolding and barriers. This quickly creates the impression: construction continues during operation — and safety and comfort management remains piecemeal.

A critical assessment requires concrete steps: first, risk and needs analyses must be mandatory before major renovations begin. That means, for every construction site during ongoing operations, a documented assessment of which areas must be temporarily closed, sectioned off or heated.

Second: temporary measures have priority. Mobile heaters at check‑in and workstations, provisional partitions against draughts, clear walkways for staff — these are simple, immediately implementable measures. They cost far less than productivity losses and prevent unnecessary sick leave.

Third: transparent communication and monitoring. Employees should be informed about construction plans and temperature measurements should be publicly accessible. A digital dashboard for indoor climate, giving management, the union and staff access, builds trust and can facilitate quick reactions.

Fourth: binding rules on occupational health and safety. Under Spanish labour law on occupational risk prevention, employers have general obligations to ensure safe and healthy working conditions. Practically, this means: short‑term faults must not become the norm; backup equipment and protective clothing must be available, and work must not come at the expense of health.

An everyday scene from Palma sums it up: a security check at Gate 5, drizzle outside, inside a staff member in a thick jacket running between baggage belts — he smiles, speaks politely to guests, but looks tense. Such scenes show that service friendliness and physical strain often coexist.

What is missing in the public debate: the question of responsibilities along the chain of clients, construction companies and the airport operator. Who pays for provisional solutions? And how are contractors checked so that construction phases are planned with people in mind?

Concrete proposals for the next weeks: an independent temperature measurement in critical areas, a short‑term fund for provisional heating and protective measures, regular meetings between management, the works council and the union, and a binding checklist for future construction works during operation.

Conclusion: technical faults happen. What counts is the response. In Mallorca, a functioning airport must not come at the expense of the people who operate it. Those who now take visible, swift measures and plan future construction phases with working conditions in mind will prevent such incidents from making the headlines next winter — and ensure that travellers and staff move through the terminal with fewer worries and more functionality.