Karl Marx once wrote that history repeats itself first as tragedy, the second time as farce. Arguably a farce is exactly what is being played out as airlines in France and Italy face the latest aviation crisis.

No one should forget that on the day Sabena grounded all flights in preparation for its spectacular collapse in November 2001, the Belgian flag carrier’s staff went on a pointless strike. Though there were many reasons for Sabena’s collapse, not least the demise of its main shareholder Swissair, the preceding months had been made more difficult by unions’ decision to strike rather than negotiate cost cuts amid one of the worst downturns to hit the airline industry.