Flight chaos postponed as French air-traffic controllers delay – and extend – strike
October walkout could cause thousands of cancellations, including from the UK to Spain and Portugal
JimMin
Passengers hoping to fly to, from, within or over France in the coming days have had the threat of widespread cancellations lifted.
The main French air-traffic control union, the SNCTA, has suspended a strike planned for Thursday and Friday, 18-19 September, due to the collapse of the French government.
But a longer strike is planned for next month: from the morning of Tuesday 7 October to the morning of Friday 10 October.
The SNCTA has a long list of grievances, saying: “For several years, the governance of air traffic control has been characterised by mistrust, punitive practices, and brutal managerial methods.”
To press home its claims with government, the union had planned a strike in the coming week. But in a statement the SNCTA now says the walkout affecting 18 and 19 September “is no longer compatible with the possibility of achieving demands due to a lack of interlocutors”.
Last week, the government of prime minister François Bayrou fell in a confidence vote in the French parliament.
In the wake of the latest bout of political turbulence, the union said: “The absence of a minister of transport currently makes it impossible to achieve demands at the ministerial level.”
Walkouts by French air-traffic controllers have a devastating impact on airline operations. One in three European flights is normally routed to, from or over France.
The most direct air routes from London to anywhere in mainland Spain, as well as the Canary Islands and Madeira, overfly France. A two-day strike in July by two smaller unions representing controllers caused almost 3,000 cancellations. Among all the flights that did operate, one in nine flights was delayed – by an average of 41 minutes.
Eurocontrol, the pan-European aviation coordinator put the cost to the aviation industry at €120m (£104m) in lost revenue and expenditure on care for passengers.
The airports worst affected by the July strike were both in Spain: Palma de Mallorca and Barcelona. Ryanair cancelled the most departures: 718 flights, representing 21 per cent of the total schedule on those days.
Ahead of the now-postponed September strike, the Irish airline warned that 700 flights with a total of 125,000 passengers faced cancellation. The October walkout, if it goes ahead, is likely to be more damaging.
Ryanair demanded that the European Commission should step in to ensure French airspace remains open to aircraft that are flying over the nation. The carrier’s chief executive, Michael O’Leary, said: “The French can go on strike, but Europe must protect overflights.”
An October walkout by French air-traffic controllers would hit delegates returning from the annual convention of Abta, the travel association. It is to be held in Palma de Mallorca from 6 to 8 October.
