French Air Traffic Controllers Strike Hits European Summer Travel

Paris: Tens of thousands of passengers across Europe were affected on Thursday as French air traffic controllers launched a two-day strike at the start of a busy summer holiday season to protest against understaffing and "toxic management".

The strike by two French unions led to the cancellation of hundreds of flights and multiple delays.

It was expected to affect nearly 300,000 people on Thursday and Friday, according to industry association Airlines for Europe.

With air traffic in western Europe significantly affected, anger has mounted at the French controllers.

"This strike is intolerable," said the head of Airlines for Europe, Ourania Georgoutsakou.

"French air traffic control already delivers some of Europe's worst delay figures and now the actions of a minority of French air traffic control workers will needlessly disrupt the holiday plans of thousands of people in France and across Europe."

Half of flights in Nice, France's third-largest airport, and a quarter of flights at Paris Orly and Paris Charles de Gaulle, one of Europe's busiest hubs, have been cancelled.

Disruption is expected to worsen on Friday, the eve of the school holidays.

"We're trying to stay positive, there are worse things, but it's annoying," Nadia Rivet, a 51-year-old bank employee, told AFP.

Rivet was planning to spend six days in the French capital but her flight from the southwestern city of Pau on Thursday morning was cancelled.

"Everyone has the right to strike, but it's punitive. Air traffic controllers aren't the worst off," she said.

The strike forced the cancellation of 933 flights on Thursday, said the DGAC civil aviation authority, which had asked airlines to cancel some of their flights to ensure there are enough controllers on duty.

The strike involved 272 air traffic controllers from a workforce of around 1,000 staff on duty, the DGAC said.

'Extremely disappointed'

Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot said carriers would lose "millions of euros" as a result of the strike.

"Constantly choosing dates that will cause the most inconvenience to passengers does not seem to be the right approach," he said on Thursday.

Ryanair, Europe's largest airline, said it cancelled 170 flights, affecting 30,000 passengers.

"Once again European families are held to ransom by French air traffic controllers going on strike," said Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary.

The airline said most affected passengers were not flying to or from France but overflying French airspace.

"It makes no sense and is abundantly unfair on EU passengers and families going on holidays," O'Leary said.

He urged European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen to take "urgent action" to protect overflights, among other reforms.

"We are extremely disappointed", said British airline easyJet, noting that the performance by French air traffic control was the leading cause of airspace delays in Europe this summer.

'Chronic understaffing'

UNSA-ICNA, the second biggest labour group in the sector, launched the action to demand better working conditions and more staff.

The union is protesting against "chronic understaffing", the planned introduction of a clock-in system, outdated equipment and "toxic management practices that are incompatible with the requirements of calm and safety".

It was joined by the third largest union, USAC-CGT.

The main union, SNCTA, had no plans to join them.

Airports in the south were particularly hard hit, with 30 percent of flights cancelled in cities including Lyon and Marseille.

Air France said it had been "forced to adapt its flight schedule" but its long-haul network was not affected.

On Friday, the situation is expected to become even more tense at Paris airports and Beauvais, where the DGAC has ordered a 40-percent reduction in the number of flights.

Business aviation, particularly in Nice and Le Bourget near Paris, has also been significantly affected, sources said.

Some passengers tried to take the disruptions on the chin.

Eric Nouen, a 60-year-old travelling to Montpellier from French Guiana, a region of France in South America, said he was not going to complain.

"Right now, everyone could go on strike. Everyone has a reason right now."

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