Notice of unlimited national strike from September 16

The Union of Civil Aviation Navigators denounces “the brutal closure” of the Toulouse base announced by the airline.

The reaction was not long in coming. One day after Easyjet’s surprise announcement of the closure of its Toulouse base and a voluntary redundancy plan, the Union des navigants de l’aviation civile (UNAC) union filed a national notice of an unlimited strike.

According to Actu Toulouse, this strike would begin on Monday, September 16. The union calls on “all cabin crew (commercial flight personnel, editor’s note) based in France to mobilize in solidarity, and to stop work from September 16 for an unlimited period.”

“We are not simply calling for an unlimited strike, since we will communicate key dates later. In fact, negotiations begin on September 16, for approximately three months,” a UNAC union representative explained to our colleagues.

“Depending on the data that Easyjet provides and the presentation of the closure plan and the PSE of the Toulouse base, we will consider it necessary or not to go on strike. As long as we are not certain that closure was the only option the company had, we will remain on strike,” she continued.

“EasyJet has been informed of a strike notice filed by UNAC – the French cabin crew union – in response to easyJet’s proposal to close the Toulouse base. This notice was filed before the first discussions of the consultation process,” the company tells us.

“To date, there is no impact on our flights to Toulouse and France,” she continues.

125 employees in Toulouse

The low-cost airline announced on Tuesday that it was launching “a consultation for the reorganization of its structure in France.”

Concretely, the operator plans to close its base in Toulouse by March 2025, the transfer of the two Easyjet planes currently based in Toulouse to other bases of the company in France, and the implementation of “a limited voluntary departure plan for cabin crew at three of the company’s French bases”.

“The proposed closure of the Toulouse base is due to a combination of factors, including a slower post-Covid recovery and inflationary pressure, which impacts Easyjet’s ability to invest further in France,” a statement read.

The company does not specify the number of employees potentially affected. It employs 1,800 people in France, including 125 in Toulouse. “Our proposal does not provide for any forced departures and during this consultation our teams will remain our priority,” specifies Bertrand Godinot, Easyjet’s director for France.

“We do not understand how Easyjet, in a city like Toulouse, in full economic and demographic growth, capital of aviation, has not managed to generate profits,” believes the union. “The problem perhaps comes from the destinations offered, the flight schedule… There are perhaps other solutions to this closure.”

In the event of a flight cancellation due to a strike, “the company is obliged to reroute passengers or reimburse their flights and pay the statutory compensation for the damage suffered”, recalls the website Retardvol.fr.