Tens of thousands of passengers will be deprived of planes on Thursday in France despite the lifting of a strike notice by the main air traffic controllers union. Swiss flights, from and to Zurich, and EasyJet, from and to Geneva, are also affected by the disruptions.
Three out of four flights will be canceled departing or arriving from Paris-Orly, France’s second largest airport; 55% in Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle, the first; 65% in Marseille-Provence and 45% on all other platforms in mainland France.
These reductions in flight programs requested by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC) will reach 65% in Marseille-Provence and 45% in other airports in mainland France, according to this document.
Without reaching summer levels, air traffic in France is currently sustained, while two of the three major school academies are still on vacation, predicting tens of thousands of passengers affected by Thursday’s disruptions.
Airlines for Europe (A4E), the main association of European airlines, estimates that “hundreds of thousands of passengers are in limbo” due to these disruptions.
Cancellations and delays
Transavia, a low-cost airline of the Air France-KLM group, announced the cancellation of 198 flights on Thursday, while Air France planned to update its program during the day on Wednesday, but warned that “significant cancellations and delays [étaient] predictable”.
Ten Swiss company flights are affected, i.e. two round trips between Zurich and Paris, respectively Nice and one Zurich-Marseille round trip. Some 1,100 passengers are affected by these cancellations, Swiss said. And a spokesperson for the company added that the remaining round trip to Nice will be made with a larger aircraft in order to transport as many passengers as possible.
EasyJet also announced on Wednesday morning the cancellation of flights: a dozen departures from Geneva and as many arrivals from various French regional airports, Genève Aéroport said.
Agreement reached, discussions continue
The SNCTA (majority union of air traffic controllers) explained, following a “last minute” conciliation on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday with the DGAC, to lift its notice because “an agreement has been reached”. She also considered that the deadline was too short to reschedule the flights.
“Despite the lifting of this notice, the late conclusion of negotiations with the SNCTA and the need to finalize discussions with other trade union organizations will not make it possible to avoid disruptions” on Thursday, the DGAC indicated in a press release, calling for “passengers who can do so to postpone their trip and contact their airline to find out the status of their flight.”
The SNCTA protested against the accompanying measures, particularly salary, for an overhaul of French air traffic control.
In addition to this organization, air traffic controllers have two other representative unions, Unsa Icna and Usac-CGT. “We are starting discussions with the other unions”, but “we are very optimistic about being able to complete the agreement” with them, assured the Minister Delegate in charge of Transport Patrice Vergriete.
ats/juma
