A strike by air traffic controllers leads to flight cancellations at several airports this Tuesday, December 17

Bad news for travelers. A few days before Christmas, a new social mobilization of air traffic controllers will disrupt activity in several airports in France, this Tuesday, December 17. Flight cancellations are therefore expected, as well as delays.

In a press release released this Monday, the General Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGAC) indicated that a “local strike notice” concerning the air navigation services of Lyon, Ajaccio and Montpellier had been filed. This social movement will lead to delays “all day” at the Corsican airport, as well as the cancellation of all flights to Montpellier, Nîmes and Perpignan, Tuesday. Journeys will not resume until Wednesday morning. Likewise, in Lyon Saint-Exupéry, 60% of flights were canceled, from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.

As the DGAC points out, the strike notice was filed by the majority union in the sector, the SNCTA. In a press release, he denounced “the difficult context in which negotiations on the organization of work take place”. “The national committee strongly condemns the sudden end to negotiations concerning the organization of the work of the organizations of Ajaccio, Lyon and Montpellier for 2025. Forgetting respect and social dialogue, the DSNA chooses the rupture and deprives air traffic controllers of visibility of these control centers”he added. This cessation of discussions “unacceptable” led to this Tuesday’s mobilization.

In recent weeks, travelers have already seen their flights canceled several times. This was the case on November 14, on the occasion of a call for a strike by the National Union of Airline Pilots – SNPL -, in opposition to the increase in taxes on plane tickets. Ditto on December 5, when the inter-professional mobilization against the measures of the draft budget for 2025 carried by the former government of Michel Barnier led to disruptions in several platforms, such as Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle or Marseille and Toulouse.