Big mess for passengers. At least a thousand canceled flights, delays and calls not to travel: the French aviation sector was, as expected, very disrupted on Friday morning by a strike by air traffic controllers. At the call of the National Union of Air Traffic Controllers (SNCTA, majority), this social movement to demand salary increases in the face of theinflationbut also an acceleration in recruitment, concerns both mainland France and overseas.
As a result, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC) asked companies to give up half of their flight program on Friday, ie “regarding 1,000 canceled flights” departing from or arriving on French territory. “Significant flight cancellations and delays are to be expected throughout the territory”, had warned the DGAC, inviting “passengers who can do so to postpone their trip and to find out from their airline company to find out the status of their flight.
Delays across Europe
Several airports were closed at the start of the day: MontpellierLa Rochelle, Rennes and Melun, according to a spokesperson. A minimum service is however provided in 16 airports, as well as in the five en route air navigation centers, which control aircraft transiting through French airspace and flying at more than 6,000 meters altitude, indicated Friday morning the DGAC.
This strike also has repercussions on all European air traffic. According to the European manager Eurocontrol, which refers to “serious disruptions”, flight delays on the Old continent already exceeded 500,000 cumulative minutes at 8:22 a.m., compared to 148,000 for the whole day of Friday, September 9. Eurocontrol forecast around 21,000 aircraft movements Friday in the area it manages, a third less than a week earlier.
Concern regarding the training of future air traffic controllers
Ryanair, the leading European air carrier, said that this “unjustified” strike would force it to “cancel 420 flights (80,000 passengers) mainly flying over France” on Friday, without necessarily landing there. Complying with the requests of the DGAC, Air France had announced to cancel regarding 400 of its 800 flights scheduled for Friday. This represents 55% of short- and medium-haul flights, while long-haul flights are less affected, with one in ten flights removed.
The SNCTA stressed that it had decided on this movement to express its concern “regarding the current level of inflation as well as future recruitment”, while a third of controllers must retire by 2035. therefore, according to them, anticipate this “departure wall” from next year, and budget for long training in this direction. The SNCTA announced the filing of “a second notice from Wednesday September 28 to Friday September 30, 2022 inclusive”.
