Over 1 million passengers were affected by French air traffic strikes in early July, as airlines warn of potential for further summer chaos.
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The boss of easyJet has said that recent French air traffic control strikes created “unacceptable challenges for customers and crew”.
Kenton Jarvis, chief executive of the budget airline, added that they were “extremely unhappy” with the strike action in early July, which landed airlines with “unexpected and significant costs”.
More than 1 million passengers were impacted by the walkout from French air traffic controllers on 3 and 4 July over working conditions, according to European aviation coordinator Eurocontrol.
EasyJet cancelled 660 flights due to the action, costing a total of £15 million (€17.3 million). French air traffic control has been the leading cause of delays for the carrier since the start of the summer.
Jarvis demanded that the French government “steps in and really works with their ANSP (air navigation service provider) because it has been the worst performing air traffic control area in Europe, and they get ahead of it and do some long-term measures.”
Why are French air traffic controllers striking?
Two unions, UNSA‑ICNA and USAC‑CGT, took part in strikes on 3 and 4 July. These are the second and third largest air traffic control unions in France. The biggest, SNCTA, didn’t take part in the walkout.
The action was driven by a number of workplace grievances, which are part of an ongoing dispute with the French Directorate General for civil aviation, such as chronic understaffing and ageing, and unreliable equipment, which unions say is on its last legs.
Two unions also complained about what they called “toxic” management culture with excessive internal surveillance, including the introduction of a new biometric time clock that monitors their work attendance.
Ryanair calls for EU action on ‘recreational’ strikes
The easyJet chief’s comments add to pressure from budget carrier Ryanair, which has labelled the strikes from air traffic controllers as “recreational”.
The airline accused air traffic control staff in France of wanting “time off” during the strike action on 3 and 4 July.
Jade Kirwan, Ryanair's communications director, told The Telegraph that some staff had continued to strike or had called in sick over the weekend, resulting in two more days of cancellations.
Ryanair is concerned that similar action and sickness claims could continue during the summer holidays, causing more travel chaos for passengers.
“What’s stopping French air traffic controllers from closing the EU skies again next week or the week after with more of these unjustified recreational strikes?” CEO Michael O’Leary said earlier this month.
He claimed that 90 per cent of the flights cancelled over the two-day strike could have been avoided if the European Commission had intervened.
The budget carrier has called on the European Union to reform the bloc’s air traffic control system to prevent chaos with flights over a country when controllers walk out.
The EU’s largest airline association, Airlines for Europe (A4E), has also hit out over disruption caused by the strikes. It said in early July that already, French air traffic control had proven to be “one of the weakest links” in Europe’s system.
Ourania Georgoutsakou, Managing Director of A4E, said that French air traffic control already delivers some of the worst delay figures and called on policymakers to take action.
How did air traffic control walkouts impact flights?
Over the two-day walkout, a total of almost 3,000 flights were cancelled and more than 7,400 delayed, according to Eurocontrol figures. It affected more than 1 million passengers, with around 200,000 unable to fly as they had intended due to cancellations.
The strikes pushed the percentage of flights arriving and departing on time down from the June average of 75 per cent to 64 per cent over the two days.
One in five European flights is normally routed over France, even if they don’t land there. Flights to and from the neighbouring countries of Spain, the UK and Italy were particularly badly impacted.
The proportion of flights passing over France is much higher, with more like half of its flights being routed over the country. This makes the carrier much more vulnerable to industrial action by French air traffic controllers.
Eurocontrol estimates the total cost to the aviation industry of the strikes at €120 million in lost revenue and spending on care for passengers impacted by the disruption. Around €47 million came from the cost of delays and €72 million from cancellations.
A European Union official told the Financial Times that this summer could be the worst ever for delays and cancellations due to air traffic control staff shortages, strikes, fires and high demand for travel.
