A French air traffic control strike is leading to massive disruptions in air travel, with Ryanair among the hardest hit, prompting calls for increased regulatory protections.
Ryanair Affected by French Air Traffic Control Strike, Cancels 170 Flights
Ryanair Affected by French Air Traffic Control Strike, Cancels 170 Flights
Budget airline Ryanair halts over 170 flights, disrupting travel plans for 30,000 due to French labor strike.
In a significant disruption to air travel, Ryanair has announced the cancellation of more than 170 flights, impacting the travel plans of over 30,000 passengers due to a two-day strike by French air traffic controllers. This strike, orchestrated by two French unions, has resulted in widespread cancellations not only for flights entering and leaving France but also for numerous flights traversing French airspace to destinations across Europe.
On Thursday and Friday, around 25% of flights were canceled at major Paris airports, while Nice recorded a staggering 50% of its flights being scrapped. French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot criticized the strike, labeling it as unacceptable given the timing during the peak holiday season.
The strike is a response to grievances over working conditions, including staffing shortages and the controversial introduction of an attendance system for controllers. Ryanair's CEO, Michael O'Leary, harshly condemned the action, asserting it's unfair to European families reliant on the airline for their summer holidays. O'Leary has urged the European Commission to intervene to establish minimum service levels during strikes, suggesting the current labor dispute is akin to “holding European families to ransom.”
Moreover, France's civil aviation authority, DGAC, has sought airlines to cut back on flight schedules, with expectations for travel disruptions to increase on Friday, potentially leading to a 40% reduction in flights from Paris airports including Charles de Gaulle and Orly.
Airlines for Europe (A4E), which advocates for the aviation sector across the continent, denounced the strike as "intolerable," indicating that it severely jeopardizes holiday travel plans during the prime tourism period. Another budget airline, EasyJet, expressed its disappointment and called for an urgent resolution.
Despite the ongoing airline challenges, Ryanair noted that they operated over 109,000 flights in June, which indicates that less than 1% of their operations were affected last month, even in the face of parallel disruptions caused by the recent conflict in the Middle East that led to over 800 flight cancellations.
