air visitors controllers on strike Thursday, many flights threatened | EUROtoday

Published on : 04/23/2024 – 4:41 p.m.Modified : 04/23/2024 – 22:43

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The day of Thursday April 25 guarantees to be difficult in French airports. The air visitors controllers' strike deliberate for that day ought to result in chaotic flight cancellations throughout France, whereas the principle air visitors controllers' union is already threatening a brand new strike for the Ascension Bridge on 9 , May 10 and 11.

Airlines must cancel 75% of flights at Paris Orly airport and 65% at Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle and Marseille on Thursday, we discovered on Tuesday from a supply near the matter.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC) can even ask them to cancel 60% of flights at Toulouse and Nice, and 50% for different airports, this supply informed AFP.

The second air visitors controllers union, Unsa Icna, which can be calling for a strike on Thursday, has for its half filed a brand new discover overlaying your complete month of June.

These prospects of social actions undermine the Olympic truce of the principle unions, who promised in September 2023 to not strike for wage causes between now and the tip of the Olympic Games (July 26 to August 11) and Paralympic Games (28 August to September 8).

In addition to the cancellations, we should count on “very big delays”, informed AFP a nationwide secretary of the National Union of Air Traffic Controllers (SNCTA, majority), who didn’t wish to be quoted.

“The channel remains open, we remain available to the DGAC and the public authorities” for discussions, he confided.

All the unions are calling for a strike because of the failure at this stage of negotiations on assist measures, significantly wage, for an overhaul of air visitors management in France.

New strike in sight?

Faced with the failure of the negotiations, the SNCTA even filed a second strike discover, over three days this time and in the midst of the Ascension weekend, on Thursday 9 (vacation), Friday 10 and Saturday 11 May. .

“We aimed in the middle so as not to impact departures and returns,” clarified the nationwide secretary of the union, highlighting a need to achieve the negotiations.

In a press launch, the group deplored the failure of the discussions “in particular on the question of social support” and once more gave the general public authorities 15 days to “engage in the search for solutions” earlier than issuing its menace to execution.

The reform mentioned goals to “increase productivity”, in keeping with this official. The union needs to “support this search for performance” by means of wage will increase which might carry them nearer to “European social standards”.

According to the union, these wage will increase could be painless for the French taxpayer as a result of they’re completely financed by the airways which pay a price to the DGAC.

But the extra price “would ultimately be passed on to the passenger”, defined Pascal de Izaguirre, president of the principle group bringing collectively main French airways (Fnam), additionally CEO of Corsair. Not to say the lack of competitiveness for French corporations which primarily bear this contribution, underlined the supervisor.

According to Pascal de Izaguirre, France is the European champion of air visitors management strikes, with an influence on the funds of the European aviation sector of 800 million euros for the interval 2018-2022, together with 624 million for France alone .

For comparability, in second place on this rating, we discover Italy, the place strikes represented a shortfall of 147 million euros over the identical interval, then Greece, with 22 million euros, all the time in keeping with the figures put ahead by Fnam.

Despite these notches within the Olympic truce, the boss of Fnam says he’s not apprehensive in regards to the competitors interval itself. On Monday, an SNCTA official reiterated that there was no query of placing in the course of the Games.

The authorized framework for air visitors controller strikes was not too long ago reformed, with a regulation promulgated on the finish of 2023 with the assist of the SNCTA requiring all air visitors brokers to individually declare their participation in a strike motion no later than two days earlier than.

Air visitors was severely disrupted by strikes by air visitors controllers in early 2023, in the course of the pensions battle in France. These social actions additionally have an effect on overflights of the territory, which arouses the ire of overseas corporations.

With AFP