Airlines for Europe (A4E) welcomed the abandonment of the strike French air traffic controllers, but she remains circumspect about the future. It recommends 21 days’ notice in the event of a future strike.
Thousands of rugby fans are breathing a little easier after French air traffic control (ATC) officers called off their planned strike during the Rugby World Cup which is currently taking place in France. The French air traffic controllers’ unions, the SNCTA and UNSA-ICNAeven announced an Olympic truce until September 2024. This would have been the 38th day of strike by French ATC workers, which is more than the total number of strike days in the rest of Europe, points out A4E, an association based in Brussels and founded by Air France–KLMeasyJet, International Airlines Group (IAG), Lufthansa Group and Ryanair.
“Although the fact that the French ATC headed to the negotiating room beyond the line” planned, falls under A4E, this is not “only a temporary reprieve unless concrete measures are put in place to manage the impact of the ATC strikes in Europe”. A4E claims to respect the right to strike but, “given the level of disruption encountered this year”, she presented “a series of actions that would ensure that European passengers can continue to fly freely, including protection of overflights, while ensuring that this does not come at the expense of departures and arrivals in the country of origin of the strike “. This temporary reprieve shows how measures such as a 21 day notice in the event of a strike and a arbitration mandatory can have a positive impact for passengers.
The airline association says that so far this year, ATC strikes have resulted in more than 4,000 flight cancellationsmore than a million minutes of flight delays and ruined the plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers. “Airlines and passengers breathe a collective sigh of relief with the postponement of the latest ATC strike in France”comments Ourania Georgoutsakou, general director of A4E. “Not only would this have created chaos for thousands of rugby fans during the global competition, but this would also have led to disruptions across Europe. »
