Second day of travel chaos as French air traffic controllers strike

French air traffic controllers staged the second day of a two-day strike on Friday, prompting the cancellation of flights affecting hundreds of thousands of people not just to-and-from France but also overflying the country as summer holidays kick off.

Paris airports were even more severely affected than on the first day of the strike on Thursday, which was called by two minority unions calling for better working conditions and staffing.

The timing of the strike is particularly acute with Friday the final day of school in France before the summer holidays and many families planning an early getaway.

France's DGAC aviation authority said 933 flights departing from or arriving at French airports were cancelled on Thursday, some 10 percent of the total number of flights initially scheduled. The proportion of cancellations rose to 25 percent at the main airports in Paris.

Around 1,000 flights had been cancelled on Friday morning, after the DGAC asked companies to cancel 40 percent of flights to deal with the strike.

The government has condemned the strike, with Prime Minister Francois Bayrou telling BFMTV that "choosing the day when everyone goes on holiday to go on strike at air traffic control is taking the French hostage."

'Unacceptable'

Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot told CNews that "yesterday and today, 272 people in our country will impact the well-being of more than 500,000 people".

"This is unacceptable," he said.

UNSA-ICNA, the second biggest labour group in the sector, launched the action to protest against "chronic understaffing", the planned introduction of a clock-in system, outdated equipment and "toxic management practices that are incompatible with the requirements of calm and safety".

It was joined by the third largest union, USAC-CGT but the main union, SNCTA, has not joined the action.

The effects of the strike are not limited to France and the stoppage has triggered hundreds of cancellations of flights that fly over the country.

The European Airlines for Europe (A4E) association said 1,500 flights would be cancelled on Thursday and Friday in Europe, affecting 300,000 passengers.

"French air traffic control already delivers some of Europe's worst delay figures and now the actions of a minority of French air traffic control workers will needlessly disrupt the holiday plans of thousands of people in France and across Europe," said A4E chief Ourania Georgoutsakou.

The association said the strikes also caused "almost 500,000 minutes" in delays in Europe on Thursday on nearly 33,000 commercial flights.

'Stuck'

Ryanair, Europe's largest airline by passenger numbers, said it had cancelled more than 400 flights.

Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary urged the EU Commission to protect such overflights by law in case of strikes.

"Of these 400 flight cancellations, 350 would not be cancelled if the EU protected overflights over France," he said.

At Paris airports, passengers stared at departure boards loaded with cancellations to assess their options.

"I came here on holiday to celebrate my wife's 40th birthday, but now I'm stuck at Charles de Gaulle Airport," said Julien Barthelemy, a passenger travelling to Marseille from New York, late Thursday.

"I'm currently on the waiting list for three flights and am waiting for a spot on the next one to become available."

Lara, 30, was scheduled to take a flight from Paris to Berlin with her partner to visit friends.

"The flight was scheduled for Thursday evening, but we were informed on Wednesday that it had been cancelled. We had been able to get another ticket for free, for Friday evening, but that was also cancelled," she told AFP, adding they had to buy more expensive train tickets.

Source: AFP