French Air Traffic Controllers on Strike, Cancellations Expected

Paris — Travellers flying in and out of France will face delays and cancellations on Friday as air traffic controllers go on strike for 24 hours.

The French civil aviation authority DGAC called on airlines to cut their services in mainland France and overseas territories by half.

Air France said it would cancel around 55% of its short- and medium-haul flights and around 10% of long-haul flights on Friday.

The SNCTA union called the strike, saying that despite six months of negotiations, there was a lack of concrete answers from the employer side.

The key points of contention are safeguarding of junior staff and payments to compensate for inflation.

The union says one-third of air traffic controllers are due to retire between 2029 and 2035 and that because of how long training takes, a plan for junior staff needs to be in place by next year.

The union has already issued a second strike notice for September 28 to 30.

©2022 dpa GmbH. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.