**The ongoing French air traffic control strike significantly disrupts air travel, highlighting the urgent need for resolution and minimum service guarantees.**
**Ryanair Suffers Major Flight Disruptions Amid French Air Traffic Control Strike**
**Ryanair Suffers Major Flight Disruptions Amid French Air Traffic Control Strike**
**Over 30,000 passengers impacted as Ryanair cancels flights due to strike action in France.**
Tens of thousands of travelers are reeling from disruptions caused by a strike from French air traffic controllers, leading to a wave of flight cancellations by Ryanair. The budget airline reported over 170 flight cancellations that have affected more than 30,000 passengers, primarily on Thursday and Friday, with additional repercussions felt across Europe due to altered flight paths.
The strike, organized by two French unions, is a response to grievances regarding working conditions, resulting in a staggering quarter of flights being canceled at major Paris airports and nearly half of flights at Nice. French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot criticized the unions’ decision to strike at a peak holiday time, calling their demands unacceptable.
Ryanair’s CEO, Michael O'Leary, expressed his frustration, claiming that air traffic control actions are unfairly impacting European families eager for vacations. He has called upon European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to intervene, demanding measures that would maintain a minimum level of service during industrial disputes and protect aircraft traversing French airspace.
In light of the strike, France's civil aviation authority, DGAC, has directed airlines to slash flight schedules at multiple airports, with expectations of further disruption on Friday—projecting a 40% reduction of flights from Paris airports like Charles de Gaulle, Orly, and Beauvais.
The unions behind the strike, UNSA-ICNA, cited issues such as staffing shortages and managerial challenges as key motivators for their action, along with concerns regarding a forthcoming controversial clock-in system for air traffic controllers. Recent negotiation efforts with DGAC proved fruitless.
Airlines for Europe (A4E), a prominent aviation organization, has condemned the strike, labeling it "intolerable" especially during the bustling holiday season. Another low-cost carrier, EasyJet, echoed this sentiment, expressing major disappointment and pressing for a prompt resolution to the crisis.
Ryanair, already facing challenges from recent geopolitical conflicts, including turbulence in the Middle East that led to over 800 flight cancellations last month, stated their operations still managed to handle more than 109,000 flights in June, indicating that incidents affecting flights remain below 1%.
