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French air traffic control strike grounds 1,500 flights, disrupts summer holidays for 300,000 travellers

Major airlines, including Ryanair and easyJet, were among the worst hit, with Ryanair cancelling 170 flights and easyJet 274, as the walkout coincided with France's 'Grand Départ' read more France's air traffic control officials have hit the streets to protest for better pay and more hiring, forcing major airlines to ground several flights amid the peak summer holiday season. The two-day-long strikes, which began yesterday, have impacted over 1,500 flights and disrupted summer vacation plans for nearly 300,000 travellers. Major airlines, including Ryanair and easyJet, were among the worst hit, with Ryanair cancelling 170 flights and easyJet 274, as the walkout coincided with France's 'Grand Départ'. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Ryanair, at the same time, has called for politicians to act as their businesses get hampered while air traffic controllers fight against overwork and burnout. Frédéric Deleau, vice president for Europe of the International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers' Associations, said that the protests in France 'will eventually have a negative impact on the network, that's for sure.' What are their demands? The strike, led by the UNSA-ICNA and USAC-CGT unions, centres on demands for better pay, increased staffing, and urgent upgrades to ageing equipment. France's civil aviation authority ordered airlines to cut flights by up to 50 per cent at some airports, with widespread delays and cancellations rippling across the continent. Airline groups and executives condemned the action, urging the EU to protect overflights and warning of more chaos unless Europe's air traffic system is reformed. However, the issue cannot be resolved quickly, as training new air traffic controllers takes a minimum of three years. Complicating matters further, certification to manage air traffic is restricted to specific sectors of Europe's highly fragmented airspace, which is overseen by 40 different air navigation service providers (ANSPs). Gloomy European skies Observers and experts have called this the 'worst summer till now' as flight delays and cancellations play a spoilsport in the civil aviation industry. Paul Reuter, vice president of the pilot union European Cockpit Association, said, according to Politico, 'Every summer since Covid has been the worst summer until now.' He added, 'We have a finite airspace, a finite number of runways, the airports have capacity constraints … any disruption, because have very little buffers, it's going to mess up the whole system. And that is probably what we're going to see this summer as well.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The European Commissioner for Transport, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, has said that 2024 was the worst year for European aviation in terms of flight delays and warned that the 'situation this year is likely to deteriorate further.'