Ultra-low-cost carrier Ryanair is petitioning European Union (EU) travelers to support an initiative it believes to be important. The petition calls for the EU Commission to enact policies that protect flights overflying France during the ongoing French Air Traffic Control (ATC) strikes.

There are currently laws to safeguard domestic flights within France; however, flights through French airspace have no such protection. This has resulted in over 1 million passengers' flights being delayed or canceled. Ryanair hopes that if its petition receives enough support, it will prompt the Commission to act.

Ryanair's petition

The petition Ryanair promotes is titled "PROTECT PASSENGERS - KEEP EU SKIES OPEN." The airline hopes to receive over 1 million signatures. In the petition, the airline has stated that it and its supporters demand the European Commission protect all passenger flights passing through French airspace during ATC strikes. The airline claims that not doing so is unfair and unjust.

Ryanair lists three points in the petition that it believes Europe should be obligated to enact. All who sign the petition agree with and support these demands. The three points are as follows:

1. Protect French overflights during ATC strikes (using min services laws) as they do in Greece, Italy, and Spain
2. Allow Europe's other ATCs to manage flights over France while French ATC are on strike
3. Mandate that French ATC unions engage in binding arbitration before the calling of strikes

Once the petition has received 1 million signatures, the airline plans to present it to the European Commission. With the high number of flight disruptions this year due to the ATC strikes, it anticipates that it should have no problem receiving a million signatures by the month's end. Even without the petition, the airline plans to pester the Commission as it knows the sooner the issue gets resolved, the sooner flight operations can return to normal.

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Year of disruptions

Last year will go down in aviation history with record numbers of flight disruptions worldwide. Since then, the airline industry has adapted to the changing market relatively quickly, recruiting additional staff and trimming schedules to a more manageable level. Hopefully, the last year's changes will prevent similar situations from emerging this summer. So far, things have gone relatively smoothly, but ongoing labor action in various industry sectors remains a risk to airlines as the season becomes busier.

While ATC strikes are only one of the current challenges, it's one which airlines believe could be solved relatively easily by realigning the rules to make it possible to overfly unmanned airspace still. This is why Ryanair is pushing so fervently for flights overflying France to receive protection from the EU. The CEO of Ryanair, Eddie Wilson, stated the following concerning the disruptions and the airline's petition,

"While we respect the right to strike, it is completely unacceptable that Europe's passenger flights that overfly France are repeatedly delayed or cancelled by French ATC strikes. So far in 2023, more than 1,000,000 EU passengers have faced unnecessary delays/cancellations as a result of 14 separate French ATC strikes, with zero action taken by Ursula von der Leyen's Commission to protect them. It's just not fair that flights to and from France are protected by min. After all, if the EU won't listen to its airlines, perhaps they'll listen to millions of Europe's passengers instead."

What do you think of Ryanair's petition? Do you think it will prompt the EU to act on the matter? Let us know in the comments below.

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  Ryanair

  IATA/ICAO Code:

  FR/RYR

  Airline Type:

  Low-Cost Carrier

  Hub(s):

  Dublin Airport, London Stansted Airport, Milan Bergamo Airport

  Year Founded:

  1985

  Airline Group:

  Ryanair Group

  CEO:

  Eddie Wilson

  Country:

  Ireland