France is currently going through national strikes in protest over President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reforms to make the minimum retirement age 64 from 62. The strike activity will impact French aviation, and as such the French Civil Aviation Authority (DGAC) is asking airlines to reduce their flight schedules.
Statements on developments
Several statements have been made on developments. First Air France, the premier French airline air group and France’s flag carrier, has posted a statement on the latest developments;
National call for strike action from 20 to 23 March, 2023
The French Civil Aviation Authority (DGAC) has asked all airlines to reduce their flight schedules to and from Paris Orly and certain French airports from 20 to 23 March, 2023 as part of the national strike action in France.
In this context, Air France plans to operate on these days 95% of its flight schedule, including all its long-haul flights and its flights to and from Paris – Charles de Gaulle. Last-minute delays and cancellations cannot be ruled out. The flight schedule is updated and customers affected by cancelled flights are notified individually by SMS and e-mail.
The airline also is allowing customers to reschedule their flights without fees and compensate customers with canceled flights as Air France “Is doing its utmost to limit the impact on its customers.”
Furthermore, the other French airports impacted, according to the United States news outlet ABC News will be Paris – Orly operating at 70% capacity, and Marseille operating at 80% capacity during the strike activity. Public transit is also going to be impacted. Finally, the Paris airport operator tweeted this out:
Precedented warnings
This is not the first time the French Civil Aviation Authority has warned of strike activity and asked airlines to reduce demand. Warnings were issued earlier this month, according to thelocal.fr on March 8th, 2023 and Reuters on March 13th, 2023. Thelocal.fr, on March 8, 2023, noted that air traffic controllers are participating in striking over the aforementioned pension plans.
There was also strike action from the air traffic controller union that impacted French aviation in September 2022. It’s worth noting that French air traffic control does manage some of the largest and most dense airspace in Europe. The French air traffic controllers control more than three million flights, 60% of which are overflights, according to a report released by the French government in 2019.
Sadly, strike action is taking place all over European aviation, thereby causing flight disruption. From Scottish island airports to, at one point, most of Germany’s main airports, the issue of strikes disrupting flight operations has been a recurrent one throughout Europe. One can see the tweet below to see some of the most recent actions:
Also, according to The Telegraph, London's Heathrow International Airport - the United Kingdom's busiest airport - will also have strike activity from airport security to contend with from March 31 to April 9. The main issues are pay and work rules.
As one can see, labor unrest is increasingly gripping European aviation. One should check their flight before heading to the airport to see if their flight will be on time or not.
Are you going to be impacted by this strike activity? Please share with civility in the comments if so.
Sources: ABC News, LoyaltyLobby, TheLocal.fr, The Telegraph
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Air France
- IATA/ICAO Code:
- AF/AFR
- Airline Type:
- Full Service Carrier
- Hub(s):
- Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport
- Year Founded:
- 1933
- Alliance:
- SkyTeam
- Airline Group:
- Air France-KLM
- CEO:
- Anne Rigail
- Country:
- France
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Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport
- IATA/ICAO Code:
- CDG/LFPG
- Country:
- France
- CEO:
- Augustin de Romanet
- Passenger Count :
- 26,196,575 (2021)
- Runways :
- 08L/26R - 4,215m (13,533ft) | 08R/26L - 2,700m (8,858ft) | 09L/27R - 2,700m (8,858ft) | 09R/27L - 4,200m (13,780ft)
- Terminals:
- Terminal 1 | Terminal 2 | Terminal 3
