Airplanes on the Tarmac of Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle Airport near Paris, during the strike of French air controllers on July 3, 2025 (AFP / Thibaud Moritz)
The end of the school year in France this Friday rhymes with galley for vacationers who were planning to travel by plane: a thousand flights is still canceled on Friday, especially in Paris airports, on the second day of a strike of air controllers.
“We must realize that yesterday and today, 272 people in our country will impact the well-being of more than 500,000 people. It is unacceptable,” the Minister of Transport Philippe Tabarot said on CNews on CNews on CNews on CNEWS on Friday morning.
Hundreds of thousands of people have already been affected Thursday in France and Europe by this social movement, triggered by two minority unions which claim an improvement in their working conditions and larger staff.
Lara, 30, was to take a Paris-Berlin flight with her spouse to visit friends. “The flight was scheduled for Thursday evening, but we were informed on Wednesday that it was canceled. We were able to take another ticket for free, for Friday evening, but it was deleted in turn,” she explains to AFP.
“We had to urgently take train tickets. Result, an additional cost of 100 euros and several hours of more journeys,” she testifies.
Around 1,000 flights are canceled on Friday, from France or on arrival, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, against 933 Thursday.
“A catastrophe,” said Laurent Abitbol, ​​Chairman of the Selectour Travel Agencies on Friday, on France Inter. “I have a lot of customers who are blocked worldwide (…) It will be a lot of lost money for our agents,” he added.
Prime Minister François Bayrou judged this “shocking” strike on Thursday by accusing the strikers of “taking the French hostage” the day “everyone goes on vacation”.
– “The strike too much” –
Passengers consult the Display of Departures at Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle airport, near Paris, during the strike of French air controllers, July 3, 2025 (AFP / Thibaud Moritz)
The effects of movement are felt beyond national borders, the main European Airlines association, Airlines for Europe (A4E) having estimated that in Europe, 1,500 flights would be canceled Thursday and Friday, “affecting almost 300,000 passengers” on the old continent.
“This strike is intolerable. French air traffic control is already responsible for delays among the worst in Europe, and now, the actions of a minority of French sky sharpeners will disrupt the holiday projects for thousands of people in France and in Europe,” said A4E general director, Ourania Georgoutsakou.
According to the DGAC, the rates of strikers established 26.2% Thursday, 272 controllers who took part in the movement on the thousand service staff.
The second Syndicate of Steelles of the Heaven, UNSA-ICNA (17% of the votes in the last professional elections) launched this movement to claim better working conditions and greater staff. He was joined by the third union force of the profession, the USAC-CGT (16%).
Thursday, maintained flights have accused significant delays, especially in Nice and Marseille. A4E quantified “almost 500,000 minutes” accumulated on Thursday in Europe, on nearly 33,000 commercial journeys, many planes using French airspace without necessarily landing in the country.
The first European airline, Ryanair, announced Thursday that it had to cancel 400 flights, affecting 70,000 passengers. His boss Michael O’Leary, familiar with the shine, denounced a situation caused “by a small number of French air controllers participating in recreational strikes” and urged the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to reform air traffic control in Europe, where, failing this, to resign.
The Air France company confirmed that it was “forced to adapt its flight program”, without specifying the number of cancellations, but stressed that all the long-haul were “maintained” Thursday and Friday.
“The strike too” in a context “problematic of global mediocre global performance of French air navigation particularly penalizing companies based in France”, denounced the National Federation of Civil Aviation on Friday.
– “toxic management” –
The control tower of Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle airport, near Paris, photographed during the strike of French air controllers on July 3, 2025 (AFP / Thibaud Moritz)
A contested reform is underway to establish a score of the controllers at the postal post, following a “serious incident” at Bordeaux airport at the end of 2022, when two planes had almost collided. An investigation had caused responsibility for it on a faulty organization of the work of the sharpeners, apart from the legal framework and without compliance with the service table.
Among the grievances of the UNSA-ICNA: “a maintained sub-effective and responsible for delays a good part of the summer”, obsolete tools and “toxic management, incompatible with the required serenity and security imperatives”.
The first Syndicate of Steers of the Heaven, the SNCTA (60% of the votes), did not call for the strike.
