The main union of air traffic controllers calls for a strike. One out of two flights should be cancelled.
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The expected situation is so critical that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation is taking the lead. The DGAC is asking airlines to give up half of their flight schedule on Friday September 16. Suffice to say that this will concern hundreds of flights. This movement will affect both mainland France and the overseas territories and could also affect all European traffic. Moreover, the manager of the Eurocontrol network is working on a plan to offer international companies measures to circumvent French airspace.
Two very distinct demands are put forward by the majority trade union in the profession: its concerns about inflation which is undermining wages and purchasing power; future recruitment, particularly in the face of retirements. According to the central union, no guarantee has been obtained so far from the DGAC and the public authorities to adapt the wage bill to the resumption of traffic in the control towers.
Inflation does not only affect employees of airports and air traffic control, passengers are also affected. In July 2022, with soaring kerosene prices and a sharp rise in travel demand, ticket prices increased by 43% over one year in France, all routes combined. Fares even jumped 54% on medium-haul flights departing from France for European destinations.
This increase also meets the need of companies to restore their accounts after the crisis and increase their margins. It is therefore in this context that the union pressure comes into play, which is moreover a few weeks before the presentation to the National Assembly of the 2023 finance bill, the moment when the major public budgetary axes are decided.