French Air Traffic Chaos: Strikes Ground Flights as Safety Concerns Soar

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC) plans to cancel 50% of flights from Nice, 40% from the Parisian platforms of Roissy, Orly and Beauvais, and 30% from Lyon, Marseille, Montpellier and Corsica. Significant delays are to be expected throughout the territory.

At the origin of this walkout, the Unsa-ICNA and Usac-CGT unions cite "structural understaffing" and "toxic management".

A particular point crystallizes the tensions: the proposal to install biometric badge readers to ensure "the presence control of the controllers".

This measure is the direct consequence of a recommendation from the Bureau of Investigations and Analyses (BEA) after a "serious incident" in Bordeaux in December 2023. Two planes had narrowly avoided a collision while only three air traffic controllers were present at their post, instead of the six planned.

Faced with this conflict, the DGAC acknowledges a "chronic understaffing" and highlights an "ambitious recruitment plan". This approach is part of a broader reform aimed at rationalizing the network, in particular by reducing the number of control towers, France having "three to four times more than anywhere else in Europe".

Concretely for travelers, airlines are trying to limit the impact. Air France has been "forced to adapt its flight schedule" and, like its subsidiary Transavia, offers affected customers "a free trip change or a full refund".