Editor’s note: Lufthansa pilots just had a short strike. British Airways flight attendants are planning a strike. Now French (and possibly Greek) air controllers are on strike. You need a score card. Karen Fawcett reports from France where the French air traffic controllers are in day two of their action and air traffic is suffering from all of the above.
It’s school vacation time and what better time for air controllers to call a five-day-long strike. On Tuesday, France’s civil aviation authority ordered airlines to cancel 25 percent of the flights at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle Airport, which is a major hub for air travel in the E.U. At this time, intercontinental flights are expected to operate. But short and medium-haul flights were disrupted Tuesday and significant cancellations and delays are anticipated today and until the end of the week.
Fifty percent of flights at Orly (Paris’s smaller airport) that serves destinations within the European Union (EU), French overseas territories and North Africa have been canceled. Some smaller French airports have closed completely.
French controllers are protesting the European Union’s plans to consolidate the air traffic control system, fearing job cuts and the loss of civil servant benefits. This strike followed on the coattails of Lufthansa’s main pilots’ union agreeing to postpone its strike until March 9th. Even though the German airline agreed to return to the bargaining table, its flight schedule has already been disrupted. Air travelers should expect to be victims of the domino effect.
As of Wednesday morning, flights from Paris to the U.S. are operating, but expect delays. On the other hand, a Lufthansa flight from Marseille to Munich departed 20 minutes early.
Many French people, who planned vacations that included flying, have decided to stay home and not deal with the frustration. Others have booked trains and some are trying to rent cars. Parisian agencies reported there are few available rental cars. A Hertz representative said its cars had already been rented in preparation for the winter vacation and the air strike has only exacerbated matters. He assured a family waiting in the agency that they were essentially out of luck.
Thomas Jachnow, a Lufthansa spokesman, said the airline had begun restoring service on its main domestic and European routes Tuesday and had resumed long-haul service from Frankfurt to Singapore and Sao Paolo. The airline expected to add a further 400 flights on Wednesday, with an eye to returning to a full schedule of 1,800 flights per day by Friday.
In the UK, the union representing more than 12,000 British Airways cabin crew members voted Monday to strike over changes introduced late last year to employees’ contracts and a proposed two-year pay freeze. Its union Unite, has not set a date for a walkout, but has agreed not to strike during the Easter holidays.
Air traffic controllers in Greece planned a 24-hour strike today to protest planned government budget cuts — the second such strike in less than a month there. Athens International Airport warned on its Web site that all flights into and out of the Greek capital would be canceled as of midnight.
The friendly skies are being anything but friendly and don’t count on flights as usual. Before leaving for the airport, confirm that your flight is operating and be prepared to wait.
If you’ve been caught in this quagmire of flight cancellations and delays, how are you coping?
Karen Fawcett is president of Bonjour Paris
Karen Fawcett loves to travel anywhere. Karen was a founder & president BonjourParis.com while living in Paris for more than 25 years. She has traveled across Europe and the rest of the world. She is now based in Washington, DC.
