70% of Orly flights canceled

Other protest actions lasting until May 30 could also affect air transport

A last-minute air traffic control strike on Saturday May 25 will result in the cancellation of hundreds of flights to and from Paris.

The French Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC) has asked airlines to cancel 70% of flights to or from Paris Orly, the country’s second airport.

The air traffic controller action will take place from 4:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the airport.

The strike is centered around Paris-Orly, with other airports unlikely to be affected (except via domestic flights to Orly).

Flights over French airspace could also be affected.

Read more: French MPs set to end last-minute strikes by air traffic controllers

The main air traffic controllers’ union, SNCTA, agreed to last-minute negotiations last month, canceling two days of strikes proposed by its members.

However, the second and third unions (Unsa-Icna and Usac-CGT) rejected these negotiations and launched a strike in April. Members of the first union are on strike on Saturday.

“Our managers continue to make savings at Orly, which will quickly cause the teams to fall back into understaffing,” indicates a leaflet published by the Unsca-Icna union.

“Adequate staffing levels are a necessity if we want to guarantee working conditions adapted to the safety tasks assigned to air traffic control engineers,” the text adds.

Usac-CGT members filed a separate – and national – strike notice covering the period from May 23 to 30, citing a “weakening of the territorial network” which is part of the reforms proposed for the airline sector by the DGAC.

Read more: French air traffic controllers take too much leave and endanger safety