I was for once at CDG in Paris and missed a connecting flight from Nairobi to Paris and onwards to Amsterdam. It was due to ATC being on strike in Paris that the KLM Aircraft was still at the gate about an hour after the gate had closed at CDG and we were able to still get on board. For once I was thankful to ATC for going on strike as now I did not miss my plane :-)
FWIW, the network seemed to recover quickly. My flight down through France to Switzerland on Friday 10 April was entirely normal.
what is this with French ATC? Why are they so often on strike?
Because they can and because their personal interests are at stake. For the same reasons that other public employees that retire at age 50 or 55 (or 60 for that matter) do not want to see their retirement age or other benefits be postponed. Try to take away the free electricity that EDF employees are entitled to and France will be without electrical power. You mug a public transport worker in Paris, and all public transportation in the greater Paris area comes to a grinding halt. Controllers want to cling on to their benefits, havoc in the skies.
The Telegraph simply comments it’s about restructuring and retirement arrangements.
The one subject that the French news media focused on as the reason for this strike is the postponement of retirement age from 57 to 59. In the past they have also gone to strike over the “Single European Sky” initiative.
Aviathor, when you did LFPN-LFPT, did you go VFR or POGO?
VFR
I have just managed to file this route LDLO-EGKA for Sunday 12th April, which passes through a big piece of France
for various levels FL100-150 generally, as is normal in “Eurocontrol hacking”.
Useful answers and it sounds like GA isn’t disrupted too much.
This traffic photo from yesterday shows the flow of Commercial European aircraft pretty thin across France
Approx 1,000 commercial flights cancelled
Interesting question about why French ATC are striking – there is plenty of news coverage about the effects of the strike but very little about the underlying cause, whether reasonable, how compares to ATC terms in other countries etc. The Telegraph simply comments it’s about restructuring and retirement arrangements.
I got a CTOT Slot message for flight to LFSN, 1 hour delay, flight was no problem
Aviathor,
when you did LFPN-LFPT, did you go VFR or POGO?
I wish we had Ronald Reagan (or Mrs Thatcher) put them straight. They are striking over the proposed increase of the age of retirement.
