Marisa Garcia The Association for European Airlines, A4E, has repeated its call to governments and the European Commission to act as Europe faces the fourth French ATC strike in less than two months.
A4A believes the strikes are “highly likely” to continue and predicts a “summer of discontent” for air travelers.
Thousands of flyers in Europe are expected to face disruptions as a result of French ATC strikes planned today. Due to labor action, French ATC will operate at reduced capacity for at least 24 hours.
A4E estimate that “more than one million delay minutes or more than 16,000 delay hours” have accrued so far this year as a result of ATC strikes. Today’s action marks the 46th strike day in France since 2009, though some actions have been part of general strikes in France.
“2016 will be a record year for ATC strikes and there is nothing to stop further strike action this summer,” said Thomas Reynaert, Managing Director of A4E. “We are shocked at yet another infringement of people’s rights. On behalf of European consumers we call on the European Commission and governments to act now and protect the rights of millions of European travellers affected by this repeated and disproportionate industrial action. They need to work to minimise the impact of strikes on passengers.”
ATC strikes in Greece, Italy, Belgium and France in March and April resulted in over 2,000 flight cancellations and more than 10,000 flights disrupted for A4E airline members.
