For the second day in a rowabout one in ten flights will be canceled on Friday, departing from and arriving at Paris – Charles-de-Gaulle (CDG) airport due to a strike by firefighters, the authorities announced on Thursday 30 June.
The General Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGAC) has asked the companies to give up one aircraft movement in six between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. for safety reasons, the firefighters’ strike forcing part of the runways to be closed on the first French airport. It is the same request as that of the day before, the first day of mobilization of the airport firefighters.
Just like Thursday, Air France said it had canceled more than 10% of its short and medium-haul flights on Friday at CDG and maintained its long-haul schedule.
Firefighters “claim a technicality bonus and a revaluation of the grid” wages taking into account “recruitment difficulties at the start of the grid”, explained Daniel Bertone, secretary general of the CGT union of Groupe ADP, the manager of Paris airports. Their salaries are lower than those offered in the departmental fire and rescue services (SDIS), he said.
Call for a “multi-sectoral” strike
Friday, the employees of the Parisian airport platforms are also called by an inter-union to join a strike “multisectoral”, including Groupe ADP and its subcontractors, following on from that of June 9. The notice runs until Sunday inclusive. ADP employees are demanding a 6% wage increase, retroactive to 1is January, while management proposes 3% on 1is July, according to the trade unions.
This social movement, with rallies planned in front of terminals 2E of CDG and 4 of Orly on Friday, risks slowing down the flow of passengers, approaching the installations as well as at the filter inspection posts. Baggage sorting could also be affected.
These disturbances “cause delays which can lead to flight cancellations, once the delay is too great”, noted Mr. Bertone, even if his counterpart at the CFE-CGC, Rachid Eddaidj, said he was uncertain of the operational consequences of the movement. The DGAC did not request preventive flight cancellations at Orly. The ADP group has invited passengers to arrive in advance, namely ” three hours [avant le décollage prévu] for an international flight, two hours for a domestic or European flight”.