In Geneva, “26 flights are announced canceled”
The social movement launched in France by the Syndicate of Air Traffic Controllers is disrupting the skies in France but also in Geneva.
Five flights departing from Geneva airport had to be canceled on Friday.
KEYSTONE/Martial Trezzini
When French signalmen go on strike, Geneva pays the price. Friday, the Geneva sky was affected by the social movement by which the signalmen demand salary increases in the face of inflation and an acceleration of recruitment.
“For Genève Aéroport, 26 flights have been announced canceled by airlines for this day,” said Ignace Jeannerat, spokesperson for Geneva Airport.
On the flights concerned, there are 5 on departure and 5 on arrival for Air France, 4 on departure and 4 on arrival for Easyjet, 2 on departure and 2 on arrival for Iberia and 2 on departure and 2 on arrival for British Airways.
The destinations concerned by the cancellations are visible on the Gvapp application and the Geneva airport website. As for the affected passengers, Ignace Jeannerat specifies that “in such circumstances, the airlines have undoubtedly warned their customers in advance through their usual channels.”
Several airports closed in France
On the French side, the air sector is as expected very disrupted on Friday morning by a strike by air traffic controllers which also indirectly affects European traffic.
At the call of the National Union of Air Traffic Controllers (SNCTA, majority), this social movement to demand salary increases in the face of inflation, but also an acceleration of recruitment, concerns both metropolitan France and overseas. -sea.
As a result, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC) asked companies to give up half of their flight program on Friday, ie “about 1000 canceled flights” departing from or arriving on French territory.
Flight delays on the Old Continent already exceeded 500,000 cumulative minutes at 8:22 a.m., compared to 148,000 for the whole of the day on Friday 9 September.
AFP/JULIEN DE ROSA
A minimum service is provided at 16 airports, as well as at the five en-route air navigation centers, which control aircraft transiting through French airspace and flying at an altitude of more than 6,000 meters, the DGAC said on Friday morning. .
On the other hand, several airports were closed at the start of the day: Montpellier, La Rochelle, Rennes and Melun, according to a spokesperson.
“Significant delays”
“Significant flight cancellations and delays are to be expected throughout the territory”, had warned the DGAC, inviting “passengers who can to postpone their trip and to inquire with their airline to find out the ‘state of their flight’.
“In such circumstances, the airlines have no doubt warned their customers in advance through their usual channels.”
This strike also has repercussions on all European air traffic. According to the European manager Eurocontrol, which evokes “serious disturbances”, flight delays on the Old Continent already exceeded 500,000 cumulative minutes at 8:22 am, against 148,000 on the whole day of Friday September 9.
Eurocontrol forecast around 21,000 aircraft movements on Friday in the area it manages, a third less than a week earlier.
The DGAC had indicated that it was working with Eurocontrol “in order to offer airlines measures to circumvent national airspace”.
Second notice at the end of September
Ryanair, the leading European air carrier, said that this “unjustified” strike would force it to “cancel 420 flights (80,000 passengers) mainly flying over France” on Friday, without necessarily landing there.
The SNCTA stressed that it had decided on this movement to express its concern “about the current level of inflation as well as future recruitments”.
These professionals are particularly alarmed by the planned retirement of a third of air navigation control engineers (ICNA) between 2029 and 2035.
However, “at least five years separate recruitment from qualification” and training capacities are “structurally limited”. It is therefore necessary, according to them, to anticipate this “wall of departures” from next year, and to budget for training in this direction.
The SNCTA announced the filing of “a second notice from Wednesday September 28 to Friday September 30, 2022 inclusive”.
Many social conflicts
Complying with requests from the DGAC, Air France has decided to cancel around 400 of its 800 flights scheduled for Friday. This represents 55% of short- and medium-haul flights, while long-haul flights are less affected, with one in ten flights removed.
“Last-minute delays and cancellations cannot be ruled out,” said Air France, stressing that “customers affected by canceled flights [seraient] individually notified.
Air France, which “strongly recommends its customers to postpone their trip”, allowed them to anticipate or postpone their trip “free of charge”, and offered, “for customers whose flight is canceled, a credit note or a refund integral in the event that they would no longer travel”.
Multiple social conflicts have erupted in recent weeks in the European aviation sector against a backdrop of record inflation. At the end of June and beginning of July, hundreds of flights had to be canceled at Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle airport due to a strike by employees of the manager, Groupe ADP.
On Wednesday, the company announced separately that it would grant a 5% salary increase to all its employees, together with a bonus of 1,000 euros, in response to the increase in the cost of living.
AFP/EAH
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