Black day announced in air transport: what to expect on Thursday?

“A record mobilization” is expected on Thursday April 25 in French airports, the main air traffic controllers union warned on Monday. The General Directorate of Civil Aviation insists that discussions remain possible until Tuesday noon.

The air traffic controllers are angry. While the spring holidays are still in full swing for certain regions and the May bridges are looming, a strike is announced on Thursday April 25, 2024. The main union in the profession, the SNCTA points to a new version of a protocol aimed at restructuring air navigation services which he considers quite simply "unacceptable". It is notably a question of reorganizing the work of air traffic controllers in order to counterbalance the expected increase in air traffic. In exchange for this, hiring and pay increases are promised.

Started fifteen months ago, the negotiations however seem to be slipping. The SNCTA even mentions a “failure of conciliation”, relays Le Figaro in particular. “The version published [by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, DGAC editor’s note.] is in no way signable for the SNCTA which considers it a provocation if not an insult,” says the union on its website . A strike notice was therefore filed for the day of April 25. Notice to which all air traffic controllers' union organizations have since adhered, notes BFMTV.

A dark day is to be feared, according to the first estimate that Les Échos was able to consult. Up to 70% of flights could be canceled, says the newspaper, which also warns that hundreds of cancellations and delays are to be expected. Planes which will only cross France will also be affected by this strike, underlines Les Échos according to which, it is indeed all air traffic in Europe which will be impacted by the mobilization of French air traffic controllers.

“We have a record mobilization, and therefore we must expect very strong disruptions, very big delays,” insisted Monday evening a national secretary of the SNCTA to AFP, echoed by Le Figaro. But for now, it is still difficult to know which airports, which flights and the number of passengers who will be affected. The General Directorate of Civil Aviation, for its part, insists that discussions are still possible until Tuesday noon, the deadline for air traffic controllers to declare themselves on strike for Thursday. But it is already certain that companies will have to review their flight schedules and that some travelers will find themselves without a plane. In terms of strikes, the DGAC generally reveals its forecasts the day before the day of mobilization. Travelers should a priori be kept informed of the situation of their flight on Tuesday.