Air France chaos as strike cancels 1 in 4 flights

The company has been forced to cancel up to a quarter of its flights today, schedules show, due to the ongoing pay dispute.

Half of flights to and from Nice, the country’s second-largest airport, were cancelled. This included those with HOP!, the company’s subsidiary fleet.

This marks the third stoppage of work at the company in just over a month, after the action of February 22 and March 23.

It comes ahead of two more strike days announced for April 3 and 7.

In total, 11 unions of pilots, air stewards and ground staff have banded together in protest at the company’s pay rise offer.

Staff are demanding a 6% increase, which they say will be in line with inflation since 2011. Management is offering a general rise of 1% and an average rise of 1.4% for ground staff.

Yet, in a statement last week, Air France said that “the rise seen by our staff will average 4.5% across the year, including individual rises and extra interest”.

A press release from the unions disputed this, saying that management was “seeking division” and “giving no concrete response to our demands”.

Check before you travel: Air France said that 80% of long-haul flights were set to leave as scheduled, as well as 70% of long- and short-haul flights in and out of Paris Roissy-Charles de Gaulle.