French air traffic controllers call off next week’s three-day strike

A three-day strike planned by France’s union of air traffic controllers for next week has been called off after an agreement was reached with the country’s civil aviation authority.

The strike was expected to have caused heavy disruption to airports around the country on September 28, 29 and 30.

The agreement was confirmed to The Connexion by the managing director of the Direction générale de l’aviation civile (DGAC), Frédéric Solano, today (September 22).

The Syndicat national des contrôleurs du trafic aérien (SNCTA) have also confirmed it in a press release. Air-controllers will see their annual bonuses increase by 3.5% from January 1, 2023 to match soaring inflation and will benefit from a new €1,000 profit-sharing bonus, the release states.

The SNCTA was calling for an employee pay rise, considering France’s high inflation rate, as well as the recruitment of new air traffic controllers.

Mr Solano said that the agreement contained an evolution of the pay grade scale from 2023 to 2027 as well as a “clear recruitment perspective” to match employees’ planned retirement.

He added, though, that airports could be affected by another nationwide strike called by several French unions such as CGT on September 29 but it is not expected to affect travellers as severely as the air-controllers’ walkout would have done.

A previous air traffic controllers strike on September 16 caused more than 1,000 flights - half of those scheduled - around France to be cancelled.

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