Dozens of flights were canceled on Saturday morning at Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle, the French airport most affected by a social conflict over wages and working conditions, which could also affect the start of the summer holidays within a week.
The firefighters of Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle (CDG), the first French airport generally called Roissy, have been on strike since Thursday, forcing the General Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGAC) to request preventive flight cancellations: a part of the tracks must be closed for safety reasons. These cancellations affect one in five flights between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday departing from or arriving at Roissy, compared to one flight in six on Thursday and Friday. The situation on site on Saturday morning was “in line with what was announced”, a spokesman for Groupe ADP told AFP.
The flights having been canceled in advance and the passengers warned, the manager of the Paris airports did not identify any major problems, apart from “a few completely normal delays for a day of major departures”. Access to the airport was not impeded, as on Friday, by a union procession, he noted. However, travelers must reckon with the closure of the RER for work. The other major airport in the Paris region, Orly, is not affected by the movement which brings together other employees of ADP and subcontractors in an inter-union and inter-professional movement for wages and working conditions, including notice runs all weekend.
“The table (of negotiations) is always open”, underlined the spokesman of ADP, a group controlled in majority by the State. Salary negotiations did not succeed on Friday. The situation should improve in the afternoon, although cancellations related to operational problems are still possible, according to the ADP spokesperson. The DGAC must communicate its traffic forecasts for Sunday at 4:00 p.m. According to Daniel Bertone, secretary general of the CGT of Groupe ADP, new notices have also been submitted for next weekend which will mark the start of the summer school holidays and traditionally sees a peak in attendance.
The government will “continue to exchange with the unions to find a way out of the crisis” assures Olivia Grégoire
According to the trade unionist, employees are demanding a 6% revaluation with retroactive effect from January 1 to compensate for inflation. Management proposed 4% on July 1, he said. He noticed that this increase did not catch up with the approximately 5% drop accepted by employees in the cost reduction plan decided by ADP in the face of the Covid-19 crisis in 2020-2021. Management has not confirmed the figures mentioned by the CGT. Like the previous two days, Air France announced the cancellation of around 10% of its short and medium-haul flights on Saturday. Long-haul flights are not affected.
In Ile-de-France airports, ADP invites passengers to arrive “three hours (before the flight) for an international flight” and “two hours for a domestic or European flight”. The government will “continue to exchange with the unions to find a way out of the crisis”, assured Olivia Grégoire, government spokesperson, on Friday. “The idea that our compatriots cannot go on vacation is not viable,” she added. The day before, associations of tour operators had estimated that the disruptions at airports in recent weeks “raise fears of the worst for the holidays and travel of French men and women”.
Eurocontrol, the body for monitoring air traffic in the Old Continent, estimates that it could return in August to up to 95% of its 2019 level, before the health crisis which divided attendance by three in 2020. However, the summer promises to be very difficult for the sector, which is struggling to regain its operational efficiency after the pandemic and is experiencing numerous social unrest, within companies and airport facilities.