Dozens of flights are canceled this Saturday at Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle, the French airport most affected by a social conflict over wages and working conditions, which also risks affecting the start of the long holidays in France. one week.
The firefighters of the first French airport have been on strike since Thursday, forcing the General Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGAC) to request preventive flight cancellations: part of the runways must be closed for safety reasons.
These cancellations will affect one flight in five between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. this Saturday on departure or arrival, a deterioration after one flight in six the day before and the day before.
Summer is going to be difficult
Friday’s negotiations, which did not succeed, concerned wages within Groupe ADP, which is majority-controlled by the state.
According to the CGT, the strike will last all weekend, in accordance with the current notice, while new notices have been tabled for next weekend, which will mark the start of the summer school holidays and traditionally sees a peak. attendance at airports, in addition to stations and roads.
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”.
The summer promises to be very difficult for the sector, which is struggling to regain its operational efficiency after the pandemic and is experiencing many social unrest, within companies and airport facilities.