Air Traffic Control Strike Causes Hundreds Of European Flight Cancellations

The airline industry can’t catch a break. Hundreds of flights were canceled, and thousands of passengers were affected as French air traffic controllers went on strike over pay on Friday.

CNN reported that Europe’s biggest airline, Ryanair, grounded 420 of its flights across Europe during the 24-hour strike that affected connections from airports around the continent.
Rival budget carrier EasyJet warned of severe delays and disruption as well.

Members of France’s Syndicat National des Contrôleurs du Trafic Aérien, or SNCTA, the main union for traffic controllers in the country, went on strike at 6 a.m. central European time (00:00 a.m. ET) Friday.

The union announced that it was going through with the strike after negotiations stalled with the government over pay rises in line with inflation.

“After several months spent negotiating to get fair and adapted answers, SNCTA… laments the lack of concrete elements and guarantees from public authorities,” it said in a statement.

Paris Aéroport owns and manages 14 civil airports and airfields in the Île-de-France (Paris) area. On Thursday, it warned to expect “significant” delays and cancellations on both arrivals and departures.

The strike also impacted many flights passing over French airspace. Barcelona Airport’s departure board had more than 50 flights delayed or canceled by noon Friday. In Germany, at Hamburg Airport, 48 out of the 251 flights were canceled by midday local time, and further delays and cancellations were possible.

The SNCTA has said a strike scheduled for the 28th of September could also go through.
The airline also expected disruption on Monday as London’s Heathrow airport said some flights would be canceled or delayed to keep airspace silent during events to mark the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.