Chaos for thousands of Brits travelling to France next month

Thousands of travellers heading to and from France in September are facing disruption after the country's largest air traffic controllers' union has now announced plans to strike. The SNCTA union, which represents around 60% of French air traffic controllers, has officially filed notice for a walkout starting on the morning of Thursday, September 18, running through to the end of Friday, September 19. The strike could affect all airports across France if other unions join and would also include major hubs like Paris Charles-de-Gaulle Airport, the country's bueiest airport with over 70 million passengers in 2024.

This disruption is expected to cause delays and cancellations not only for flights to and from France but also for other European routes that transit French skies. This industrial action comes after prolonged tensions and unsuccessful negotiations over wages and working conditions.

The union's demands focus on wage adjustments to keep pace with inflation and significant changes in management practices within France's air traffic control operations.

The SNCTA cited a "failure of social dialogue" as the reason for the planned action. SNCTA is demanding full wage adjustments to account for inflation in 2024, as well as changes to the governance and management of the profession.

The union said there have been ongoing issues with management styles and a breakdown in constructive dialogue, pushing them to take this drastic step after previously managing to avoid participation in other strikes that took place earlier this summer and heavily disrupted flights.

At the start of July, a strike by other French air traffic controller unions caused about 3,000 flights to be cancelled and many delays.

SNCTA wrote in a press release: "For several years now, air traffic control governance has been characterised by mistrust, punitive practices and degrading management methods.

"It is clear that this fruitless dialogue is now blocking any prospect of progress and reform."

While exact details of the extent of flight cancellations will be announced closer to the strike dates by France's Civil Aviation Authority, travellers are urged to stay in regular contact with their airlines for updates and to prepare for potential delays.

With the SNCTA being the largest union in the sector, this strike could potentially cause even more disruption than the earlier actions this summer.