A ‘70% reduction’ in flights has been requested from airlines for Sunday 26 May, according to a ‘notice for air missions’ (NOTAM) published by the DGAC. Earlier in the day, the DGAC had already requested the cancellation of 70% of the flights scheduled at Orly for Saturday

Unsa-Icna, the second largest union representing air traffic controllers, called for strike action to obtain ‘adequate staffing levels’, which it believes are not guaranteed by the agreement signed at the end of April between the DGAC and the main air traffic controllers’ union, SNCTA (60% of votes).

The government has expressed its disapproval of this latest strike, which comes a month after the signing of a wage agreement with the air traffic controllers. ‘I deplore the behaviour of a few agents at local level, who refuse to recognise the legitimacy of a majority agreement and are making passengers pay the price. I call on them to take responsibility,’ said Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete in a statement to AFP.

Unsa-Icna, which represented 17% of the workforce in the last professional elections, justified its call for strike action by denouncing the lack of staff, a problem which it considers to be unresolved by the agreement signed with the SNCTA. ‘Our managers persist, for Orly, in their penny-wise and pound-foolish approach, which will quickly cause our teams to fall back into understaffing,’ stated Unsa-Icna in a leaflet. According to this union, the April agreement does not address the problem of projected understaffing at Orly between now and 2027.

In addition, the Usac-CGT has maintained its strike notice from 23 to 30 May to protest against the weakening of the ‘territorial network’ which, according to them, is planned in the air traffic control reform. This protest has already led to the cancellation of several thousand flights in France and Europe at the end of April.