Ryanair has called the latest air traffic controllers’ strike “disgraceful” and renewed calls for the European Commission and Parliament to take action and prevent further disruption.
The no-frills carrier has launched ‘Keep Europe’s Skies Open’ petition, offering European travellers the opportunity to take action against strikes by the Air Traffic Controller unions.
The current industrial action started last night at 18.00 GMT on and will run until 05.00 GMT on Wednesday.
The strikes are part of a public sector dispute involving unions representing five million French civil servants.
European air traffic control organisation Eurocontrol has asked nine major French airports to reduce their normal schedules by 20 per cent on Tuesday.
The airports affected will be Charles De Gaulle, Orly, Beauvais–Tille, Lyon–Saint-Exupery, Nice Cote d'Azur, Marseille Provence, Bordeaux–Merignac, Toulouse Blagnac and Nantes Atlantique.
The petition is calling for:
- Removing the right to strike from Europe’s ATC unions, in the same way that Europe’s various police and military forces are not allowed to strike
- Allowing other European ATCs to manage flights over French airspace during ATC strikes, which would minimise cancellations and disruptions for Europe’s consumers who need to cross over French and Spanish airspace
Ryanair’s head of marketing Kenny Jacobs, said: “It's disgraceful that Europe’s consumers repeatedly have their travel plans disrupted or cancelled by the selfish actions of ATC unions, who use strikes as a first weapon rather than a last resort.
“French ATC unions plan to strike from tonight until Wednesday morning – their 40th strike since 2009 – which will impact hundreds of thousands of European consumers and throw their travel plans into chaos.”
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