A warning to those of you scheduled for travel in France in early May: pilots from all airlines are threatening a unified strike. That could spell disaster for air travelers in France and flying French carriers around the world.
The French Parliament is considering a new transport law that would group pilot unions with other larger trade unions. The goal behind the proposed law would be to streamline negotiations, where the government often finds itself in a mediation role between employees and employers.
But pilots fear that by grouping them with unions, their unique voices would be drowned out. Thus, a notice of strike has been sent to the Transport and Labor Ministries as well as to French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe.
This early notice gives both sides time to work out a compromise but be advised that the strike would occur from May 6th to May 11th. It would include the following airlines:
- Air France
- Aigle Azur
- Corsair
- XL Airways
- EasyJet
- Vueling
Don’t Panic, Just Be Prepared
I can make all sorts of jokes about the French love for industrial action (a polite word for strikes), but at this point, we can only speculate if a strike will actually occur.
In these sorts of situations, I like to plan for the worst. That means I won’t cancel plans until a strike is confirmed, but I would look into other options. If you’re booked on Air France, that might involve being rerouted on Delta or KLM.
We’ll just wait and see right now, but it will not hurt to have some back-up flights in mind. If your travel plans are flexible and the strike does occur, you will likely be offered a refund or date change at no charge.
CONCLUSION
Strikes are annoying…to put it mildly. Last time I was impacted by an Air France strike, EasyJet came to the rescue. That likely will not be possible here, as pilots from both airlines are considering a strike. The key is simply to be prepared: let’s wait and see if the pilots actually strike.
image: Air France
This is a non-story. It would be a story if it read “Warning: French pilots (or bus drivers or electricians or whatever” threaten not to strike. Just joking! France is famous for strikes.
This kind of problem is faced in America where fake doctors are taking over real doctors. Nurse practitioners are now seeing sick patients by themselves, often with the sick patient not knowing they are not being seen by a doctor. Optometrists, who don’t go to medical school, are calling themselves “physician” or “optometric physician” even though it is a sham. French pilots probably don’t want to be mixed in with train ticket inspectors and city bus schedulers. Fair enough.
Just wondering, We are scheduled to fly AF to Venice on May 12. Do the strikes actually end on schedule, or is the end date just a guess? Anybody?
Usually, strikes are carefully planned with the dates given in advance. But I’d still plan for the worst and have a back-up plan, just in case.
Is there any followup to this story?
Is the potential for the strike still possible? Has there been any progress with the French gov’t? Does the discussed new law have a chance to pass?
No update has been provided.
FYI
Potential strike postponed to May 14th
https://www.tourmag.com/Greve-SNPL-report-du-preavis-au-14-mai-2019_a98556.html?fbclid=IwAR0Gjrj3fJWLJ2II8QVcekQojpSeBifvQL9x3VPphrtKs4Z34T31cpWiJp0
Good news.