French air traffic controllers suspend three-day strike 

A planned strike by French air traffic controllers, which threatened disruption to tens of thousands of passengers, has been called off.

 

The SNCTA union said it was suspending three-day industrial action from Tuesday following agreements and the French prime minister’s postponement of a finance bill parliamentary debate.

 

Ryanair group chief executive Michael O’Leary had warned that 100,000 of the airline’s passengers could see their flights disrupted because of the strike at a cost of £20 million to the airline.

 

SNCTA reportedly said that it had "made progress on internal issues" and held "calm discussions with all parties involved," without providing further details.

 

"No new strike notice date is planned," the union said.

 

French air traffic controllers initially planned to stage a strike in September but later pushed it back to October.

 

The union has called for better pay and conditions.

 

The French transport ministry said it welcomed the move to drop the strike, citing "the interests of passengers, airlines and airports".

 

"Discussions must continue in order to improve the performance of French air traffic control, which currently remains below expectations," the ministry said.

 

Travellers across the UK were expected to face disruption as walkouts by French air traffic control staff mean flights over the country are rerouted or cancelled.

 

Two days of strikes by French air traffic controllers in July led to estimated costs of €120 million to the European aviation sector.

 

The total comprised of €47 million in delay costs and an estimated €73 million in cancellation costs, according to Eurocontrol.

 

Ryanair has long called for reform of air traffic control (ATC) in Europe and on Friday highlighted France, Spain, Germany, the UK and Greece as being the worst countries for delays “because their governments refuse to ensure their ATC services are properly staffed and managed”.