easyJet passengers face significant disruption on **Monday 6 April** after the UNAC cabin-crew union called a 24-hour national strike in France. More than 53 % of crew voted against the carrier’s 2026 labour-agreement offer, citing chronic last-minute roster changes and fatigue. The walk-out covers every French base—including Paris-CDG, Orly, Lyon, Bordeaux, Nice and Toulouse—and coincides with one of the busiest return-travel days of the Easter break. easyJet has so far held back a detailed contingency plan but says it will try to “limit cancellations” by drafting in crew from other EU bases, rerouting aircraft and allowing free rebooking. For mobility managers the timing is awkward: staff returning from home leave could miss Tuesday customer meetings, trigger right-to-work breaches or out-stay Schengen allowances if connections are lost. HR should therefore monitor flight-status feeds, pre-authorise hotel spend and remind travellers that EU Regulation EC261 may entitle them to compensation if delays exceed three hours. Historically, French cabin-crew strikes achieve participation rates of 60–80 %, a level that would ground up to one-third of easyJet’s French schedule—roughly **250 flights**—with knock-on effects across Europe. Companies with critical travel on 6 April might consider switching to rail or Air France services, which are not impacted. The dispute highlights widening labour unrest in European aviation as carriers push utilisation post-pandemic. If talks remain stalled, UNAC has warned of further one-day strikes around Ascension Day and Pentecost, periods that overlap with key European trade shows.
Source: Euro Weekly News
